Box Manufacturing: A Mistake

Box Manufacturing: A Mistake

Ever made a huge mistake at work and feared the worst? That’s exactly what happened to a worker in a paper bag factory back in 1879. The pressman accidently cut, rather than creased, 20,000 bags.

No longer suitable for packaging seeds, this error could have caused the employee his job. Fortunately, the problem was viewed as an opportunity. His boss, Robert Gair looked at the damaged seed packets and had an idea. He realised the possibility of building a machine that could cut and crease card to form cardboard boxes.

Affordable Cardboard Packaging

Cardboard boxes were already available at this time, but the cutting and creasing processes were undertaken manually. The job was time consuming, meaning that boxes were an expensive packaging option. A machine would speed up the process and make cardboard packaging was an affordable option for mass produced goods.

Robert Gair developed his idea and his company became the first cardboard box manufacturer. He made use of machine tooling to form the cardboard into different dimensions and shapes, to suit the requirements of his customers.

Colgate and Ponds were early adopters. They purchased cardboard packaging from Robert Gair’s company for toiletry products. An order for 2 million boxes from the National Biscuit Company secured the future of this box manufacturer. This initiated the rise of cardboard packaging for dry consumable products including cereal.

Benefits of Cardboard Packaging

Cardboard packaging brought benefits to all. Producers were able to print on the card to market their goods and stand out from the competition. Retailers could create visually appealing window and shelf displays to attract customers. Consumers enjoyed fresh products in convenient packaging.

There have been advances in technology since the first cardboard boxes came out of a factory in 1890, yet the basic process has remained largely unchanged. His experiments with lithographic printing have also been widely adopted, although other print finishes are now available.

Cardboard box manufacturers, including Aylesbury Box Company, continue to produce affordable packaging. From shelf ready retail packaging, through to large industrial cartons, we draw on Robert Gair’s invention to best meet customer’s requirements.