Will a cardboard box decompose?

Cardboard will eventually decompose, but it depends on how tightly the sheets are packed together. In the case of ‘mulch’ being used in a home garden, where cardboard is ripped into shreds and soaked in water and put on flower beds, it can take up to 3 months for it to be decomposed by microorganisms.

Can I put cardboard in the microwave?

We recommend that you never put any flammable material near an extreme source of heat or open flame. Cardboard is no different. You should only ever put dishes and utensils in the microwave if they have been labelled as microwave safe.

Is cardboard bad for rabbits?

Image courtesy of myhouserabbit.com

Due to its cellulose content, rabbits often like to eat cardboard as it somewhat mimics the nutritional contents of the leaves and vegetables they eat in their natural environment. Giving small pieces of cardboard to your rabbit can be a great way for them to tear, shred and play, which helps with feelings on isolation and boredom if you’re not able to give them much attention in the day.

Rabbit owners must make sure that your pet doesn’t consume too much cardboard, as this will be harmful. Moreover, it’s always best to give your rabbit plain cardboard as opposed to products that have been heavily printed on.

Who invented the cardboard box?

Cardboard has been around for years, the first sheets of which are said to have dated back to 17th Century China. However, the modern day cardboard box as we know it has only been around since  1890, when inventor Robert Gair started producing flat pieces of cardboard sheet that where manufactured in bulk and could be folded into boxes.

Does cardboard float?

Image courtesy of: khmer440.com

Cardboard is a porous material, which means when it is subjected to wet conditions it will slowly absorb liquid. Often times, cardboard may float for an initial period but once it absorbs too much, it’s density will increase above that of water’s, thus making it sink.

We hope you enjoyed learning about the most commonly asked cardboard questions. If you are looking to design and produce new cardboard packaging, make sure you get in touch with our sales team at sales@capscases.co.uk.

Image courtesy of chinadaily.com

Every year, Cambridge University students descend on the River Cam armed with makeshift paddles and cardboard boats. It is a weird and whacky event that comes after weeks of preparation and team work, culminating in a day of celebrations on the river.

Image courtesy of dailymail.co.uk

The Cambridge cardboard box boat race day is marked in the calendar as the official celebration of the exam period finishing. Although students often create wonderfully intricate cardboard box boat designs, it is known by all that the day mostly comprises of drinking and celebrating.

During the most recent cardboard box boat race in June 2018, some students created designs that incorporated bicycle powered motors, umbrellas to capitalise on the wind as well as one vessel managing to carry 15 people.

The students set out from Jesus Green in an attempt to paddle to Magdelene Bridge, however most of the vessels sink leaving them in the cold and wet.

Would we recommend building a boat out of cardboard? The answer is an obvious no. However, the Cambridge cardboard box boat race goes to show how versatile a material corrugated cardboard is.

Due to it’s light weight, flexibility and strength, corrugated cardboard is the perfect material to be used for a range of purposes. Whether you’re packing up household goods, shipping products across the world or building DIY storage shelves, corrugated cardboard is a great option to consider.

Image courtesy of dailymail.co.uk

Although most of the students vessels sank due to water saturation, nowadays a lot of corrugated cardboard boxes can be made with a weatherproof sealant. This preserves all of the advantageous qualities of cardboard whilst reducing the risk of the boxes being affected by wet conditions.

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We have a wide range of products and services at Caps Cases. Make sure you visit our product page  to see how we can help.

At Caps Cases we’re biased. We love corrugated cardboard and think it’s the best packaging material there is. There’s no disadvantages of using corrugated cardboard, are there?

Well, there may be a few downsides but first, lets look at why corrugated cardboard is so amazing!

It’s strong

Corrugated cardboard can sustain approximately 13 kgs of pressure per square inch, making it a great protective packaging solution for many different items.

It’s light

Due to the airflow that passes through the sheets that make up corrugated cardboard, it is incredibly light.

It’s recyclable

The corrugated cardboard industry in the UK has one of the highest recycling rates out of all other packaging industries. In fact, approximately 70-90% of corrugated boxes in the UK are made from recycled cardboard.

Although corrugated cardboard has many strengths, it also has a few weaknesses.

