Blank or Box Blank: 

A flat sheet of corrugated board that has been cut, scored, and slotted, but not yet glued together.

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Box Manufacturer’s Certificate (BMC): 

A statement printed in a round or rectangular design on a corrugated box flap that certifies the box conforms to all applicable standards, and identifies its manufacturer. Sometimes referred to as a class stamp or cert stamp.

 

Box Style: 

Distinctive configuration of a box design, without regard to size. A name or number identifies styles in common use.

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Built-up: 

Multiple layers of corrugated board glued together to form a pad of desired thickness, normally used for interior packing.

 

Bulk: 

Unpackaged goods within a shipping container. Also, a large box used to contain a volume of product (e.g., “bulk box”).

 

Bundle: 

A shipping unit of two or more articles or boxes wrapped or fastened together by suitable means.

 

Caliper: 

Usually expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils) or sometimes referred to as “points.” Caliper measurements are also used as an indirect measure of manufacturing quality.

 

Combined Board: 

A fabricated sheet assembled from several components, such as corrugated or solid fiberboard.

 

Compression Strength: 

A corrugated box’s resistance to uniformly applied external forces. Top-to-bottom compression strength is related to the load a container may encounter when stacked. End-to-end or side-to-side compression may also be of interest for particular applications.

 

Containerboard: 

The paperboard components (liner board, corrugating material and chipboard) used to manufacture corrugated and solid fiberboard. The raw materials used to make container board may be virgin cellulose fiber, recycled fiber or a combination of both.

 

Corrugated Board, Corrugated Fiberboard: 

The structure formed by gluing one or more sheets of fluted corrugating medium to one or more flat facings of linerboard.

 

There are four common types:

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• Single Face: Combination of one fluted corrugating medium glued to one flat facing of linerboard.

• Single Wall: Two flat facings of linerboard, one glued to each side of a corrugated medium. Also known as Double Face.

• Double Wall: Three flat facings of linerboard, one glued to each side of two corrugated mediums.

• Triple Wall: Four flat facings of linerboard, one glued to each side of three corrugated mediums.

 

Corrugator: 

The machine that unwinds two or more continuous sheets of containerboard from rolls, presses flutes into the sheet(s) of corrugating medium, applies adhesive to the tips of the flutes and affixes the sheet(s) of linerboard to form corrugated board. The continuous sheet of board may be slit to desired widths, cut off to desired lengths and scored in one direction.

 

 

Design Style: 

A style of fiberboard trays or caps having flaps scored, folded and secured at flange side walls forming the depth, as opposed to a slotted style having a set of major and minor closing flaps.

Die Cut: The act of cutting raw material (such as combined board) to a desired shape (such as a box blank) by using a die.

 

Dimensions: 

The three measurements of a box: length, width and depth. Inside dimensions are used to assure proper fit around a product. Outside dimensions are used in the carrier classifications and in determining pallet patterns.

 

Double Wall: 

A corrugated board construction where two layers of medium are glued between three layers of flat linerboard facing.

 

Edge Crush Resistance/Short Column Compression (ECT): 

The amount of force needed to crush on-edge combined board is a primary factor in predicting the compression strength of the completed box. When using certain specifications in the carrier classifications, minimum edge crush values must be certified.

 

Fiberboard: 

A general term describing combined paperboard (corrugated or solid) used to manufacture containers.

 

Flaps: 

Extension of the side wall panels that, when sealed, close the remaining openings of a box. Usually defined by one scoreline and three edges.

 

Flexo Folder Gluer: 

A machine, usually capable or running at high speed that prints, folds, cuts, and glues sheets of corrugated board, converting them into shipping boxes.

 

Flute: 

The wavy layer of corrugated medium that is glued between the flat inner and outer sheets of linerboard to create corrugated board. Fluting generally runs parallel to the height of a shipping box.

 

Joint: 

The opposite edges of the blank glued, stapled, wire stitched, or taped together to form a box.

 

Kraft: 

German word meaning “strength”; designating pulp, paper or paperboard produced from wood fibers.

 

Liner: 

A creased fiberboard sheet inserted as a sleeve in a container and covering all side walls. Used to provide extra stacking strength or cushioning.

 

Linerboard: 

The flat sheets of paper that comprise the outer surfaces of a sheet of corrugated board.

 

Medium: 

The paperboard used to make the fluted layer of corrugated board.

 

Mullen (or Burst) Test: 

The Mullen Test is a standard industry measure of the bursting strength of corrugated board.

 

Overlap: 

A design feature wherein the top and/or bottom flaps of a box do not butt, but extend one over the other. The amount of overlap is measured from flap edge to flap edge.

 

Pad: 

A corrugated or solid fiberboard sheet, or sheet of other authorized material, used for extra protection or for separating tiers or layers of articles when packed for shipment.

 

Palletizing: 

Securing and loading containers on pallets for shipment as a single unit load, typically for handling by mechanical equipment.

 

Panel: 

A “face” or “side” of a box.

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Partition: 

A set of corrugated, solid fiberboard or chipboard pieces that interlock when assembled to form a number of cells into which articles may be placed for shipment.

 

Ply: 

Any of the several layers of linerboard or solid fiberboard.

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Regular Slotted Container (RSC): 

A box style created from a single sheet of corrugated board. The sheet is scored and slotted to permit folding. Flaps extending from the side and end panels form the top and bottom of the box. The two outer flaps are one-half the container’s width in order to meet at the center of the box when folded. Flute direction may be perpendicular to the length of the sheet (usually for top-opening RSCs) or parallel to the length of the sheet (usually for end-opening RSCs).

 

Score or Scoreline: 

An impression or crease in corrugated or solid fiberboard, made to position and facilitate folds.

 

Scored and Slotted Sheet: 

A sheet of corrugated fiberboard with one or more scorelines, slots or slits. May be further defined as a box blank, a box part, a tray or wrap, a partition piece, or an inner packing piece.

 

Seam: 

The junction created by any free edge of a container flap or panel where it abuts or rests on another portion of the container and to which it may be fastened by tape, stitches or adhesive in the process of closing the container.

 

Set-up Boxes: 

Boxes that have been squared, with one set of end flaps sealed, ready to be filled with product. An article that is packed for shipment in a fully assembled or erected form.

 

Sheet: 

A rectangle of combined board, untrimmed or trimmed, and sometimes scored across the corrugations when that operation is done on the corrugator. Also, a rectangle of any of the component layers of containerboard, or of paper or a web of paperboard as it is being unwound from the roll.

 

Slit: 

A cut made in a fiberboard sheet without removal of material.

 

Slit Score: 

Shallow knife cuts made in a box blank to allow its flaps and sides to be folded into a shipping box.

 

Slip Sheet: 

A flat sheet of material used as a base upon which goods and materials may be assembled, stored and transported.

 

Slot: 

A wide cut, or pair of closely spaced parallel cuts including removal of a narrow strip of material made in a fiberboard sheet, usually to form flaps and permit folding without bulges caused by the thickness of the material. Common widths are 1/4 in. (6 mm) and 3/8 in. (9 mm).

 

Stacking Strength: 

The maximum compressive load a container can bear over a given length of time, under given environmental/distribution conditions, without failing.

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Tube: 

A sheet of combined boards, scored and folded to a multi-sided form with open ends. It may be an element of a box style or a unit of interior packing that provides protection and compression strength.

 

Unit: 

A large group of bundled or unbundled boxes, banded and/or stretch filmed together for shipment.

 

Unitized Load: 

A load of a number of articles or containers, bound together by means of tension strapping, plastic shrink or stretch films.

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