As an OEM, you’ve got a lot to take care of before you get your first product manufactured, packaged, and shipped to retail shelves. In addition to perfecting the product’s design, you’ll need to design an eye-catching carton to keep the product safe while drawing in customer attention. There are literally thousands of products in many big box stores, so if your product carton doesn’t stand out, it will probably be overlooked.
At Econocorp, our team has worked with companies in various industries to assist in the design of cartons that are functional and will run on automatic packaging machines. Econocorp will work together with the carton manufacturer and customer’s marketing and packaging team to assure the carton will run properly in the automation process.
Proper Fit
You may not believe it, but more than once we’ve dealt with an OEM that designed their product carton on their own, only to find out that the product itself doesn’t actually fit inside. This is a major design flaw that requires a complete rework, including new engineering analysis and material testing.
Another fit issue we often see with cartons is the OEM designing a carton that doesn’t load properly into the cartoning machine. The carton material must flow smoothly from the feeder all the way through to case packing. If the raw carton material is too large or small for the cartoner feeder, the material will likely jam up and shut the entire packaging line down until it is removed.
At Econocorp, we know that product fit and carton material fit should be foundational elements in carton design. Any design we propose will properly fit both the product and the associated packaging machine.
Ease of Opening
How many times have you purchased a product that required a congressional order to get out of its carton? As companies focus on sustainability efforts, cartons become more and more fitted to their products, with some requiring the carton to be destroyed to be removed. This doesn’t give the customer a great experience right before using the product. In fact, the ease of opening the product carton has become such a complaint among consumers that huge companies like Amazon now offer options like “Frustration-free packaging”, which sends products packaged in cartons that are easier to open. This can be especially important for elderly or disabled populations. At Econocorp, our carton design team knows how important it is for the product carton to be sturdy and secure while also being easy to open for the end user, and we incorporate this into all our carton designs.
Carton Material Manipulation
The raw material that is fed into a cartoning machine is often just a blank slate, ready to be pushed, pulled, folded, and punched into a great carton design. But did you know that there are things you can do to make shaping the carton easier? By adding features like scorelines, perforations, and even pre-broken sections, the carton material will adapt to the correct carton style easier after loading into the cartoner. This improves the consistency of your product packaging, which is also a major factor in customer satisfaction and repeat business.
Closure
Sealing is an essential step in the packaging process to ensure that the product stays snugly inside the carton during case packing, palletizing, shipping, and placement on retail shelves. When you use Econocorp’s product carton design services, we’ll help you find the ideal sealing method for your carton, like hot glue melt, tuck and fold, and others, that keeps your product safe while also being easy for the end user to open. Depending on the closure method you choose, we may suggest additional tweaks to the carton material to facilitate sealing, such as flap tapering.
Carton Coatings
One more carton design consideration that often gets overlooked is carton coatings. Depending on your product and the conditions it will need to endure between manufacturing and the sales floor, applying certain carton coatings to the raw carton material can be advantageous. For example, there are carton coatings that can help keep temperatures inside the carton stable to keep food products fresh. For medical equipment or pharmaceuticals, the OEM may want to add an anti-microbial coating to keep the products sanitary. No matter what specialized need you have for your product carton, Econocorp’s product carton design team can suggest a carton coating that complements and protects the final product.
Choose Econocorp for Superb Consultative Advice on your Carton Design
From choosing a carton style to adding the bells and whistles, Econocorp’s team will assist all the stakeholders in the process of having a functionable carton for automation. We’ll work with you every step of the way to be sure that the final carton design meets and exceeds your expectations while being structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing. Contact us at 781-986-7500 or email info@econocorp.com to get started with our carton design services today!