It’s not weatherproof

Image courtesy of naldzgraphics.net

Although some cardboard boxes can be coated with weatherproof sealant, most traditional boxes will suffer when subjected to extremely wet conditions or saturation from other liquids.

It’s shape

As corrugated cardboard has a layered structure, it can be difficult to cut any sort of complex or curved shape that will look clean and professional. This is because the inner layer will often show on the edge of the cut.

It’s appearance

Corrugated cardboard’s appearance can often be less desirable than other packaging materials. Although a lot can be done nowadays to print high quality and interesting designs, corrugated cardboard still in general has a slightly rough and rigid appearance.

At Caps Cases we’ve spent many years delivering exceptional corrugated cardboard packaging to a wide range of clients. Despite the pros and cons of corrugated cardboard, we have the experience required to bring your packaging ideas to life.

For more information please email our sales team at sales@capscases.co.uk.

It is a common known fact that corrugated cardboard is used for a large proportion of the world’s packaging needs for a variety of products and items.

It’s versatility and flexibility offers great protection and it doubles up as an advertising and branding opportunity, as almost anything these days can be printed onto cardboard sheets.

However, there are a number of amazing facts that the general population may not be so aware of.

Check out some of the weird and wonderful truths below and let us know what you think about them by getting in touch with our team at sales@capscases.co.uk.

1. 5 billion boxes used in the UK per year – that equates to almost 83 boxes per year that are being used!
2. 13,000 separate pieces of cardboard are thrown away every year – the average household throws out mostly cardboard food packaging and retail items. This equates to almost 1,100 separate pieces per household every month.
3. 17th Century China – the first reports of cardboard being used date back almost 400 years when thick pieces of layered paper were discovered as being used for packaging items.
4. 80% recycled – almost 80% of cardboard used in the UK is recycled. It is often reused, composted or incinerated as well.
5. 75% less energy – recycling corrugated cardboard takes only 75% of the energy required to make new cardboard. The UK, in fact, has one of the highest recycling rates for cardboard, which saves us on average 2 million tonnes of waste from entering landfill every year.

At Caps Cases, we take our responsibility of preserving the environment very seriously. That’s why a lot of our products are made from recycled cardboard. We also recognise the importance of protecting the environment and we are fully committed to complying with the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requirements and EU Regulation 995/2010.

Cardboard is a wonderful material. At Caps Cases, we make cardboard boxes everyday and love it so much that we produced over 6.9 million boxes in 2017 alone!

Although cardboard is a great packaging solution for many different goods, there are also a number of weird and wonderful ways that cardboard boxes can be reused.

We love the environment here at Caps Cases. Over 80% of corrugated cardboard boxes in the UK are recycled and that’s why we are proud to be a part of an industry that has the best recycling rate out of all packaging materials.

When you’ve finished with your cardboard boxes, why not try out some of the ideas below?

 

Cardboard Box Planter

Image courtesy of themicrogardener.com

Cardboard is a great material to be used for housing different kinds of plants. The shape of cardboard boxes allows for routine planting but be sure to tape up all seems to add an extra level of strength.

Sometimes it also helps to line the box with a hessian or environmentally friendly bag, that can have holes poked through to allow for excess water drainage. As the season draws to a close, you can use newly recycled cardboard boxes to replace the old ones, if they have weathered and lost strength.

Awesome Cardboard Maze

Image courtesy of imgur.com

If you have recently moved home and seem to have an oversupply of empty cardboard boxes, why not rally the kids on a rainy weekend to build a cardboard box maze? This is a great way to turn a functional item into something fun, plus it gets the kids to use the creative part of their brains.

Creative Storage

Image courtesy of pinterest.com

Cardboard boxes offer a great way to create alternative storage solutions. They are sturdy and can be stacked, which can be incredibly useful for holding and organising a variety of household items. All it takes is a bit of creativity and the possibilities are endless!

We love to make cardboard boxes at Caps Cases. With our HQ based in Newmarket, we are well equipped and have a dedicated team that can accommodate your packaging needs.

Do get in touch with us at sales@capscases.co.uk for more information.

It has been a while since we last posted on social media, but we’re back!

Be sure to follow us on Twitter where you will receive regular, up to date news on what we are getting up to at Caps Cases.

We’re also on Facebook! We love to interact with our fans around the world.

For more information on how we started our company in 1982, you can follow us on LinkedIn.

