Packaging and printing process: from artwork to dispatch

The stages below follow one typical job: a folding carton for a tea brand, printed four colours plus a spot colour on board, film laminated, die-cut, then folded and glued and packed in shippers. A flexible packaging converter or a label printer runs different machines, but the sequence of records is much the same.

At each stage the question is not only what happens but what it leaves behind. Those records decide what the job really cost and how quickly a client complaint can be answered.

The process at a glance

1. 1Order and artworkThe client's purchase order and the approved artwork revision.
2. 2Job specificationBoard grade and size, ups per sheet, inks, film, die, glue and pack-out.
3. 3Prepress and platesPlate set made or pulled for the approved revision.
4. 4Material planningBoard, film and ink needs checked against stock by lot.
5. 5Procurement and receiptBoard and film received by mill lot or reel, checked on arrival.
6. 6Job releaseJob placed on the press queue and material issued by lot.
7. 7PrintingFirst sheet approved, then make-ready and running waste, counts and downtime.
8. 8ConversionLamination, die-cutting and stripping, folding and gluing, each with its own waste.
9. 9InspectionIn-process checks at each machine, final check against the approved sample.
10. 10Finished goods and dispatchPacked to the pack-out, received by job, shipped with a delivery note.

What happens at each stage, and what it records

1. Client order and artwork

The tea brand sends a purchase order for a quantity of cartons, usually with an accepted tolerance either side. The artwork comes from the brand or its agency, goes through proofing, and is signed off. The order record should hold the item, the quantity, the delivery date, the rate per thousand and the artwork revision that was approved, so a later revision cannot quietly replace it.

2. Job specification

The specification is the job's BOM and routing together. It names the board grade and sheet size, how many cartons sit on one sheet, the inks and the spot colour, the lamination film, the die, the glue, and the pack-out. The routing lists printing, lamination, die-cutting, stripping, folding-gluing and packing in order. For a repeat item, the last approved specification is the starting point. The guide to multi-level BOM management covers how structures like this are kept under control.

3. Prepress, plates and die

Prepress prepares the imposed layout and makes a plate per colour, five plates for this job. If the revision has not changed since the last order, the existing plates may be reused. The die is checked for wear. The record links the plate set to the artwork revision and the job, so the press room can see which set to mount.

4. Material planning

Board needed is worked out from the order quantity, the ups per sheet and an allowance for make-ready and running waste at every step. Film, ink and glue follow from the specification. Requirements are compared with stock by lot and open purchase orders, and a shortage names the job it will hold up.

5. Procurement and receipt

Board arrives on pallets with a mill lot, film arrives on reels with a reel number and weight, and ink comes in batches. Each is received against its lot and checked: board caliper and grammage, film width and treatment, ink batch against the shade. A lot that fails is held. The record holds the supplier, lot, quantity and result.

6. Job release

The job is placed on the press queue, ideally next to jobs on the same board or a similar colour set so make-ready is shorter. Board is issued to the job by lot. From here, every count and every waste figure belongs to this job and this board.

7. Printing

The operator mounts the plates and runs make-ready until colour and register match the approved sample. The first good sheet is checked and approved before the run. The sheets used to get there are make-ready waste. During the run, the operator logs good sheets, running waste with a reason (a hickey, a colour drift, a sheet jam) and downtime with a cause. Keeping the two kinds of waste apart is what lets the unit see whether short runs or the run itself are losing money.

8. Conversion: lamination, die-cutting, folding-gluing

Printed sheets go to the laminator. Here, as at every conversion step, there is start-up waste and running waste, and film is issued by reel with any balance returned against the same reel. Some units send lamination out; then the sheets go on a challan and the count that comes back is checked against it, with any short return recorded and the vendor's charge put on the job.

The die-cutter has its own make-ready: setting the die, adjusting pressure, checking the crease. Stripping removes the waste between cartons. The folder-gluer then folds and glues each carton, and again records setting waste, running waste and good count. At this point the job is counted in cartons, not sheets, so the record needs both.

9. In-process inspection

Checks are made at each machine: colour and register at the press, bond and appearance at lamination, cut and crease at the die-cutter, glue line and opening at the folder-gluer. A failed check holds the job at that stage until someone records rework, use as is, or reject. The article on inspecting at the operation to reduce rejection explains why catching it here costs far less than catching it at dispatch.

10. Final inspection, finished goods and dispatch

Packed cartons are sampled against the approved sample and released or held. Released cartons are received into finished goods against the job, counted in the pack-out units. Dispatch ships against the client's order with a delivery note and invoice, recording the actual quantity against the ordered quantity and its tolerance.

What to record and control at each stage

Where the process usually breaks

• Between the client's revision and the press, when a new artwork is approved by email and the old plate set is mounted.
• At reel issue and return, when part reels come back without being weighed against their lot.
• On the job card, when make-ready and running waste are written as one number at the end of the shift.
• At the vendor, when laminated sheets come back short and the count is not checked against the challan.
• At the folder-gluer, when sheets turn into cartons and the count in one unit is never reconciled with the other.

How is one job traced back from dispatch?

If the tea brand reports peeling lamination on cartons from one delivery, the trace runs backwards: delivery note to job, job to the lamination step and the film reel used, the operator and the checks made there, and back to the board lot and ink batches. With each stage recorded on the job, that is a lookup. With job cards in a cabinet and reels in a register, it is an afternoon's work.

How FleekERP records each stage

In FleekERP the carton job is a work order, and each stage above is recorded on it. The job carries the approved artwork revision, and the plate or cylinder set is recorded against it. Production planning places jobs on machines against capacity and material readiness. Stores issues board and film by lot and takes part reels back against the same lot. Operators log make-ready and running waste, counts and downtime on their phones at printing and each conversion step, QC records checks, job work goes on a challan, and the invoice syncs to Tally or Zoho. The packaging and printing industry page shows the same flow from the plant's side.

How the process differs by type of unit

• Folding carton plants: sheet-fed offset on board, plates per colour, and die-cutting and folding-gluing as the main conversion steps.
• Flexible packaging converters: rotogravure or flexo on film reels with cylinders or plates, lamination of two or more films, then slitting into reels or pouch making. Reel lots run through the whole job.
• Label printers: narrow-web flexo or digital on reels of label stock, with die-cutting, matrix stripping and slitting often in line on the press.
• Commercial and book printers: paper by the ream or reel, plates per signature, then folding, binding and trimming.
• Corrugated box makers: board made or bought in, flexo printing, slotting and die-cutting, with pasting or stitching.