Off-the-shelf stillages and cages work well for standard loads, but many operations handle parts, panels or products that simply do not fit a stock footprint. That is where a custom-built container earns its keep. A stillage designed around your load, your handling equipment and your storage space moves more product per square metre, protects goods in transit and cuts wasted handling time. This guide explains the customisation options available from a UK manufacturer, how to specify them accurately, and how to make sure your bespoke stillage stays compliant and safe.
As well as supplying stock metal stillages with set dimensions and load ratings, Lowe designs and manufactures containers to order, so you can specify the exact size, shape, gauge and features your process needs rather than compromising around a catalogue product.
Why Customise a Stillage or Cage?
A generic container forces your load to fit the box. A custom container does the opposite: the box is built around the load. The practical benefits are straightforward.
- Better use of space — a footprint matched to your racking, vehicle bed or shop-floor layout means fewer voids and more units stored or shipped per load.
- Load protection — internal dividers, cradles, foam or timber dunnage and location points stop components moving, rubbing or being crushed.
- Faster, safer handling — features such as fork guides and lifting points speed up movement and reduce manual handling.
- Longer service life — the right steel gauge and finish for your environment means the container lasts rather than distorting or corroding early.
- Process fit — access points, labelling and stacking features can be designed to suit the way your team actually works.
The Core Customisation Options
Size and Shape
Getting the dimensions right is the single most important decision. The container needs to suit both what it will hold and the space it will live in — the racking bay, the vehicle it travels on, and the door and aisle widths it must pass through. If the internal shape is designed around the product it carries, you can maximise how much each container holds while keeping the load stable. Under-sizing wastes capacity; over-sizing wastes floor space and can create unstable, part-filled loads. It is worth measuring your largest and most awkward items, not just the average, before you specify.
Steel Gauge, Base and Construction
Load weight and duty cycle determine how the container is built. A light-duty picking container and a heavy engineering stillage carrying dense metal components are not the same product. Specify the maximum load, whether it will be stacked (and how many high), and how often it will be handled. This drives the steel gauge, the base type — open mesh, sheeted or solid — and the reinforcement of corners and lifting points.
Mesh, Sheeted or Solid Sides
The side construction should reflect what you are storing:
- Mesh sides give visibility of contents, ventilation and lighter weight — ideal for stock control and for goods that must be seen or must breathe. See the mesh stillages range.
- Sheeted or solid sides contain small or loose parts, keep out dust and debris, and offer more security for high-value goods.
- Part-mesh, part-sheet combinations are common on bespoke builds — for example, a solid lower section to retain smaller items and mesh above for visibility.
Access Features
How your team loads and unloads the container matters as much as its capacity. A common request is a drop-front. Choosing a drop-front, which allows the stillage to be accessed from multiple points along the face, makes picking far easier when the container is stacked or shelved and you cannot lift over the top. Half-drop and full-drop fronts, hinged lids, gates and removable posts are all available depending on how you need to get product in and out.
Handling and Transport Features
You can specify features that make the container work with your existing fleet of equipment:
- Fork guides for quick, secure forklift entry and safer transport.
- Certified lifting points where the container will be craned or hoisted (see below on compliance).
- Stacking lugs and location points so units nest and stack squarely and safely.
- Castors or trolley bases where containers need to be moved by hand around a workspace.
Finishes and Environment
The operating environment should guide the finish. Painted finishes suit dry indoor use; galvanising or specialist coatings are better for outdoor storage, washdown areas or corrosive environments. If the container is used in food, pharmaceutical or export settings, tell your supplier at the enquiry stage so the finish and construction can be specified accordingly.
Worked Examples of Customisation
Customisation is easiest to picture through the load. A few typical scenarios:
- Awkward long parts — extended footprint with internal timber dunnage and mesh sides for visibility.
- Small, high-value components — sheeted or secure, certified lifting stillage construction with a lockable drop-front.
- Fragile panels or castings — cradles or foam location points to prevent movement, with fork guides for gentle handling.
- Tight racking — a footprint built to the exact bay dimensions with stacking lugs for square, stable nesting.
These are illustrative rather than fixed products — the point of a bespoke build is that it is drawn around your specific requirement. Lowe’s design team can turn a sketch, sample or set of measurements into a manufacturable specification.
Keeping Custom Stillages Compliant and Safe
Customisation does not remove your compliance obligations — if anything, a bespoke design makes it more important to specify correctly from the start. Two pieces of UK legislation are especially relevant:
- PUWER 1998 (the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations) applies to stillages and cages as work equipment: they must be suitable for the task, maintained and safe to use.
- LOLER 1998 (the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations) applies whenever a container is lifted with its load, for example by crane or hoist. Containers used for lifting need certified lifting points and periodic thorough examination.
Where a container will be lifted, it should be manufactured and certified for that purpose rather than adapted after the fact. Certification on Lowe products is aligned to UKCA requirements for the UK market. If you are unsure whether your application involves lifting, treat it as if it does and raise it at the design stage. Our buyer’s and design guide walks through the decisions in more detail and helps you avoid specifying something that will not pass muster in service.
How to Specify Your Custom Stillage Accurately
The more precise your brief, the faster and more accurate your quote. Before you enquire, try to have the following to hand:
- External dimensions available (racking bay, vehicle bed, door and aisle widths).
- The item(s) to be carried — size, weight and any fragility or orientation needs.
- Maximum load per container and whether units will be stacked, and how high.
- Handling method — forklift, pallet truck, crane or manual.
- Whether lifting is involved (this determines certification).
- Operating environment and any finish requirements.
- Quantity and whether you expect repeat orders.
If you can supply a drawing, photograph or a sample part, even better. Our guide to getting an accurate quote sets out exactly what technical information helps and why, so your enquiry does not stall on missing detail.
Ready to Design Your Ideal Stillage?
Whether you need a single one-off container or a fleet of matched units, a custom-built stillage designed around your load gets more out of every handling and storage movement. Explore the Lowe Custom Stillage/Cage option and the wider bespoke stillages and custom solutions service to see what is possible.
When you are ready, get a quote with your requirements, or contact our team to talk through your application. As a UK manufacturer, we can advise on the right size, construction and compliance from the outset and build it to suit.