Choosing the right way to package your product is paramount in keeping it safe and sound during transit. But, having packaging that is unique and creative will help differentiate your product and make it stand out against the competition.

The beauty of corrugated cardboard is that it can be cut, shaped and bent into a variety of forms to match many different requirements. Combining a great cardboard box design with creative packaging is a sure fire way to stand out amongst the crowd!

New York City Spaghetti

Image courtesy of neatorama.com

A student from the University of Central Lancashire came up with this amazing idea of creative packaging for a class assignment. Tasked with designing creative packaging for a choice of one of five items, including eggs and custard powder, Alex Creamer brought his friends together to think of ideas. Based on the Chrysler Building in New York City, Alex sketched up the designs on CAD and modelled tested them on high density foam in order to bring his design to life.

Ford Ranger Extreme Matchbox

Image courtesy of adbranch.com

Ford came up with this stunning creative packaging design in 2006 when they asked designer, J. Walter Thomson to come up with an idea that featured the car’s extendable cargo bed. Coming up with a range of ideas and realising that many potential Ford Ranger owners come from blue collar industries, they decided on using matches and thus designed a creative cardboard box to fit.

Whitebites Dog Snacks

Image courtesy of thepackaginginsider.com

This hilariously creative packaging was designed by Cecilia Uhr after realising that most rawhide dog treats had boring packaging that all looked the same. Not only that, Cecilia realised that most rawhide chewing snacks came in plastic packaging and keen to protect the environment, she knew there was another way. The rawhide snacks are displayed and double up as the dog’s teeth. The left ear opens up to release the snacks and and the boxes come in different sizes denoted by the breed of dog on the packaging.

We hope you enjoyed these creative packaging ideas. No matter what your requirement, Caps Cases design consultants can advise and manufacture a range of creative packaging designs. For more information, email our sales team at sales@capscases.co.uk or call us on 01638 667326.

Choosing the right corrugated box size is paramount when deciding how to safely package and deliver your products.

Measuring your Products

Image courtesy of propackaging.co.uk

When choosing the right corrugated box size, you must measure all the dimensions of your product and add an extra margin that will accommodate for protective wrapping.

This means that you will have to measure the length, width and height of your product, which should fit snuggly into the corrugated box. This will help to avoid unnecessary movement and prevent your product from getting damaged, which can happen if your corrugated box is too big.

What box strength do I need?

Image courtesy of packsize.com

Corrugated cardboard boxes can be made to varying degrees of strength. The strength of a corrugated box is determined by the number of walls in each corrugated cardboard sheet.

Single faced corrugated cardboard is the weakest form of cardboard sheet. For transporting valuable products, it is not a viable option to use a corrugated box that’s made out of single faced sheets.

Single walled corrugated sheets are the next step up in strength. For more information on how corrugated cardboard is made, read our ‘What is Corrugated Cardboard’ blog post.

One of the best options for choosing the right corrugated box is to opt for double walled cardboard. Double walled cardboard has two layers of corrugated sheets, which offer a good level of protection yet are lightweight and flexible enough to satisfy a number of requirements.

If your products are very valuable, you could even use triple walled corrugated sheets or speak to a manufacturer, like us here at Caps Cases, to see how they can develop a unique design to match your needs.

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We are more than happy to create bespoke products and offer a consultative approach to helping our customers achieve their packaging goals.

Call us on 01638 667326 for more information or email us at sales@capscases.co.uk to find out more.

What are the best boxes for shipping?

Whether you are shipping products, personal belongings or your grandmother’s favourite china, having a sturdy, protective packaging solution is paramount when shipping anything big or small.

Due to it’s internal structure, corrugated cardboard can offer a level of flexibility, strength and lightness that competes well above most other packaging solutions.

At Caps Cases, we provide a range of corrugated cardboard box products for a variety of needs.

We can manufacture wardrobe cartons, pallet boxes, drinks packaging, die-cut boxes and many more boxes and shipping solutions. We’re the largest sheet cardboard manufacturer in the UK and have years of experience in helping our customers achieve their cardboard packaging goals.

We manufacture millions of boxes per year and can deliver them throughout the UK and EU.

We like to innovate!

Klickstor archive box

We love developing new technologies so much that we patented our own archive box design, named the ‘Klikstor’.

