Technical design and customisation

Can you build a vehicle to our own specification rather than a catalogue model?

Yes. Every unit is built to order, and a fully custom specification is a normal project rather than an exception. The process is a design review against your requirement, a drawing set you approve, a prototype or first-article check where the change is significant, then production. The catalogue models exist as starting points, not limits.

In detail

A custom build begins with the requirement, not the drawing. What the vehicle must do, who operates it, what it must carry, and what the destination market will accept. From that, a layout is proposed and the engineering constraints - payload, axle load, electrical capacity, compartment volume - are checked before anything is committed.

The drawing set is the control document. It fixes dimensions, equipment positions, cable routes, plumbing, finishes and the equipment list. Once you approve it, the factory builds to it and the inspection is measured against it. Changes after approval are possible but they are change orders with a cost and a schedule effect, which is why the review stage deserves time.

Where the requirement is genuinely new, a first-article inspection is used. The first unit is built, measured and photographed against the drawing before the rest of the batch starts. This catches the errors that drawings hide: a door that fouls a stretcher, a locker that cannot open past a seat, a cable run that blocks a service panel.

The practical limit on customisation is not willingness but physics and regulation. A vehicle cannot exceed its gross weight, cannot compromise the structural integrity of the original body, and cannot be registered if the modification breaks a national technical requirement. When a request crosses one of those lines, the useful answer is a redesign, not a refusal.

Key points

  • Requirement firstStart from the duty, not from an existing drawing.
  • Drawing setApproved drawings become the build and inspection reference.
  • First articleMeasure the first unit before the batch starts.
  • Real limitsGross weight, structural integrity and national rules.
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Further questions

How much can be changed?

The body, layout, equipment, electrical architecture and finish can all be changed within the weight and structural limits. What cannot change is the chassis manufacturer's safety structure or a national registration requirement.

Do we own the drawings?

Ownership and confidentiality are agreed in the contract. For custom projects it is common to grant the buyer a licence to use the drawings for maintenance and for future orders placed with us.

Related questions

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