What’s the most embarrassing thing you can think of? Let us volunteer a suggestion: confusing cases and cartons! Indeed, nothing will get you tarred & feathered at a packaging convention faster than not knowing the difference between these two containers. In fact, we suspect a lot of people avoid the terms in social situations proximous to an abundance of viscous carbon and poultry processing by-product. The difference between a case and a carton is something nearly everyone involved in manufacturing needs to know. If you put products into packages, you almost inevitably use cases, cartons, or both. If you’re wondering what you can do to impress your colleagues with your packaging savvy, you’re in for a treat. In this post, we’ll explore the differences between cases and cartons, leading you to a firm grasp of their definitions and attributes. Let’s start with definitions.
Cartons
There are varying definitions of these two terms across the web, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to internet users. To offer a strict definition, a carton is a paperboard container whose walls are between 0.25 mm to 1.0 mm in thickness. In addition to the physical parameters, a carton is usually used as display packaging on shelves. Naturally, it should be able to accommodate printing of graphics and text. Unlike corrugated box material, carton walls are made up of a single layer. An appealing benefit of cartons as primary packaging is that they have a small storage footprint and are lightweight. However, they must be packed inside heavier containers for transit.
Cartons are always made of paperboard, so a plastic gallon jug of milk or juice would not be a carton. They’re meant to be inexpensive and recyclable or disposable at the end of their lifetime. The paperboard may also have a wax coating. The general rule of thumb is that cartons are flimsier, more attractive packaging used for display purposes or as primary packaging for food products.
Cases
Cases are made of corrugated paperboard with a thickness between 3.0 mm and 6.0 mm. They’re stronger and frequently used for products bought in multiples or in bulk. Products sold in cases are usually packaged in multiples of six, although the exact number of items per case will depend on the seller and the product type. Buying a case of X product assumes the seller’s definition of how many items are in the case for that product. Different vendors may have different quantities per case of a product, although some product cases are rather standard.
You may be interested to know that “cardboard,” while having become acceptable in common vernacular, is technically incorrect when referring to corrugated box material. Corrugated packaging has a layer of arched or ruffled paper called fluting between two layers of flat paper. Corrugated can have multiple layers of flutes and flat paper lining depending on durability needs. Cases are generally made of this corrugated packaging. For its level of dependability and durability, it’s very lightweight and can be rather environmentally-friendly if recycled. Because it’s made of fibers of wood or straw origin, it can be sourced and recycled in an ecologically responsible way. Since the outer layers of corrugated are always paper, these containers can easily bare printing from flexography, lithography, and silk screening. One of the highlights of corrugated is its talent for impact absorption and protection of contents. Impacts and accidental drops aren’t as big an issue with this material. It’s structure also allows it to be stacked and stored while avoiding damage to the product.
A Side-by-Side View
Cases are sturdier than cartons and are often just used for shipping, although not always. Cartons, while lighter and flimsier, tend to be more visually appealing and therefore more shelf-worthy. Cases frequently contain multiple units of cartons. One of the main differences between the two is that cases are made of corrugated, which involves at least three layers of material, while cartons comprise just a single layer of paperboard. Cases and cartons both are usually shaped like cuboids, but not always. Cartons sometimes lack straight edges of any kind, such as ice cream tubs.
We hope you’ve gleaned valuable knowledge from this post. If you’re debating the best type of containers your product needs or the best machinery to do the packaging, please contact our office. The experts at DasPac specialise in determining what your needs are, finding the right combination of equipment and material to satisfy those needs, and even programming the technology to make everything runs smoothly and on schedule. Did we mention we do all of this at competitive prices? Thank you for reading our blog. We enjoy curating our presentations of packaging knowledge, and we look forward to answering any questions you may have about how packaging technology can benefit your bottom line.
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