Rolled out to 100s of clients across the world including top, international universities, our Klikstor archive boxes provide excellent protection to important documents and can be easily stacked or sorted.

Most cardboard boxes take at least 15 seconds to erect, which can slow down production time dramatically. Our patented Klikstor archive boxes, however, can be put together in an instant.

They are stronger in design, as we use double cardboard sheets for all four walls as well as being collapsable, reusable and recyclable.

We have a wide range of archive boxes for sale, all of which can be uniquely created. We can develop bespoke designs too and pride ourselves on our ability to bring your packaging ideas to life.

We are always happy to discuss your needs, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our sales team at sales@capscases.co.uk. We’d love to hear from you!

How to find a good cardboard manufacturer

Corrugated cardboard is an incredibly versatile material that is used to provide almost 80% of all product packaging in the EU and USA.

Whether you run a small business, ecommerce brand or are a larger retailer, it is important to find a good company who can cater to all of your needs.

At Caps Cases, we pride ourselves on our consultative and caring approach. As a family business, set up by our Chairman in 1982, we feel it is our duty to treat our customers like they are family.

We have built a hard earned reputation on nurturing longstanding successful relationships with trade partners and customers alike.

With a wide range of products and services available, whether its die cut boxes, high quality printing, packaging design or long life boxes, we are able to deliver quality corrugated cardboard products across the UK and into mainland Europe.

We love manufacturing and distributing corrugated cardboard so much that we produced over 69 million boxes in 2017 alone!

Who is the best corrugated cardboard manufacturer?

When trying to find a good corrugated cardboard manufacturer, asking a few key questions like the ones below will enable you to judge clearly whether they are right for your business.

1. Do they pick up the phones?

At Caps Cases, you are welcome to call our dedicated team at any working hour. We will be there at every step to ensure you have all the information you need when choosing a corrugated cardboard manufacturer.

2. Do they do more than manufacture?

We have a dedicated design team that will not only help your packaging dreams come to fruition but will advise you on what designs will be optimum for your product, based on years of experience.

3. What else can they do for me?

We are constantly innovating at Caps Cases. Whether it’s importing new machinery, training our staff or utilising new software, we are proud of our hunger to grow and provide the best service possible to our customers.

To find out more about our unique products, visit our website at www.capscases.co.uk/products or call us on 01638 667326.

What is Corrugated Cardboard?

Corrugated cardboard is a lightweight, durable and versatile material that can be used for a range of packaging solutions.

Often made using recycled materials, corrugated cardboard offers an environmentally friendly and practical way to protect and deliver products around the world.

Almost every cardboard box you see, is made from corrugated cardboard sheets.

How is Corrugated Cardboard Made?

Corrugated cardboard is made up of timber or recycled materials that occur from the waste lumber mills produce when cutting timber. These materials then get processed into a pulp like substance that is then pushed through a large automated machine to create a sheet.

Once the sheets are made, they are rolled up and sent to the corrugator. In the corrugator, the cardboard sheets get heated, pressed, glued and cut into large box blanks that are moved on for printing.

Why is Corrugated Cardboard So Strong?

Corrugated cardboard gets it’s strength from it’s internal structure. A standard piece of corrugated cardboard is made up of two sheets, called liners and an internal wavy structure called a flute. The flute arches provide great strength and handy insulation, by letting air pass through the liners.

The combination of the liners and flute is called a board.

For greater strength and durability, the boards can be doubled or in some cases tripled to provide a sturdier structure. Depending on what your requirement is, corrugated cardboard can be produced in a variety of forms to offer different levels of bending resistance, durability and robustness.

Caps Cases Ltd are a family run business that offer quality corrugated cardboard packaging manufacturing around the UK. We would love to answer your questions, so please do get in touch with us at sales@capscases.co.uk.

We’re pleased to announce that our Hoddesdon site has recently been merged into our newly-extended Newmarket site, giving us 20% more production space to cope with the massive increase in demand we’ve seen since 2013, and creating 10 new jobs in the process.

This decision brings a host of benefits to our customers, including improved efficiency and flexibility, reduced production lead times, and linked deliveries.

