Container and Modular Unit 3D Quoting Tool

In short: A container and modular unit 3D quoting tool lets the buyer choose module size, use, interior layout, openings, insulation, cladding and fit-out, shows it in 3D and calculates the price including freight and installation, according to each manufacturer's rules.

A converted shipping container or a modular unit is almost always sold the same way: someone needs a working space fast, with a clear use (site office, crew bunkhouse, locker room, guard booth, retail unit, weekend cabin), and wants to know how much it costs and when it arrives. A container and modular unit 3D quoting tool lets them build that unit with the options the manufacturer offers, see it inside and out, and get a price that already includes freight. At Estructuras 3D it's developed for each manufacturer; there's no public configurator for this industry.

Who buys modular units and what they ask

The modular unit buyer is usually more practical than a home buyer. A construction company setting up a site compound needs a site office with a bathroom and a locker room for the crew. An oil or mining company needs bunkhouses with bunk beds for a camp. A municipality needs a guard booth or a first-aid station. An entrepreneur wants a food stand in a 20-foot container. And there's the private buyer looking for a container home for their lot in the hills.

They all ask the same things, in this order: what size, what's inside, how much, how long it takes and how much it costs to deliver. The last two questions weigh much more than in other industries, because the module ships assembled, and freight on a crane truck or a semi with a lowboy trailer can be a significant share of the total, especially to remote areas.

What gets configured in a modular unit

A container or modular unit has few variables, but very concrete ones, which is why they work well in a quoting tool:

1. Base unit. A 20 or 40 ft shipping container, standard or high cube, or an in-house module with a steel-section frame and dimensions set by transport limits. It defines the length, the interior height and the starting point of the price.
2. Use and layout. Open office, office with bathroom, bunk room, locker room with showers, kitchen and dining, retail unit with counter. Each use is a catalog layout with its partition walls, just like the rooms of a prefab home.
3. Openings. Number and position of windows and doors, with or without security bars, and the option of a glazed front or the container's original doors.
4. Insulation and interior lining. Fiberglass or spray polyurethane foam, with gypsum board, melamine or tongue-and-groove lining. In Argentina's hot north and in Patagonia, this option decides whether the unit can be used year-round.
5. Exterior cladding. Original painted steel, new colored metal sheeting, siding or wood.
6. Building services. Electrical with panel and number of outlets, plumbing with water heater and sink, air conditioning, utility hookups.
7. Furnishings. Desks, bunk beds, lockers, countertop.
8. Combining units. Two units side by side for a wider office, or one stacked on another with an exterior staircase.
9. Freight and installation. Kilometers to the destination, truck type, crane and leveling on foundations.

Each option is a line in the quote and every combination follows rules: a window can't land on a structural corner, a bathroom needs ventilation, two stacked units need a staircase.

Why seeing it in 3D helps

In a unit 12 meters long (about 40 ft) and less than 2.50 m wide (about 8 ft), the interior space is the product. The buyer wants to know whether four bunk beds and a locker per person fit, whether the desk sits under the window, whether the bathroom eats up half the office. A floor plan in a PDF tells you, but it's hard to read; a 3D view with the roof layer turned off shows it at a glance. The Estructuras 3D viewer already works this way in the other industries: layers to remove the roof or walls and see the layout inside.

For someone buying on behalf of a company, being able to share matters too. A link that opens exactly the chosen configuration can be sent to the site manager or purchasing without explaining anything, and the inquiry comes back with the decision made. We cover this in inquiries that arrive already configured.

What the engine already solves

Facundo Campo designed Estructuras 3D as an engine where each industry is a module sharing the same lighting, camera, interface and layers. A modular unit has a lot in common with what's already solved: the block logic of prefab homes, where each room is a catalog piece; walls with their openings; cladding; interior furniture. What's specific to this industry, like the container's corrugated steel, its corner castings, the cargo doors and stacking units, is developed for each manufacturer from its real parts.

Since everything comes from rules, a 20-foot office and a 40-foot bunkhouse made of two joined units aren't two different 3D models: they're the same generator with different parameters. That's what we explain in parametric rendering.

Pricing: freight, insulation and dollar-based costs

This industry has two particularities a quoting tool has to handle well.

The first is freight. If the quoting tool calculates shipping per kilometer, as the EQUIBOX one does, the buyer sees the delivered price and doesn't get a surprise when transport is billed separately. For a manufacturer that sells nationwide, that's the line that generates the most discussion.

The second is the price reference. Many inputs in this industry, starting with the used container, move with the US dollar, and others, like labor, don't. If costs live in a table the factory manages, with their currency and last-updated date, the quote comes out right even if the market moved the week before. More on this in quoting when prices change every month.

How to get started

For a container or modular unit manufacturer, the starting point is the catalog of uses it sells (office, bunkhouse, locker room, retail unit), the base units it works with, the insulation, cladding and building services options, and how it prices freight today. That defines the scope. The details of what can be included, like live pricing, PDF quotes, a sales rep panel or offline mode for trade shows, are in custom 3D quoting software, and what to prepare beforehand is in what a manufacturer needs to have ready. If your product is more of a home than a temporary-use unit, the article on steel frame and modular homes may also help.

If you manufacture or convert containers or modular units, send me a couple of typical units with their quotes on WhatsApp at +54 9 11 6193-3176 or by email at facundocampo100@gmail.com. From there we can see how your quoting tool would come together.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a container configurator to try on the site?

There's no public one. The public configurators cover metal buildings, prefab homes and horse stalls; the container and modular unit version is developed for each manufacturer with its base units, uses and options.

Can freight be quoted inside the quoting tool?

Yes, it's one of the parts that can be developed. Shipping is calculated per kilometer to the destination, as in the EQUIBOX quoting tool, and added to the quote along with the crane and installation.

Does it work for in-house modules and not just shipping containers?

Yes. The base unit is just another option: it can be a 20 or 40 ft container or an in-house module with the dimensions transport allows. The rules for each are loaded separately.

Can you see inside the unit?

Yes. The viewer works in layers, so you remove the roof or a wall and see the layout with its furnishings: bunk beds, desks, bathroom or countertop, depending on the chosen use.