Questions about Systainer Works, Systainers themselves, and how this community site runs.
A Systainer is a stackable storage system. Engineered and manufactured by Tanos in Germany, the Systainer is known the world over for its light weight, modularity and portability. The standardized footprint and design retains compatibility with products made 30 years ago, while also pushing to the future and new offerings for the systainer family. Systainers are used by individuals, businesses and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) like Festool.
They’re the three generations of Systainer. Classic is the original design from 1993, using four catches to stack. T-Loc introduced a patented one-handed catch mechanism. Systainer³ is the current generation, building on T-Loc with updated materials and sizing, plus a rail system co-designed with Bott that expands how Systainers mount and interface in work vans and workshops. All three generations stack together and remain compatible - see Why Systainer for more on how that works.
We built a whole page on it: see Why Systainer for the full case - weight, storage per footprint, cross-generation compatibility, and which brands build around it.
Systainer³ comes in a wide range of footprints and heights. Think of the footprint - front-to-back and left-to-right - like a t-shirt size: XXS, S, M, L, and XXL, with M being the most popular. Each footprint is then available in a variety of heights. Beyond the standard box, Systainers also come as drawers, tool boxes, organizers, tool bags, and more - all built around the same stacking system for a uniform, organized workflow. See Systainer USA for the current lineup, or browse this site’s tags to see real sizes used in actual fitouts.
In the US, you can buy Systainers from Systainer USA and Bott SmartVan, a joint venture between Bott and Tanos. Systainer USA is also this site’s sponsor.
It may seem obvious, but a Systainer is a plastic box. When you add tools or materials to it, you make it yours. That is the start of a fitout. The next step is adding inserts which can be off the shelf or custom to help organize the Systainer and its contents. Some users take it further adding color scheme or labels to the outside. Every fitout is unique, and what matters is that it is yours and meets your needs.
The Systainer community did! Their fitouts were voluntarily submitted to show off what is possible. Some users wish to remain anonymous, others like to share their profile. Some fitouts are sponsored.
Yes! Alongside individual makers, this site features brand and business fitouts too - from System Partners like Mirka and Mafell who ship their products in Systainers, to accessory makers and sponsors. See real examples tagged System Partners or Systainer Partners.
Yes, please! Submit your fitout here.
Yes - if you need to update photos, details, or fix something in your submission, reach out via the contact page and we’ll take care of it.
Submissions are reviewed and published on a rolling basis. Just about every Friday, Systainer USA publishes Friday Fitout Favorites showcasing the latest post from Systainer Works - subscribe to the newsletter in the footer to get it in your inbox. You can also follow the RSS feed or check back to see when yours goes live.
As a systainer user, enthusiast and former dealer, Sys Tim fielded dozens of questions asking how to use a systainer or what tools fits in which systainer. Therefore he was motivated to build this site where the Systainer community can share their experiences and how they fitout and use systainers.
Yes, you certainly can. Fill out the form on our contact page to get in touch and discuss the opportunities.
Yes, we love connecting with the community in person. Reach out on the contact page with your event details and we’ll talk.
Yep, Systainer USA became the lead sponsor once Sys Tim’s business was sold to Systainer Systems North America. Sys Tim still owns and runs this site, and partners with SSNA to run Systainer USA.
That is also correct. It takes time and money and talent to build and maintain this site. Sponsorships and Affiliate income are a couple of the ways to pay for these expenses. We don’t go out of our way to make entries for affiliate income or to promote specific products for affiliate income. We simply add links to the fitouts while maintaining each fitout’s intent.
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Yes! Subscribe to our RSS feed to get new fitouts as soon as they’re published.