“It’s a credit to our team that the relocation went smoothly,” said Caps Cases Managing Director Trevor Bissett. “Our customers’ planned deliveries remain unaffected by our move, and as one of the UK’s largest corrugated packaging manufacturers, we look forward to being able to provide a bigger and better service with our new improved production space.”

Heavenly Sweets who are an experienced and fast growing confectionery retailer came to us with the requirement for a packaging solution for their e-commerce confectionery business.

Prior to this, they were using a plain box solution with an additional sticker for their branding.

 Not only did the new solution need to be high-quality, self-locking and promote their brand effectively, it also needed to be compact enough to fit through a letterbox – according to IMRG, the most common reasons for a failed delivery are no-one being at home, and the item being too big to fit through the letterbox.

And as failed deliveries cost organisations over £1 billion in 2016, a company that can avoid this is one that makes their packaging work hard, and saves their customers time in retrieving their goods.

 We are well-practised at creating letterbox-friendly packaging, so we could advise on the exact dimensions and board grade to make the most of their branding, but still be easily posted through their customers’ doors.

 The sweetest solution all round.

If you don’t think your packaging is performing as well as it could, book a free, no-obligation assessment with Caps Cases and discover how we can make your packaging work harder for you and your brand.

You’ll meet face-to-face with one of our expert Innovation Consultants, who will assess your existing packaging and advise on improvements we could make, including:

• Crash lock bases for quick assembly
• Reducing board grade
• New printing techniques
• Extra features such as zipper rule and ripper tape

Do you want to discover how you could drastically improve your packaging in a free 40-minute appointment?…..Of course you do!

Just speak to our sales team on 01638 667326 or email sales@capscases.co.uk and they’ll do the rest.

We are one of the biggest UK producers of cardboard divisions for safely transporting fragile bottles and other items. In fact, we made over 5 million of them last year – mainly for the Scottish wine and spirit industry.

 

But just because they work hard keeping your bottles in one piece, doesn’t mean they can’t look good too – we can now offer high-quality flexo three-colour printing, so the inside of your packaging can look as good as the outside.

 

As well as high-quality printing, we recently invested in a bespoke division stacking system, so we can speed up the manufacturing process of our divisions without compromising on the quality. It’s already helped increase our average run speed by 50%.

 

To find out more about our speedy, high-quality corrugated division manufacturing, give our team a call on 01638 667326 or email sales@capscases.co.uk.

 

We’re constantly investing in new technologies and coming up with new ideas to push the boundaries of what we can offer our customers.

 

One of our most recent successes was a bespoke corrugated gift pack with a difference for The Edinburgh Gin Distillery.

 

Thanks to our recent investment in a new digital printer, we have now added printing on textured substrates to our repertoire. For this project, we worked with one of our key Scottish partners and digitally printed a glossy raised logo onto textured corrugated cardboard to create a high-end gift pack displaying gin bottles. Our client is delighted with the result – as are we.

 

How’s that for ginspiration?

 

As well as digital printing, we can also offer bespoke technologies like division stacking systems – and with our team’s heads overflowing with ideas, there are no limits to the packaging we can create.

 

Find out for yourself – just ring our friendly team on 01638 667326 or email sales@capscases.co.uk.

 

Caps Cases Family Fun Day is a FREE ENTRY event with free entertainment for all ages. Held at Burwell Cricket Club, CB25 0AR.

We have bouncy castles for children and adults. Fancy a game of rounders? Have a training session in the cricket nets. Why not get a team together for a match of Zorb Football?

See if you can Beat The Goalie or test your strength and skill in our Fairground games.

We also have a range of local traders selling some amazing products for all price ranges. (We still have pitches available – if you are interested in having a stall please contact sarah@capscases.co.uk)

There will be food and drinks on sale along with the compulsory candy floss and popcorn!

Bring the whole family along for a day of fun!

Caps Cases gears up for Christmas

Turkey and Goose Boxes now ready for production

Did somebody blink….

It only seems like yesterday that turkey and goose boxes were flying (excuse the pun) out of the factory gates.

Yes, the Christmas period is a time Caps Cases tours the country delivering turkey and goose boxes to all the very best producers of British turkey and geese.

For 10 years Caps Cases has worked tirelessly with the farming community to produce an end product that is top of the range with print quality to match.

