It seems like the easiest thing to put together “square,” or correctly formed, cases, or boxes, that are easy to pack, stack and ship. Except, as case erecting experts, we can tell you that it’s not as easy as it sounds.
The perfect case looks like this: the corners are all 90 degrees, the sides are vertical, and the top and bottom are horizontal and parallel to each other. Sounds easy, right? You’d be surprised at how many less than square cases we see when helping our customers solve some of their shipping issues.
Correctly erected cases are easier to pack, easier to stack and palletize, they reduce damage, and they maintain their stacking strength. In fact, 30 percent of stacking strength is lost when the case sides aren’t vertically aligned. Square cases are less likely to jam in downstream equipment, like case packers, sealers, palletizers or stretch wrapping. Even automatic storage and retrieval systems need square cases to function properly.
Plus, correctly formed cases just look more pleasing to the eye and can actually help your brand image. You don’t want people to think poorly of you just because of poorly erected cases, do you?
For companies that erect cases by hand, “square” is something that you have to eyeball, so there is always some variability in the shape. And as companies start using thinner corrugated to save money and help the environment, it’s even more important to have square cases that won’t collapse or get damaged.
You can’t stick a square peg in a round hole and you certainly can’t stick a less than square case on a pallet without risking problems. There are so many factors in assembling, packing, shipping, transportation and even automated retrieval that make square cases a critical component of your operation.
It’s important for your packing and shipping productivity that your cases are all perfectly square, so you can prevent further problems down the line.
For more information on square cases or case erectors, please contact Lantech’s Customer Response Team at 1-800-866-0322, prompt 2.
This post was published on April 9, 2014 and updated on September 13, 2017.
April 9, 2014