Packaging decisions are connected. A carton allowance changes the case arrangement; the physical case changes the pallet layout; the chosen stack changes compression demand and the test specimen. The useful workflow keeps those assumptions attached to each decision.
In PackCalc, Packaging Systems connect saved components into the flow you need. Standalone calculations and saved results remain useful outcomes. Create a System when you want to plan, compare or document relationships across packaging levels.
1. Start With the Shipping Requirement
Before choosing a material or case count, record the product envelope, mass, allowed orientations, protection needs, quantity requirement and distribution lane. Include the receiving pallet, height and weight limits where they apply.
Identify what is measured, what comes from a supplier and what is still a planning assumption. A nominal dimension without a tolerance should not quietly become an exact packing clearance downstream.
2. Understand the Four Packaging Levels
| System level | What it represents | Typical starting tool |
|---|---|---|
| Carton | A physical container, with material and outside dimensions | Carton Builder |
| Case Recipe | An arrangement of Cartons, including count, orientation and fit requirements | Case Builder |
| Shipping Case | The physical outer container that accommodates the arrangement | Box Specs |
| Pallet Load | An arrangement of Shipping Cases on a defined pallet | Pallet Fit |
Scroll to compare all columns.
Case Recipe and Pallet Load are arrangements. They do not introduce extra physical containers between the Carton, Shipping Case and pallet. Keeping this distinction clear prevents duplicate material and quantity counts.
A Carton’s declared packing envelope may include a deliberate allowance beyond its nominal outside dimensions. That allowance is separate from the Shipping Case’s wall clearance and the gaps between packed items. Preserve each meaning when checking compatibility.
3. Choose the Flow You Actually Need
The supported System shapes are:
- Carton → Case Recipe → Shipping Case.
- Carton → Case Recipe → Shipping Case → Pallet Load.
- Shipping Case only.
- Shipping Case → Pallet Load.
Shipping Case remains the physical anchor. Carton and Case Recipe are included or removed together; Pallet Load is optional. A Shipping Case-led flow does not need a placeholder Carton or an invented units-per-Carton value.
In the System’s Packaging Flow, connect appropriate saved work or create a component for the selected level. An included stage without a connected result is work still to do, rather than a completed design.
4. Carry Fit Requirements Into a Physical Case
After choosing a Case Recipe, verify the arrangement’s required space against the Shipping Case’s inside dimensions. Then carry the physical Shipping Case outside dimensions into pallet and freight calculations.
Those values answer different questions:
- Product and Carton envelope: what must fit.
- Case Recipe: how the Cartons are arranged and how much space they require.
- Shipping Case inside dimensions: the usable containment space.
- Shipping Case outside dimensions: the envelope that occupies a pallet or shipment.
A case that merely has enough room is not necessarily the same case or arrangement used to generate a connected result. Review compatibility and source status after replacing a component. Do not treat an old pallet layout as current evidence for a changed case size.
5. Keep Quantity Arithmetic Explicit
For a Carton-led System, define:
- U: product units per Carton.
- C: Cartons per Shipping Case, from the Case Recipe.
- P: Shipping Cases per Pallet Load.
Then:
Product units per Shipping Case = U × C.
Product units per Pallet Load = U × C × P.
With U = 10, C = 24 and P = 20, the result is 240 product units per Shipping Case and 4,800 per Pallet Load. There are 480 Cartons per Pallet Load.
If U is unknown, the Carton and Shipping Case counts can still be meaningful, but product-unit totals are unknown. Do not default U to one simply to complete a report. The same principle applies when interpreting externally supplied packaging hierarchies: GS1 distinguishes the count and identity at each hierarchy level.
6. Add Strength, Stability and Test Planning
A connected geometric flow does not establish transport performance.
Use Box Strength to screen the relevant Shipping Case against the selected compression assumptions. Use Pallet Load Stability for its geometric tipping screen. Record the limitations of each result, including environmental assumptions and the distinction between static geometry and dynamic transit behavior.
Define the actual specimen for distribution testing: cases, contents, closures, pallet, layer sequence and containment. ASTM D4169 addresses performance testing through distribution hazards; a System report is planning documentation, not evidence that a physical test was performed.
7. Save, Send and Connect Deliberately
Send to carries a current result into another tool. It is a transfer step, not a Project save or System assignment.
Save to Project preserves a standalone component. A deliberate System action connects saved work to the chosen packaging level. When a tool is opened for an identified System stage, its save action can return the new result to that stage.
Keep these actions distinct in the team’s process. A result visible in a downstream tool is not necessarily saved, and a saved component is not necessarily connected to the intended System.
8. Review the Consequences of a Change
When dimensions, counts, material or allowed orientations change, review the downstream arrangement, physical case, load and validation evidence. Record why the new candidate is better and what still needs testing.
System Optimization has bounded capabilities by flow and plan. Carton-led Systems support the applicable scenario workflows; Shipping Case-led Systems use the applicable Manual What-If workflow. Do not assume that every flow supports automated scenario generation or application. The current workspace shows which actions are available.
A design handoff should identify the chosen components, dimensional basis, quantity counts, load build, open assumptions and supporting test evidence. Continue in Packaging Systems, or start with a standalone tool and connect the results when cross-level planning becomes useful.