If you were to ask any corrugated mill, sheet plant, distributor, broker, or designer what their biggest customer complaint is, they’d probably all say:
Customers who ask for a custom box quote before they need it.
You may not realize (and hey, there’s no reason why you should) how much time goes into preparing a price quotation for a custom corrugated box. Manufacturing costs include a multitude of factors, including raw materials, waste, quantity of boxes per run, labor, setup, printing requirements, ink color(s), box die manufacturing costs, artwork costs, printing plate costs, box printing costs, special features such as a perforated tear tab, and palletizing/unitizing requirements.
The process of estimating cost can take several hours, especially when the process begins with incomplete information, which is often the case. In addition, if a customer wants a quote based on a variety of order sizes — say, 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 — this single variable potentially creates hours of additional work because it changes the value of several of the cost factors summarized above.
If a corrugated supplier receives numerous quote requests every day, which is hardly unusual, response time slows way down, and estimators work under constant pressure.
Being suppliers of custom corrugated boxes, we naturally welcome opportunities to provide quotes! However, there are many situations where customers ask for quotes before they are ready. What is “ready?”
Ready is when you are ready, willing, and able to place an order for boxes once you accept the corrugated box quote.
You’re not ready for a custom box quote if …
- You are trying to get a rough idea of box cost for a new product or case pack you are thinking about.
- You are merely looking for prices to “keep your current supplier honest.”
- You have no idea or very little idea how many boxes you will need.
- You are not sure what style of box you want.
- You’re not sure whether you want plain or printed boxes.
- You’re not sure what kind of printing or how much printing you need.
- You need box pricing as part of a quote you are preparing for one of your customers.
Of course, there are exceptions. But in general, if what if you need is a rough estimate of box cost, it’s likely we can give you a budgetary quote accurate enough to serve your purpose. Alternatively, we might recommend starting with one or two options rather than a laundry list of every possible box/quantity you think you might need. For example, if you want to see pricing for one box in 10 order quantities, let’s begin with a quote on just the smallest and largest quantities.
Very often, we can help you pinpoint your custom box needs by having a good conversation instead of processing a sweeping, not completely buttoned-down quote request.
For example, suppose you are contemplating a die-cut box for a new product having no firm sales projections. Rather than quote 10 order quantities, let’s first consider your best options in general. A small order quantity means the die will be crafted to stamp out one box at a time, whereas for a large quantity, the die may be crafted to stamp out five or six boxes at a time, resulting in a die cost of thousands rather than hundreds of dollars. In this way, we can give you a general idea of the costs and tradeoffs, so you can narrow down your options:
- What die costs can your budget support?
- How many boxes can you afford to purchase at a time, and do you have room to store them?
- Does it make sense to invest in dies at all when a similarly designed box can be produced without a die?
Talking through your box needs and associated costs will make your quote request more meaningful and actionable. The first step is not a quote, but a conversation!
Let’s Talk!
Are you looking for a firm custom box quote or need a better understanding of what the costs might be? We can help you, and we will do whatever it takes to meet your needs!
Please call us at 630-551-1700 or contact us through the website to start the conversation.
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https://www.salazarpackaging.com/four-cost-saving-packaging-tips-from-the-experts/
https://www.salazarpackaging.com/creative-dtc-packaging-design-now-can-create-huge-savings-later/
https://www.salazarpackaging.com/5-packaging-services-for-cost-reduction/