Optimising packaging costs systematically

More than material and printing

In addition to board, printing, tooling and converting, costs arise from procurement, storage space, variant management, setup operations, rejects and potential machine downtime. Product damage and unnecessarily complex handling also belong in an overall assessment.

A cheaper carton can therefore be more expensive within the overall process. Conversely, not every additional technical feature justifies higher manufacturing costs. What matters is its measurable benefit in the specific application.

Typical opportunities for optimisation

The greatest potential often arises early in structural design, not only during price negotiations. Product protection, legal requirements and process reliability must not be compromised.

• Review dimensions and material use
• Optimise sheet layout and the tooling concept
• Consolidate variants where the product and process allow
• Use finishing selectively rather than across the entire surface
• Coordinate palletisation, delivery batches and storage requirements
• Include setup effort and machine compatibility in the assessment

Make decisions using actual process data

A meaningful comparison requires annual quantities, batch sizes, variants, current material data, machine performance and specific failure costs. Promises of percentage savings without this basis are not credible.

HvC can assess the structural design and production characteristics of existing or new folding cartons. Options are evaluated together with the customer and sampled where required. Filling and fulfilment remain part of the customer's process and are not included in HvC's services.

Compare price factors transparently

The quoted price of a custom folding carton depends on factors including format, board grade, printing, varnishing, tooling, converting, production quantity and delivery batch. A low unit price for a large order is only advantageous if storage requirements, tied-up capital and the risk of changes are appropriate.

For a fair comparison, quotations should cover the same technical specification and scope of services. The ROI of a redesign can only be calculated from project-specific investments and demonstrable changes in the overall process—not from blanket industry figures.