Structural design and stress testing
Design exists to answer one question before you spend money on tooling: will this pack survive its lane, and what is the lightest version that does?
Simulate first, then cut
Modelling a pack lets you fail it cheaply. Compression behaviour, panel buckling and the effect of vents, hand holes and perforations on the load path can all be explored before a die exists. That matters most for the things that are expensive to discover late: a hand hole in the wrong panel, a vent pattern that interrupts the corner columns, a fitment that is too stiff to deflect.
Simulation is a filter, not a verdict. It narrows dozens of candidates to the few worth prototyping, and it explains why a design fails - which a physical test does not. The physical test still decides.
Dielines and prototypes
We generate dielines from the model and cut samples on a plotter, so a real box exists in days rather than after tooling. Prototype with the actual product, or a dummy matched in mass and rigidity - a soft surrogate absorbs energy the real product will not, and a test built around it is a test of the surrogate.
A digital twin per SKU
Each design is kept as a model with the assumptions attached: the stack height, dwell time, humidity and drop height it was derived for. That record is what makes the design re-runnable. When the lane changes - a new carrier, a new market, a new stack pattern - the question "does this pack still hold?" is answerable in an afternoon instead of being rediscovered through damage.
Design against the real constraints
- Line: your erector and sealer have minimum and maximum blank sizes. An optimal box your line cannot run is not optimal.
- Pallet: footprint efficiency usually outranks a few grams of board. Design the pallet pattern and the box together.
- Handling: clamp trucks impose crush loads that never appear in a drop test.
- Print and presentation: flat panels and flute choice interact. Decide print requirements before the structure, not after.
What we validate against
ASTM D642 for box compression, ASTM D4169 for the distribution cycle, and the ISTA profile matching parcel or e-commerce lanes - with samples conditioned to 23 C / 50% RH. Board grades and tolerances follow DIN 55468-1.
What we need from you
- Product geometry, mass and where it is fragile.
- The lane and its hazards, with real dwell and humidity if known.
- Line constraints and any customer-mandated test profile.
- Print and presentation requirements, if the pack is customer-facing.