• Bespoke print design service
• Digital print offering for small runs for farmers who want to promote their produce
• Easy design construction to ensure the production line keeps flowing
• Constant investigation and trials of materials to remain competitive in the market place but not to compromise on quality
• No quantity too small or too large

 

We know the Christmas market period is a short but crucial window for all our turkey/goose producers so we at Caps Cases all work hard to liaise with all the farmers to ensure their boxes are delivered at a time to suit their eviscerating and packing schedule.

Caps Cases are here to assist you in getting your product to market.

So, let’s talk turkey!  Get in touch to discuss your bespoke requirements.

 

Contact Michelle Costello

Michelle@capscases.co.uk

Mobile 07870 815148

 

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Caps Cases is pleased to share its newest creation – a cardboard point of sale display (POS display) unit to display stone samples for Amen Corporation – an Ipswich-based company that imports stone for use in construction. This unit’s purpose was to promote Geebombaa, Amen’s online portal for B2B stone products and construction needs.

The structural design team at Caps were given the added challenge of designing the cardboard counter display to accommodate two different sizes of stone samples.

Befitting the nature of the product, Caps’ repro team designed an eye-catching brickwork background that was digitally printed, along with the customer’s chosen branding and artwork, and the cardboard POS display was cut out on their state-of-the-art Zund cutter.

The response was anything but stony-faced silence. To the customer’s delight, Caps’ teams managed to design, print, cut and assemble a fully completed, bespoke cardboard display unit in just two weeks following receipt of the original brief. We’ll say ‘Amen’ to that!

If you have a requirement for digitally printed cardboard POS displays – however heavy the product – speak to a member of the Caps Cases sales team on 01638 667326 or complete this form, and we’ll see how we can help.

For more information about Amen Corporation and Geebombaa, visit http://amengroups.eu/ or www.geebombaa.com.

Read more about Caps Cases digital print and ecommerce abilities:

Corrugated cardboard cut-out suits Caps Cases skills to a tee

Pillars Brewery all boxed up for ‘canpaign’ launch

Customer feedback from Jack Sealey Ltd

Over the weekend of 17th June, Managing Director Trevor Bissett subjected himself to – we mean took part in – the Celtman, an extreme triathlon based in the stunning Scottish Highlands.

Participants in the Celtman could look forward to a 3.4km swim through the cold, deep, jellyfish-infested Atlantic waters of Loch Shieldaig – which on the day measured a brisk 11oC.

This was immediately followed by 204km of cycling through scenic – albeit windy – Highland roads, with a total climb of 2000m, followed by a 36km run through an ancient drover’s pass and across the Benn Eighe mountain range. As if not challenging enough, Trevor and his fellow triathletes were treated to driving rain and winds of over 40mph.

Trevor was admirably supported by his wife Nicky and daughter Mae, who led a well-oiled support team that kept him fed and watered for a full eight hours. During the run leg, he also found support from Karin, an international triathlete who had travelled all the way from The Netherlands to provide support.

Having finished in 55th place with a very impressive time of 13 hours and 42 minutes, we would all like to congratulate Trevor on his incredible achievement. (He still can’t convince any of the team to join him next year, though!)

Trevor would like to extend his thanks to the Celtman’s organisers and supporters who helped him get around the course successfully, as well as the locals in Torridon who provided a much-needed, carbohydrate-loaded, post-race macaroni cheese and lasagne buffet, and race sponsor Stewart Brewing, whose post-race beer was just as necessary.

You can find out more about the Celtman triathlon at www.cxtri.com. You can find out more about great packaging solutions from Caps Cases by calling 01638 667326.

As a leading corrugated cardboard packaging manufacturer in the area, Caps Cases is asked to turn its hand to one-off items made from cardboard materials that require some serious printing and cutting technology and techniques. This month, the challenge was a larger than life cardboard cut-out of Joe Miller, the 2010 and 2016 World long Drive Champion, to accompany him at a corporate golf day hosted by Hilton Foods at Hanbury Manor.

The overall brief was to make the cut-out as true to life as possible, including the scuff marks on Joe’s golf bag. Hilton Foods are familiar with Caps Cases attention to detail and quality – and also in its recent state-of-the-art printing technology investments that would enable the production of such a fine piece of work.

