How ReloPack Brought Waste Down 18–24% with Flexographic Printing on Corrugated Boxes

"We were bleeding time on every changeover and still watching rejects stack up," said the operations lead at ReloPack, a relocation-focused packaging brand. "We wanted consistency without losing the friendly, utility-first look of our boxes." Early on, the team turned to papermart for a refresh of SKUs and accessories, and then looked hard at print control.

ReloPack’s mandate sounded deceptively simple: corrugated boxes that feel dependable, look clean, and arrive intact after long trips. The reality? Their brand team needed to keep typography sharp, color steady across multiple substrates, and deliveries on schedule while SKUs ballooned.

The turning point came when design and production sat at the same table. They agreed: Flexographic Printing would remain the backbone, but only with tighter standards and smarter material choices—Kraft liners for rugged appeal, Water-based Ink for compliance and a softer sheen, and box structures that survive the ride.

Company Overview and History

ReloPack started as a regional shipper and grew into a global relocation brand with a straightforward promise: make moving less stressful. Their packaging portfolio centers on corrugated boxes, but also includes branded tape, insert cards, and welcome kits. Over time, the brand identity shifted from purely utilitarian to reassuring—calm color palettes, honest copy, and clear handling icons that reduce anxiety when you’re packing up a life.

To support that identity, the team standardized on Corrugated Board with Kraft topsheets for structural strength and a familiar look. Flexographic Printing was the primary process—fast on long runs and reliable with Water-based Ink. For special unboxing kits, they added details like papermart ribbon to bind a small welcome bundle for corporate relocation clients. The finishing mix was simple: Die-Cutting for structure, Gluing for speed, and a light Varnishing to tame scuffing without introducing glare.

Brand management also had a content job to do. Customers often ask practical questions, such as "how to ship moving boxes to another state." ReloPack built guidance right into packaging touchpoints—icons, QR links, and smart labeling—to reduce confusion and support consistency across regions where conditions, carriers, and handling vary widely.

Changeover and Setup Time

Here’s where it gets interesting. Growth brought SKU creep—different box sizes, duty ratings, and seasonal kits—which spiked changeovers. Setups were running 45–60 minutes, eating into capacity. Sales kept benchmarking against budget options like "moving boxes dollar general," so the brand needed a production plan that protected margins without cutting brand elements people recognize on shelf and online.

The solution was more discipline, not more heroics: a unified anilox library matched to plate screens, tighter ink specs, and a prepress refresh. They calibrated color with G7 and used ISO 12647 as the guardrails. On corrugated, chasing a perfect ΔE is a trap; the team stopped aiming for ΔE < 1 and accepted a practical window of 2–3 for brand colors, prioritizing visual match under store lighting. Registration checks moved to a standardized routine, and press-side recipes were documented, not improvised.

Training mattered as much as technology. Operators built a mini-FAQ for pack-out teams, including the very human question, "how to fold moving boxes," printed as a QR that complies with ISO/IEC 18004 (QR). That single move reduced repacks and corner crush damage. It’s not glamorous, but it’s the kind of brand consistency that actually shows up on the OEE dashboard.

Quantitative Results and Metrics

Fast forward six months. Waste came down by roughly 18–24%, driven by fewer setup sheets and more stable ink laydown. First Pass Yield climbed from around 84–87% to 92–94%, and defect rates dropped from about 280–320 ppm to 140–180 ppm. Color stayed within ΔE 2–3 on brand criticals, which customers perceived as cleaner and more consistent across SKUs.

Throughput moved from 4,500–5,000 boxes/hour to 5,200–5,800, with changeovers trimmed to the 25–35 minute range. Energy use normalized, with kWh/pack trending down by an estimated 6–9% due to fewer make-readies, and CO₂/pack dipped by about 8–12%—not a moonshot, but meaningful. Payback landed in the 10–14 month window, helped by lower waste and steadier FPY. There’s a catch, of course—these gains depend on sticking to recipes and not over-tuning press variables for one tricky SKU.

On the brand side, there was a small experiment: an onboarding email included a papermart coupon code for accessories like tape and inserts, which nudged basket size without pushing pure discount messaging. As papermart supply data fed back into planning, the team learned which SKUs to keep evergreen and which to park as seasonal. If you’re weighing your next step, start with a realistic ΔE target, a lean anilox set, and suppliers—like papermart—who can support the unglamorous details that make a packaging system hold together.