OK ... A little about me. I'm an Electrical Engineer who has designed x-ray machines, Magnetic Resonance (MR) and Computed Tomography (CT) machines, Patient Monitors, Cardiology and Radiology IT systems during my 35 years with General Electric. I have spent most of my career designing systems ... turning customer problems into solutions. I am really a Systems Engineer who loves to solve customer problems with technology that just works! I recently retired and I am now pursuing some technical and creative passions (besides my family and my grandchildren)! One of my true creative passions is music. I play trumpet and digital percussion in a 7-piece horn-fueled classic rock & blues band called Live at Nine. We play the classics ranging from the Blues Brothers, Santana, Chicago, The Alman Brothers to Dave Matthews as well as quite a few originals. Our band typically performs in Southeastern Wisconsin; however, we have performed in 5 states as well as the US Virgin Islands. Well ... let's get back to the story. In addition to being a musician, I am also the Sound Technician. The PainOur band uses professional audio gear ... the problem is that we have a digital mixer and a lot of speakers, cables, mics, instruments and accessories to set-up and tear-down for each gig. We leverage and love the QSC digital TouchMix-16 audio mixer and QSC powered speakers for our Mains and Monitors. The advantage of this system is its simplicity, flexibility, size, weight and the fact that we only need XLR cables for MICs and Speakers.  Set-up typically takes 2 people 45 Minutes to an hour. Before using the Milwaukee Tools Packout system we had to bring in (~12 trips for one person from the trailer for set-up and 12 more to the trailer for tear-down):
The Claim I have wanted to have a more streamlined approach that would reduce set-up and tear-down time, reduce my personal stress level and better protect our expensive equipment. I was a late bloomer and only became aware of Milwaukee’s Packout Storage and Organization system about a month ago. As with other MTP Users, I'm already addicted!
My goal of putting this system together was to:
The claim is that I accomplished all of these goals with my Packout system and some strategic mods that I have productized on this site. The Gain The real gain from designing the Packout Solution is reducing the number of trips between the trailer and the venue from 12 to 6 (1-way)! In addition, everything is now organized so set-up and tear-down is now a breeze! No more hunting for accessories, cables, power supplies, etc. I'll walk through all the elements of my solution from the ground up. I will discuss the stock Packout pieces I used as well as the pacKITS mods that I made to achieve gains in time, stress and reliability. It should be noted that I also leveraged some great 3rd Party Packout modder products that I will give a shout out to in this article.  The SystemThe Milwaukee Packout pieces that I utilized include:
 The pacKITS mods include:
The 3rd Party Packout mod pieces I utilized include:
The 3rd Party Kaizen tools I utilized for the build include:
A Little About this Japanese Word ... KaizenI used and taught LEAN at GE and one of the major philosophies surrounding LEAN is Kaizen. Kaizen is a Japanese term that means continuous improvement. In Japanese, Kai means "Change" and Zen means "For the Better". As we all know, one way to improve is to be organized so that our workflow is repeatable and our task completion time is reduced. In a production environment, we would organize our manufacturing tools in a way that minimized the number of physical and process steps as well as the time wasted hunting for a tool to complete a task. One tool organization technique is to use Kaizen Foam with cut-outs. A tool is placed on the Kaizen Foam, its outline is traced and the foam is cut with a razor knife along the outline. The tool can then be placed in the Foam with other tools associated with a task or group of tasks. In Kaizen, every tool has a place so that you know where to find a tool and you know when a tool is missing. I used Kaizen principles in the design of my Packout System.  The design philosophy for my Band Gear system is that backup gear (less-frequently needed things we may need in case of a failure or special gig) are stored in the Packout Rolling Toolbox while everyday gig equipment is stored in a Packout container above the Rolling Toolbox. Let's walk through each Packout storage element in the system starting from the bottom up. Packout Rolling ToolboxThe Packout Rolling Toolbox provides the foundation for the system. Why? Because it has the wheels and all of the other Packout systems connect from this starting point. It serves as the dolly for the system. The Rolling Toolbox stores things that are infrequently used (recording Mics, protective weather bags, extra Mic Holders, extra XLR and Power Cables and battery-operated compressor). NOTE: As the pacKITS HD Wheel Kit uses pneumatic tires, they may lose some air pressure over time. The battery-operated compressor (tire inflator) works great to re-inflate them if necessary! One of the major upgrades to the Rolling Toolbox is the pacKITS HD Wheel Kit. I added this kit as I have read many articles about Packout Toolbox wheels failing in the field. I also spoke to quite a few users who wished there was a better solution. I did a pretty exhaustive search and found nothing, so I created the HD Wheel Kit to fill this need. The