If you have a detailed, complex or business requirement for cardboard packaging, Point of Sale (POS), digitally printed display – even famous sports personality cut-outs – speak to a member of the Caps Cases sales team on Tel: 01638 667326 or complete this form with details of your requirement to see what we can do for you.

Learn more about our customer technology investments:

Caps Cases Investment in Scottish plant reaps rewards for customers

Caps Cases box-making just got even better !

New Addition to Caps Cases Digital Cutting Capability Makes The News

The latest addition to the Caps Cases fleet of high quality printers is now fully operational at Baillieston site, Glasgow, Scotland.

Caps Cases, trusted manufacturer of high quality corrugated packaging, has invested in technology to further broaden its packaging portfolio to the Scottish market. The TCY casemaker, with full rotary die cut capabilities is operational and further improving Caps Cases capacity for high quality print work across the entire group (other sites include Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire and Head Office in Newmarket, Suffolk). The introduction of the flexographic printer means faster turnaround times across the group, less material wastage, and reduced lead times. “We can now deliver high quality printed packaging quicker and more efficiently”, says Trevor Bissett, Caps Cases Managing Director.

The main technical features & benefits of the TCY Casemaker are:

• 3 colour high quality flexographic printer
• In line rotary die cutting
• In line gluing
• High speed production

Caps Cases Baillieston corrugated sheet plant is geared up to deliver the following products across Scotland and the north of England: high quality Shelf Ready Packaging (SRP); printed and plain regular transit carton boxes; printed die cut packaging and printed trays; corrugated and solid board divisions.

Related Investment Stories for Caps Cases:

http://www.capscases.co.uk/news/#caps-cases-box-making-just-got-even-better

http://www.capscases.co.uk/news/#new-addition-to-caps-cases-digital-cutting-capability-makes-the-news

http://www.capscases.co.uk/news/#new-additions-to-our-printing-fleet

http://www.capscases.co.uk/news/#3-colour-investment-at-hoddesdon

At Caps Cases we pride ourselves on quality products and quality service – we aim to deliver on time, in time and we have built up a £multi million corrugated packaging business doing just that.

Another thing we pride ourselves on is helping our community whenever we can. In 2016 we supported a Three Peaks Challenge, a Paris to Nice charity cycle and several projects for local schools, charities and hospitals. Our latest challenge from a school last month was to create some egg-cellent costumes for the children of St Thomas More School in Saffron Walden to decorate and then “hatch out” of as a part of their new life assembly. I am sure you will agree that they turned out “smashingly” !

Caps Cases combines family business values with up to date product technology. Our bespoke cardboard packaging business spans 3 sites across the UK – Newmarket, Hoddesdon and Glasgow. Our multi million turnover makes us one of the largest independent sheet plant businesses in our industry in the UK. The quality of our packaging – and our egg costumes – is reflected in our outstanding quality accreditations.

For a personalised quote for e-commerce packaging, POS displays, die-cut cardboard boxes please click here.

Slated Row School in Milton Keynes is a community special school for children and young people aged 4 to 19. They cater for 182 pupils with moderate to complex special educational needs. Caps Cases were asked if we could make these special boxes & Trevor Bissett very kindly agreed to produce them free of charge.

When asked what the boxes were for the school replied with the following:

“Sixth Form students have enjoyed decorating the boxes, they chose their own pictures and drawings to decorate them. They are able to put their own objects / photos / pictures in the box to look at, which can help them to calm down. Other students have brought favourite things from home that make them feel happy. These are things like a favourite toy, a favourite photo of them with their family, pencils, stickers etc. We are also going to develop this further and add visuals of things they might like to do to make them feel happy. For example, one pupil likes joining in with ‘Boom Chikka Boom’, another likes playing with the lego. These things make them happy so we will have a photo of this activity in their box. They have all decorated their boxes with paints and collage bits to make them look individual and special.”

Dear Mr Lochhead,

On behalf of the students and staff at Slated Row School, we want to say a massive Thank You for the Happiness Boxes!

With kind regards, Slated Row School

Caps Cases, UK based craft beer packaging specialists, recently completed a project for a very untraditional – and slightly local – brewery to our Newmarket corrugated cardboard manufacturing factory.  Pillars Brewery wanted boxes at short notice for their CANpaign Launch at the start of the month.  These boxes were turned round very quickly by Caps Cases – in just 8 working days from the order, in fact – and that included some consultation on how best to display their fantastic artwork onto the box and keep the continuity of the print.  The boxes were flexo printed on our high quality TCY flexo printer and then die-cut on in one pass on our Klett 2.0 Case-maker Machine to give the best finish.

