Converting an Inset Unit to Free-standing
Andrew 00:07
So the two main styles of storage units that we sell, you know, being Free Standing, you
know, where it you know, a unit just sits on the deck, right gets bolted onto the deck, versus
inset, where that part mounts into a hole, typically on a vertical mount into a hole and then
screws through the frame.
You know, I know oftentimes a point of you're challenging your customer service, things is explaining the process the engineering process of say, taking an inset and turning it into free standing, right seems like it should be easy. In fact, a lot of times people are like, well just cut off the frame. And it's free sanding is not that simple talk about that a little bit. How do you explain that in a way that makes sense?
Matt 00:54
Instead of cutting the frame away, we essentially have to build a box to match the frame, the
frame is necessary. So you have to have something to attach the door to. And all of the fasteners
that you would typically not see on an inset box because it's mounted inside the hole would then
be visible if you just cut the frame away.
So all of that it has to have somewhere to go. And you have to have those inner walls for your drawer slides or your Plano tray runners to attach to. So essentially what we do is we build a shell around the back of the box, it goes around the top bottom, the sides, and then the back usually ties in all into one piece.
Andrew 01:29
So you're pretty much you're taking the Free Standing box. Yeah sorry, a Face Mounting
box. And you're coming off the existing frame with perpendicular sides, right and a
perpendicular top and bottom to build all four sides around.
Jared 01:47
So essentially, if the box doesn't have any drawers or anything like that you're doubling the
material usage on that box close to from, from an explanation for customers, you're nearly
doubling the material.
Andrew 01:58
That's why a lot of the times it's more expensive and a source of ham. Why is that so much
because you're adding quite a bit of material adding quite a bit of weight? Right?
Jared 02:07
Then the engineering time, right? Yeah, they're not necessarily able to go back into that
original model and just model right off of that they do an extensive amount of kind of reengineering
the entire box for that to work.
Matt 02:18
A lot of times there is a small dimensional change from what a Face Mounting box would be
and what the listed dimensions are on the website. To convert it to a free standing box, I believe
it actually loses a little bit on the width and the height by like an eighth of an inch or so. And it
has, normally your frame overlay your frame width or so would be about an inch and an eighth.
I shouldn't say the frame reveal of what you would see. It might be a little bit larger for Face
Mounting box to get that larger flange the mounting flange for attaching it.
Andrew 02:49
You can shrink the frame overlay a little bit. Just unnecessarily it's an unnecessary gap.
Yeah. Which means maybe you could grow it if you wanted to match some outside shape. Yeah,
yeah, no, that's uh,
Jared 03:01
Would you generally you know, as your project manager on the phone with the customer, if
they've identified a box that's an inset box that they want to move to Free Standing is that
usually the approach that we take from a feature standpoint or we usually go and say start with
this box, but build a build a Free Standing.
Matt 03:17
It's a great way to explain it to an engineer, right it to say we want this design this layout
two drawers on the left plane, oh trays on the right, with a catch all at the top. And we just want
it to be Free Standing, right, that's a very easy way to explain it to an engineer what the end goal
is, but it's far more complex for the engineer to take that project and make it make it happen than
it is to just explain what we're trying to do.
And that's where the time comes in. You know, a lot of times it'll take one of our engineers anywhere between four to six hours to model a box to match the description of what we're looking for. Even if we already have something on the website that matches the dimensions of what we're looking for.
It is a time-consuming process to make it happen. The part of the challenge is you can't start with something in engineering that already exists. Because when you start doing that you move things, you change things, you miss mounting holes you forget to add them you forget something's there and you end up with a hole in the side of the box that isn't supposed to be there.
Right so they start from scratch just about on every single one of these and model it from the ground up. That way they know every mounting hole is where it's supposed to be every pre drilled hole every pocket every mill every locator it's right where it should be.
Jared 04:39
What are some of the cases that that you're seeing people that do this you know, is it just
that they don't have a spot where they can inset that box and they want to lag it down to the boat
or what drives some of that conversation you think?
Matt 04:51
It’s more of the customer identifying what they're missing. Right? Okay, maybe it's I want to
replace the cooler that's under the leaning post or I have this big flat space on the side. I'd have
my console or, you know, the cooler that's in front of the leaning or the console, I want to
replace that and make it something more usable because I have a cooler in the back. Or it could
be a number of those things. Maybe it's I've got space on the top of my console, and I'm six foot
seven, and I can afford to put something up there.
And so those are examples of where the customer identifies the need, and then goes to the website to see if they can find something that we've already done that matches what they're looking for. And a lot of times they'll get close because there is a lot of options on there. I need this box, but I need it two inches wider and Free Standing or four inches shorter and Free Standing. And that's where the conversation really starts to roll in the direction of the project.