ALPES aluminum windows and doors 20ft container

What a 20ft Container Means for Your ALPES Order

ALPES is a system window and door manufacturer based in Foshan and Zhaoqing, Guangdong, operating a 100,000 m² production base and exporting to villa projects across Saudi Arabia, Dubai, the wider Middle East, and Australia. When a single villa or a distributor first trial order needs one clean, trackable shipment, a 20ft container booked as FCL (full container load) is usually the right unit. This guide explains how a 20ft box works for an ALPES mixed window and door order, what gets packed, and how to plan the load without guessing.

The 20ft Container at a Glance

A standard 20ft dry container measures internally about 5.9 m long × 2.35 m wide × 2.39 m high, giving roughly 33 cubic metres of loading space with a payload around 28,000 kg. The door opening is about 2.34 m × 2.28 m. These are ISO standard figures; exact numbers vary slightly by container age and carrier.

Aluminum systems are dense: a 20ft box often hits its weight limit before it runs out of volume, which makes the smaller container cost-efficient for one project rather than paying for empty space in a 40ft box.

What Goes Into an ALPES 20ft Container

One of the advantages of buying from a single casement window supplier like ALPES is that you can mix families in the same crate plan. Typical ALPES lines for a villa shipment:

• Casement windows — C120 (119 mm frame wall, K=1.6), C113 (113 mm, CMECH hardware tested to 30,000 cycles), C116 (116 mm, K=1.7, optional Wehag).
• Tilt-and-turn — the tilt and turn windows line includes the AW90 passive window (90 mm frame, K=1.3, Winkhaus hardware) and the AW113 series.
• Sliding window — TS130 side-press (130 mm frame, ROTO hardware, 200 kg pulleys, eight-point locking).
• Sliding doors — from the sliding door factory range: SL155 (four-track 155 mm, single sash up to 2800 × 2600 mm, 400 kg 20-wheel system), SL112/167, and SL126/182.
• Sunrooms — custom aluminum sun room structures can share the container when space allows.

Note that large panels such as the SL155 (up to 2.8 m × 2.6 m per sash) drive the load layout: fewer but bigger units per layer.

How ALPES Packs System Windows and Doors for Export

System windows are bulky and the insulated glass is fragile, so export crating decides whether they arrive intact. The standard export method for ALPES systems is: corner guards on the profile ends, foam or polyethylene wrap around the frame, cardboard edge protection, then a plywood or wooden crate protecting the glass face. Full glue-injection corner construction used on the ALPES casement and tilt-turn lines keeps each frame rigid so it survives stacking and sea vibration. Where wooden crates are used, an IPPC fumigation mark is required for most destinations.

ALPES confirms the exact packed dimensions and crate method for your chosen models. The factory quotes packed CBM and gross weight against your bill of quantities, so you are not estimating blind.

How Many Windows and Doors Fit in a 20ft Container

Loading count depends entirely on the packed size of each unit — there is no single fixed number. As industry planning references, suppliers commonly quote around 150 sets of a standard 2100 × 900 mm casement in a 20GP, while freight forwarders estimate 60 to 80 leaf-units (single panels up to 2 m²) or 300 to 400 standard frames depending on configuration. For ALPES the real count comes from your model mix:

Use the simple check: packed CBM per unit × quantity must stay under about 33 m³, and total gross weight under about 28,000 kg. Send ALPES your window schedule and the factory returns a confirmed loading plan with the exact count.

Documents and Compliance for a 20ft ALPES Shipment

• Commercial invoice and packing list — prepared by ALPES.
• Bill of lading — issued by the carrier once loaded.
• HS code 7610 — common for aluminum windows and doors; confirm with your broker.
• IPPC fumigation certificate — required when wooden crates are used.
• Certificate of origin — useful for duty relief in many markets.
• Cargo insurance — commonly covering 110% of goods value.
• Shock recorder (optional) — placed inside the container to verify a smooth voyage.

Planning Your 20ft ALPES Container, Step by Step

• 1. Send your BOQ — models, opening sizes, and quantities to ALPES.
• 2. Engineering confirmation — ALPES locks the model and sealed dimensions.
• 3. Receive the plan — packed CBM, gross weight, and loading count.
• 4. Choose 20ft or 40ft — 20ft for one villa or a trial; 40ft for volume.
• 5. Book FCL — ALPES handles export packing and container loading.
• 6. Loading proof — request photos, count, and corner-protection checks.
• 7. Track and clear — follow to the destination port, then arrange customs and delivery.

Why Factory-Direct From ALPES Helps a 20ft Shipment

Buying direct from the Foshan and Zhaoqing base means one source for the whole mixed load — windows, doors, and sunroom in a single crate plan — with a consistent crating standard and engineering support that confirms dimensions before steel is cut. That removes the guesswork from a 20ft shipment and keeps the first order for a villa project or a new distribution channel manageable.

Conclusion

A 20ft container is the practical entry unit for an ALPES villa or distributor order. Send your project specifications to ALPES and get a confirmed loading plan with real packed volumes and counts instead of rough estimates. The factory direct-from-works model turns a container of custom aluminum systems into a trackable, well-packed shipment.