SOURCING WORKSHEET / FIRST ORDER
Compare quotes from up to 3 factories
FREE basic specification and sourcing-requirements review
Eligible first orders may receive up to 3%
Eligibility applies to qualified business buyers and is confirmed after we review your product, quantity, destination, and sourcing requirements. Final savings depend on supplier confirmation, product type and order value.
Prepress and sample path
Resolve the artwork and sample choices that still block a comparable heavy-duty corrugated boxes quote. This page is a prepress path, not a sustainability scorecard, not a carbon roadmap, and not a factory we own.
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Ask for a CAD or PDF die line that states inside length, width, depth, flap and grain direction. A retail photo of a closed carton is not a converting file. If no die line exists, the quote must carry a tooling line and say who owns the die after the first run.
Write color count and whether a PMS or a physical drawdown is required. Digital for short marked lots can avoid a plate; conventional flexographic printing often keeps spot color steadier once the run is stable. Gravure printing is uncommon on short corrugated lots; if a plant offers it, ask why the cylinder cost is listed.
An unprinted blank checks flute, flap and stack fit. Sample freight stays outside the piece price. A printed carton that fails fit still burns the print run. Humidity notes belong on the sample request when the destination is a cooler or a container.
Digital proof, wet proof or press proof must be named. Digital print versus flexo changes what that proof can confirm about the production run. A one-color flexo mark on kraft is not the same target as a four-color preprint liner.
Each artwork change can restart plates or a digital setup. Write how many revisions are included and what a later change costs before factories guess. A date-code only change is not the same as a new blank.
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High SKU counts and frequent artwork changes can reduce plate cost with digital print. Stable long marks often keep unit cost and spot color better in flexo. Pick one path per quote line. Two is a path count, not a verified plant score.
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Edge crush test and burst are not interchangeable. Before accepting an alternative construction, verify the method, the number and the flute. One alternative still needs a new structure sample if the stack path changes.
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Name which faces print and which stay kraft. A plant that quotes print included without a plate line is not yet on the same line as a plant that quotes one-color flexographic printing plus a plate charge. Three is a field count (faces, colors, plates), not a savings claim.
These are document types, not badges this desk holds and not a logo wall of audited partners. We will not invent a circular-economy pledge or a net-zero badge for this page.
Inside size, flaps and grain on the named style.
Edge crush test or burst that matches the quoted board.
Kraft or test liner plus any food-contact file for that lot.
Ink migration testing when the mark can contact food or skin.
These numbers describe checklist steps on this page. They are not factory headcount, years in business or a discount.
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Artwork and sample checks on the timeline above
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Document types a buyer may request from a named plant
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Published savings percentages on this site
Review inquiry options then request factory quotes when die line, strength method and print path can be written.
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