How are corrugated boxes made?
Corrugated boxes are everywhere, carrying products from all over the world and just down the street. Your favorite pizza probably comes delivered in a brightly colored corrugated box. Your little brother or sister might use a big corrugated washer, dryer or dishwasher box for a playhouse. You might flatten and collect corrugated boxes for recycling. Where do all those boxes come from?


Do boxes come in boxes?
Boxes are about the only product not often shipped in boxes. They’re usually shipped in bundles. They are made in special factories called “box plants.” Corrugated boxes are designed to be very strong. They are made of corrugated paperboard, which is different from the stiff paper known as “cardboard.” Look at the edge of corrugated paperboard, and you will see a row of air columns. The air acts as a cushion, while the paper columns make the material strong.

Each box is made to hold something just right, protect it from banging around, and keep it from spilling. Boxes are made with important information printed on them about what’s inside, or how to lift or move them. Carefully designed inserts hold items in place so they won’t spill or become damaged.

How many ways are there to build a box?
There’s a box for practically every purpose, and building it begins when the box-plant salesperson asks the box-buying customer just what kind of box is needed, how many, and how soon?

Then a box designer starts planning. He or she has plenty to consider: the size and shape of the customer’s product, the size and shape of the finished box, the strength of the material it’s made of, the color of the corrugated board, the size of the flutes or paper ridges within it, the number of boxes to be made, the coatings and printing they’ll bear, and just when they need to be made and shipped. How will the customer put the box together, fill it, and close it? How will the customer’s customer open the box? Will the product-filled box be moved by hand or by fork lift? Stacked in tall piles or singly? How roughly will it be treated?

A computer helps crunch the numbers. The box designer adds human creativity and insight. The design, drawn on paper or a computer screen, might look like a puzzle.