James Mason

Setting out the desk…

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Automation & systems

The desk

Professional · TPI Aerospace Limited · self-directed · in use

Crate packing tool

A plywood crate on a pallet in TPI's workshop with its front panel off, showing a screen speaker and a large subwoofer held between layers of black foam.
A packed crate with its front panel off.Photo: James Mason
Open plywood crate with black foam inserts holding a loudspeaker and its accessories.
A loudspeaker and its accessories held in foam inserts inside a plywood crate, October 2020.Image from the project archive
Plywood shipping crates on a pallet truck in a workshop, one open to show its foam insert.
Crates ready to ship, one open to show its foam insert, October 2020.Image from the project archive

A 3D bin-packing tool I created to plan shipping crates at TPI. Any combination of speakers can go in — a hi-fi pair, a PA system or a full cinema installation — and it works out how everything packs, then produces what the workshop, the customer and the shipper each need.

My role

I spotted the need and developed the tool on my own initiative; the software was written with AI coding tools I directed.

  • Spotted the need and developed the tool on my own initiative
  • Concept, design and development of the tool
  • The product data it calculates from
  • Packing design, including crates and foam inserts

What it produces

  • A 3D layout of every crate
  • A crate list with sizes
  • External dimensions and weights for the customer, ahead of time
  • DXF cut files
  • Assembly drawings

All calculated from product data I entered.

Why it matters

Crates and foam inserts used to be laid out from experience, job by job. Now one set of inputs gives a consistent packing plan, the figures the customer needs to arrange shipping, and the files and drawings to build the crates, without drawing each crate from scratch.

Built around TPI

It is shaped around TPI's own products, crate construction and workshop, so the plans match the way TPI actually builds and ships.

Outcome

Active and in use at TPI.

Credits

  • Software written with AI coding tools, which I directed

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