If you purchase off-the-shelf packaging, it’s cut and folded to standard dimensions. However, for custom packaging, your boxes are made in the best style and size for shipping, storing and displaying your products. If you’ve been talking to packaging manufacturers about bespoke boxes, they may have mentioned tooling, so what is tooling for custom packaging?
Tooling Used to Manufacture Boxes
The Cutting Die
Every box starts as a sheet of flat corrugated cardboard or carton board. This is fed into a flatbed or rotary machine that cuts it into the desired box style, with fold lines, perforations, tabs and other detailing. The flat box comes out, ready to be folded into shape and any excess cardboard is sent for recycling.
In our factory, we use flatbed machines and the first item of tooling for custom packaging is the cutting die. These are essentially a solid board on which sharp metal strips are carefully positioned. These form the template, which is sometimes referred to as a steel rule die, which cuts out your specific box shape.
If your boxes have inserts, they might be integrated. In this case, they would be part of the same cutting die. Alternatively, a second cutting die can be created for the inserts.
The person responsible for creating the cutting dies has to be accurate, with an eye for detail. In addition to ensuring everything lines up properly, there is the need to minimise waste.
The Printing Plate
The second item of tooling is the printing plate. These contain all the graphics, fonts, text, icons and other information that will be applied to finish your boxes. Printing plates are not necessary for all prints and finishes. For example, they are not used for digitally printed packaging or flood printing a solid colour. However, the majority of our customers choose flexographic or lithographic print designs, both of which require this tooling.
The printing plate creates a relief design, which transfers your specified ink colours onto the surface of the cardboard box. A different plate is required for each colour. Therefore, it is quicker and cheaper to produce a single-colour print design.
When designing for printed packaging, we always ask you to include a bleed. This simply means extending the design beyond the size of your boxes. This is because the printing plates aren’t always exactly lined up. If it is just a millimetre out, it can leave a noticeable edge to your print design if there is no bleed.
Tooling for Specialist Finishes
Additional tooling is used if your packaging design includes embossing, foil blocking and other specialist finishes.
What is the Setup Cost of Tooling for Packaging?
It takes time, skill and materials to produce the Cutting Dies and Printing Plates for bespoke packaging. Therefore, this service incurs a charge. The setup cost will depend on the complexity of the box style and the number of colours used in the print design. We will inform you of the cost in a quote and can advise on any cost-saving options in a call.
The good news is that this tooling is robust and reusable, so this is a one-off cost. We have the facilities to store all cutting dies and printing plates. Therefore, every time you order these boxes from us in the future, they are available for use. You could even ask us to use a different colour ink on the print design for a seasonal twist or promotion!
As a result, the cost of your first order is higher, but you get great value on every subsequent order. The more times you place an order, the more cost-effective it becomes.
Questions about Tooling for Packaging Design
If you have any questions about cutting dies or printing plates, just ask. With an on-site factory, our team are informed about the process and can recommend box styles and print finishes to match your requirements. For further information call us on 01296 436888 or email enquiries@abcbox.co.uk
