In 5 steps to a stronger box

Our corrugated packaging can take many forms, but their end goal is always the same: to form a study carrier tailored to their content. How do we develop the perfect box for every packaging job? Account managers Kristof Weedaeghe and Vincent Opsommer are happy to explain it to you!

To determine the ideal carrying capacity of a box, Soenen Golfkarton uses an extensive checklist. With each price request our packaging specialists test about thirty parameters to determine the dimensions, quality and degree of finish that best meets the wishes of the client. In short, the thought process from request to proposal takes place in five phases.

1. What content will the box carry?

“Everything starts with the content”, says Kristof. “Which product it concerns and what its weight is, will in first place determine our packaging choice. Incidentally, we ask ourselves whether that content is portable or not, so whether it supports the box that comes on top, if it has to be stacked. Whether the box will be the primary or secondary packaging of the product also plays a role in this.”

2. What type of box matches that content?

“Based on the content we quickly know which type of box will best serve the customer”, continues Vincent. “For fruit and vegetables for example, we look at corrugated trays or die-cut boxes while for industrial goods we will rather choose octabins or boxes with auto-lock bottom. The type of box gives us information about its stitching and die-cutting. Will it be glued, stapled or taped? And will there be handles, filling openings or extra perforations? All these things have an influence on the carrying capacity.”

3. What conditions should the box be able to withstand?

“It’s also important to know in which conditions the box will be stored: moisture and heat play into the quality of the corrugated cardboard. If the product ends up in the fridge, the freezer or just in a warm room, we need to take this in account when selecting the type of paper with which we produce the box”, so says Vincent.

“Ditto for boxes that have to travel long distances”, adds Kristof. “The strength we put forward is in general very dependent on the logistics process: is the transport done by truck, boat or plane and will the boxes be placed separately or stacked on pallets? Each situation demands a different approach.”

4. How is the box used?

“This immediately takes us to the use of the box. Boxes that are stacked on pallets mostly have a larger and heavier content, which means that they have to be transported by fork-lift trucks. But if manual transport is a requirement, the box better not weighs more than twenty kilograms. Of course we also take the practical and ergonomic into account in our calculation”, emphasizes Kristof.

5. How is the box finished?

“With boxes that are handled manually, there’s also a fifth step involved. These are often packaging for retail and e-commerce, in which the aesthetic also plays a role. As soon as you print a box – either partially, or fully – it has an impact on the pressure resistance of the corrugated cardboard and therefore on the strength of the box. Depending on the percentage of printing, we will adjust our design again.”

The bottom of the story

The road to the perfect box is therefore one with many stops. That’s the challenging thing about the packaging sector, thinks Kristof: “There is a solution for each request, but there is no written gospel to determine the ideal strength of a box. You have to weigh all the factors and sometimes think outside the box.”

“People often underestimate the importance of this preliminary provision. To give an example: you don’t want to experience that a whole load of granulate goes to waste because the carrying capacity of the bulk packaging wasn’t optimally calculated. In this sense, a wrong box choice can have gigantic consequences. We always link the theory to a solid file knowledge to prevent such situations”, concludes Vincent.

Do you want to put your product in a sturdy packaging? We're happy to check off all your requirements! Request your quote here.