Industrial shelters are buildings or structures that are designed to house and protect instrumentation or personnel. Many types of products are available. Examples include booths, cabinets, and coolers. Garages are industrial shelters with large entry doors for machinery or transportation equipment. Mezzanines, intermediate stories between a building’s two main stories, are designed to provide added floor space. Racks and shelving units include cantilever, gravity, reel, pick, drive-in, pallet, multi-tier, bar, flow and storage racks. Walk-in enclosures are used with communications equipment, power generation equipment, fume containment and X-ray equipment. ISO containers are used for the intermodal transport of freight. These industrial shelters are manufactured according to specifications from the International Standards Organization (ISO) and are suitable for multiple transportation methods such as truck and rail, or rail and ship.

Industrial shelters are made of many different materials. Examples include aluminum, concrete, fabric, glass, plastic, and wood. Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic material with excellent cold flow, bi-axial strength, and yield elongation properties. It is similar to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), but can be used in exposed applications because of its resistance to ultraviolet (UV) light, weathering, and ozone. Composite materials such as fiberglass are strong, durable and impervious to many caustics and extreme temperatures. Steel is a commercial iron that contains carbon in any amount up to about 1.7 percent as an essential alloying constituent. It is malleable under suitable conditions and distinguished from cast iron by both its malleability and lower carbon content. Stainless steel is corrosion-resistant and can have relatively high pressure ratings. Industrial shelters made of steel wire are also available.  

Industrial shelters vary in terms of dimensions, applications, and features. Dimensions include height, depth or length, and width or diameter. Some industrial shelters are suitable for general-purpose, material handling, military, or processing applications. Others are designed for the containment or storage of electronic equipment, tools and machinery, hazardous materials, or oils and fuels. Products that are designed to provide primary or additional workspace for employees are also available. In terms of features, some industrial shelters are portable, corrosion resistant, fireproof, insulated, locking, trailer mounted, temperature controlled, or vented. Others are shielded against electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interface (RFI), or provide protection against electrostatic discharge (ESD). Moisture resistant shelters provide some degree of protection from the surrounding environment, but are not necessarily impervious to that environment. Moisture proof products include a barrier that prevents the ingress of moisture or other contaminants.