HD Wheel Kit's pneumatic tires provide a smoother ride over numerous surfaces (wood, gravel, cement, grass, dirt, snow and rain). I added the Joey Front Mount Bracket so that I can place the Packout Crate that holds our XLR Cable/Power Cables on the front for balance stability. I mounted the pacKITS Ring Sider Kit base on the Rolling Toolbox as it stores our Mic Stands and my Digital Drum Stand. I mounted the kaizeninserts Tread Sled to the rear of the Rolling Toolbox to protect it from sliding up and down stairs (e.g., concrete steps). Replacing the damaged Tread sleds is much cheaper than replacing the Rolling Toolbox! I also added the pacKITS Power Strip Kit to the rear of the Rolling Toolbox. This kit added 8 Heavy Duty Power Outlets and 2 USB Charging Ports (3 Amps each). Three of the Power outlets have wide separations to accommodate wide power transformers. I plug my QSC Touchmix-16 audio mixer, in-ear monitor receiver and iPad/Phone Charger into this strip.  Finally, I mounted the pacKITS Handle Saver to the Rolling Toolbox's rear handle to provide additional lifting strength and reliability. It easily attaches/detaches from the rear (if necessary) using amazingly strong 2" heavy duty hook and loop straps. This option really improves the reliability of your Packout stack. Packout 2 Drawer ToolboxI selected the Packout 2 Drawer Toolbox because it provides immediate access to our audio gear. The bottom drawer houses the QSC TouchMix-16 audio mixer, its power supply/cable as well as an iPad mini (which we use to remotely control the mixer). The top drawer houses:
All of the gear sits in custom cut Kaizen foam inserts for protection and organization. I also labeled the gear and power strips to ease connectivity choices. I also mounted the pacKITS Ring Sider Kit top and pacKITS Bungee Kit on the 2 Drawer Toolbox as it stores our Mic Stands and my Digital Drum Stand. The 2 Drawer Toolbox is attached to the top of the Rolling Toolbox. Packout ToolboxI selected the Packout Toolbox to house my Roland HPD-20 Digital Drum, its associated Power Supply and XLR Cable. I use this percussion instrument as digital congas, bongos, chimes, vibraslap and the infamous cowbell! The HPD-20 has a stand mount screwed into the bottom of the unit so I needed a solution that would be tall enough to house it while it is attached to the drum. I removed the inner lid from the Toolbox and glued a piece of kaizen foam to the top to protect the drum surface. The drum and accessories fit nicely into a custom kaizen foam insert. It should be noted that the Crate attached to the top of the Rolling Toolbox must be removed to be able to open the Toolbox for equipment access. This is not a problem as the Crate above the Toolbox houses our XLR and Power Cables. This crate is typically removed and positioned in the center of the band for cable set-up and tear-down to minimize walking. The Toolbox is attached to the top of the 2 Drawer Toolbox. Packout Crate - XLR and Power CablesThis Packout Crate houses our colored XLR Cables and Power cables for our Powered Speakers, lights and other accessories. We use colored XLR Cables to help in diagnosing audio issues and to quickly isolate where cables are connected. I installed a Bin Beaver divider in the crate to separate the cables. This crate is positioned on top of the Toolbox. Packout Crate - Power StripsThis Packout Crate stores our Power Strips and Extension Cords. I utilize DEWENWILS Extension Cord Reels which have 30 FT Power Cords and power extension squids to provide additional power connections when necessary. This Crate is attached to the Joey Mounting Bracket located on the front of the Rolling Toolbox. Packout Customizable Work TopI selected the Packout Customizable Work Top as a work surface for the QSC Touchmix-16 audio mixer, the in-ear monitor receiver and the iPad/Phone charger system. This surface is attached to the top of the XLR/Power Cable Crate to keep dust and weather off of the cables. This also puts the audio equipment at the perfect height for the gig. I 3D printed a cable wrap and mounted it to the rear of the Work Top for the iPad/Phone charger system. A Little BlingI 3D Printed logos for the band to provide some branding for the system. I removed the Milwaukee’s Logo Badges located on the Packout 2 Drawer Toolbox and the Customizable Work Top and glued the Live at Nine Logos in their place. I also 3D printed Labels for each Packout component for durability and visibility.  SummaryAs you can see, this system is a radical improvement to our band's set-up and tear-down workflow. It accomplishes all of the original design goals: reduced time, reduced stress, and improved reliability. I can't wait to see how the Milwaukee Packout system evolves over time. I am sure I will continue to refine and redesign elements of this solution (and pacKITS offerings) after more use and to take advantage of new Packout (and 3rd party modder) innovations. That's OK because it fuels my passions!
If you have any questions, comments or ideas about this article. Please post them below. I'd love to hear from you!
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AuthorSteve Roehm is the President of pacKITS. He is an engineer who loves to design useful and meaningful products. He recently retired after 35 years in the Medical Diagnostics field as he continues is following his design passion and creative passions. ArchivesCategories |
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