Secondary packaging is usually cardboard boxes that bundle a certain number of products. They are used to protect, transport and store the product. Therefore,
they must be stable and stackable. They are often also designed as a sales unit or display. In this case, their design should attract the customer’s attention and advertise the product.

Above all, secondary packaging often has to reliably convey a range of important information: the product name and article number, the EAN code and storage instructions – possibly the customer’s address or other bar or matrix codes with important information, for example to support logistics.

This information can be placed on the secondary packaging in various ways: via
– pre-printed cardboard boxes
– labels
– digital direct printing

The trend in industry is towards a greater product variety with individually smaller quantities.

For smaller production batches, the use of pre-printed cardboard boxes increases the production costs per unit, because in addition to additional set-up times, they also require appropriate planning, logistics and storage space to ensure that there is always sufficient packaging material available for the current production.

An additional system must also be installed for the application of batch-relevant information such as the date of manufacture, batch numbers or best-before date.
If the labeling is done using labels, these must also be available in the correct size, design and required quantity, printed in advance and applied reliably.

For more information – see PDF and at www.rea-jet.com