An underappreciated cog of modern society: The army of repairpersons driving around in vans. Stuff breaks all the time, and these men and women get it back into working order.
By necessity they haul a lot of gear around, and that gear needs to be organized. To meet their needs, Systainer Systems has designed their Bott Smartvan system of user-installed van racking. These racking systems are lightweight (important for fuel consumption) and crash-tested for safety. They're also designed to mate with existing van models, and do not require any drilling into the vehicle—a particularly crucial feature for those with electric vans, as piercing the floor could potentially hit a battery. Instead, the racks are designed to be bolted to any given van's existing mounting points.
The backbone of the system is the steel frames for the sidewalls, which are actually lighter than the typical DIY plywood solution. A partition separating the cab from the cargo area provides a third wall.
Into the frames can be bolted static storage units, of three types:
A shelf, which can in turn hold removable Bott boxes;
A case holder for power tools, angled to prevent the case from moving around while in transit. Rubber stoppers can be added to secure narrower cases;
And a cable shelf for electricians.
Additionally, you can bolt in their Varioslide drawers.
For fully removable storage, they offer drawer slides for Systainers or Tanos organizers:
Perforated panels allow you to hang smaller storage accessories from them.
There's also an option to add a raised floor, to increase storage area.
Here's how it all goes in:
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The company offers different rack inserts to serve a variety of trades: Painters, HVAC/Plumbers, Carpenters, Electricians, General Construction, et cetera.
The more I look at good designed for the consumer sector, the more that I appreciate literal nuts-and-bolts industrial design systems like these. Functional, no-nonsense, well thought out, and makes a daily difference in the life of the end user.
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