Introduction
The concept of creating a carton can be straightforward. For instance, suppose Company A introduces a new product that requires packaging. Often, there’s an existing box or bag that could suffice, but Company A might prefer a bespoke carton to enhance their branding. In such cases, the carton becomes a crucial element in marketing the product, sometimes even characterizing the product itself. From conception, the journey to the finished carton begins with the design phase.
Ever wondered about the origins of the cereal box in your kitchen? What steps did it undergo before ending up in your cupboard? This report will explore the lifecycle of a custom carton — a uniquely crafted box designed for shipping and storing products — from its initial design to its final delivery. We’ll delve into various stages of the manufacturing process, including the challenges encountered during the design phase. The report will culminate with a comprehensive review of how the carton evolved from a mere concept to a delivered product, detailing the transformations it underwent along the way.
Designing the Custom Carton
The first step for the manufacturer is to translate the customer’s desires and needs into a working carton design. By understanding the customer’s product, distribution system, vision, and unique requirements, the structural engineer can develop packaging that is tailored specifically to the customer’s needs. This process takes communication; it is important that the customer effectively communicate their needs and that both parties are open to questions and dialogue. Any special product features, such as hanging, windows, unique shapes, or stacking requirements should be iterated at this point. Evidently, packing box packaging containers are needed for many different products throughout the world, and considerations regarding the carton’s contents and the distribution environment are numerous. An experienced packaging professional can provide valuable solutions and guidance.
With an accepted project initiation or purchase order, the packaging manufacturer begins the process of producing an SCS custom carton boxes. Typically, the manufacturer’s structural engineer and graphic designer work together on a carton, often providing a three-dimensional computer rendering of the carton for the customer. This detailed process can create an extraordinary level of quality, at an often surprising value.
Production Process
In addition to die-cutting, a process known as scoring, which creases the board so it can be folded easily, is performed in the cutting and creasing department. Cuttings and waste are used to create a custom product and save the customer money. The slotting process is important for creating the box style, which is dependent on the packaging required for the product.
The high-quality die-cutting is a process that many manufacturers take for granted. This is a process that turns a standard box into a custom box. A custom box will help to package the product more efficiently and with less waste. This will save the customer money in the long run, with the added benefit of creating a stronger package. A stronger package offers more protection to the product it contains.
Production is the process of forming the corrugated board into a box. This process consists of printing, cutting, slotting, and high-quality die-cutting. The printing process is now capable of high-quality graphics. These graphics provide important information and eye-catching visuals that attract the end consumer. So, the box travels from the manufacturer to the customer into a retail store in an unbroken chain of handling. During the entire process, the box’s graphics will play an important role in its marketability.
Quality Control and Packaging
Quality is crucial to any custom carton boxes. A carton with dents or sloppily applied glue is an embarrassment to any salesman and often results in the product being regarded as unsatisfactory. A label, no matter how well designed, is not going to improve the image of a carton at this point. One of the primary sources of carton damage is rough handling during transit, often compounded by old or damaged dies. A die with bent or broken creases can easily split the fibers in the board and cause tearing along the score lines. One of the many advantages of dealing with a professional carton manufacturer is that you will not be feeding die damaged board through your machines. In Japan and several other countries, where concerns for quality have proven to be beneficial, cartons are often hand folded and glued by the manufacturer as a final assurance of quality. Packaging of cartons can take on several forms. Most common is stretch wrapping on pallets or shrink wrapping in smaller quantities. It is essential that cartons always be packaged in such a way as to protect them from moisture. This is particularly important for food products. High humidity can loosen glue and prematurely break down recycled paper fibers. If cartons will be held in storage for a long period it is also advisable to protect them from dust. A clean carton is much more likely to pass inspection at a later date compared to one that must be wiped off.
Final Delivery and Conclusion
With the conclusion of testing, all of our effort since the first steps of designing the box comes to a close. All the research, prototyping, and burn testing has come together to produce a truly effective solution for the packing problem encountered by the client. During the testing phase, we had identified a minor design flaw with the current box associated with the crack resistance of the current design. Due to a lack of compression resistance in one of the box design’s panels, the box can bow, causing the side to crease/fold and causing a loss of structural integrity from an impact on the side of the box.
This flaw was quickly identified in the burn testing where the boxes undergo extreme temperatures to identify the temperature at which the boxes become weak. With the identification of this issue and its root cause, sample boxes with various design changes were made until acceptable solutions were identified to increase the compression resistance of the panel, reducing the effects of deflection forces. With the testing of the new design, it was found to be far superior in its crack resistance and had equal compression and deflection load resistance. With the findings from both design and material, the customer was able to utilize this data to identify the best solution for their packaging problems and provide a timeline for the transition of the newly designed boxes.
With the completion of the RSC boxes beginning in July 2015, the customer has successfully transitioned to using the new LDCB, reducing costs and damage, which were produced and implemented shortly after their design phase. The customer is currently on the final solution of switching to the die-cut box and has already had success from early sample testing. With each stage of the box transition, FEI was able to provide factory testing to simulate various shipping conditions and identify any issues the changes presented and was able to develop further solutions to ensure the safety of the product during shipment.