For more information on @PillarsBrewery, visit their website at http://www.pillarsbrewery.com/the-story/.  They are born and bred in Walthamstow with stockists of their craft beer in Brighton, Leamington Spa and many locations in and around London.

Caps Cases – Trusted provider of bespoke corrugated craft beer packaging. Contact us by email sales@capscases.co.uk or phone 01638 667326 we’d love to hear from you.

“Just to say I received my A4 box with a hardback catalogue, A5 catalogue and price list etc. in the post yesterday and it looks fantastic ! It looks good before you open it but when you open it it’s even better and the thought that went into the presentation certainly shows. The print is nice and bold – very striking. Importantly, we achieved our aim of making it so that the box didn’t get damaged or dirty in transit – it looks almost completely undamaged, the only hint of dirt is on the white lettering on the front. The courier label has been applied nice and straight. Couldn’t be any happier with it – well done everyone! I have it in my office if you want to see it.”

Jack Sealey Ltd

High Praise indeed for Caps Cases – Trusted provider of bespoke corrugated ecommerce packaging.

Contact us by email sales@capscases.co.uk or phone 01638 667326 we’d love to hear from you.

Account Manager Hannah Ayers

“Zoe, from Heidi Feathers, approached us back in 2015 as an established business looking for innovative packing which would be eye catching to the customer but would also transport her products safely. She already had a beautiful design in mind for the print and after discussing and sampling a couple of design options for the box itself, Zoe felt this style case worked best to accentuate the print and also to provide protection in transit.”

Testimony from Zoe Fenton-Owner

“Caps Cases have been very easy to deal with and helpful on creating the correct box design. We feel packaging is very important in creating a positive experience for customers buying from us.”

On a recent order for Heidi Feathers, where meeting delivery times was crucial, Caps Cases were able to offer a quick turnaround on a batch of digitally printed boxes using the existing artwork which were CAD cut on our Zund D3 digital cutting table.

Caps Cases – Trusted provider of bespoke corrugated ecommerce packaging.

Contact us by email sales@capscases.co.uk or phone 01638 667326 we’d love to hear from you.

Box partitions are a key part of our cardboard packaging product range – you know, the cardboard divisions that separate your wine, whisky and cosmetic bottles when they are boxed up – Caps Cases are known for our expertise in making these partitions … in their millions (over 5 million in 2016) !

In a bid to speed up the manufacturing process – without any impact on quality, we have recently invested in a bespoke Division stacking system – designed to enable us to retain our ability to provide a competitive and reliable service to our customer base.

Our new Division stacking system is working really well – the belt driven counter collector has already increased our average run speed by up to 50% !!!

Caps Cases – Trusted provider of bespoke corrugated packaging.

Contact us by email sales@capscases.co.uk or phone 01638667326 we’d love to hear from you.

Cardboard PoS (Point of Sale) Display from Caps Cases

Caps Cases provide boxes and packaging for all your merchandising needs. With a skilled team of experienced corrugated structural designers in house, and an impressive back catalogue, we can quickly turn your ideas into reality. Caps Cases is now producing high quality digitally printed point of sale work, following the installation of our digital printer in early July 2016.

Retail Packaging Portfolio

Our Purpose built Digital factory can create Retail ready PoS (Point of Sale), PoP (Point of Purchase), Cardboard Floor stands (FSDUs), Off Fixture Displays (OFDs), Dump bins, Counter Top Displays units (CDUs), In-store Pallet size display bins, Standees and any other kind of Retail Display Packaging you can dream of !

In-house Digital Printing

Digital print is finished on our super-fast Zund CAD Cutter, which enables us to produce bespoke corrugated cardboard PoS packaging displays without costly cutting tools or printing plates.

Fullfillment

Uniquely, Caps Cases can Pre-fill Display your merchandising units with your product and deliver straight to the retailer. Alternatively we can collate and Flat Pack displays and produce clear and concise assembly instructions if this is your preference.

Trusted provider of bespoke corrugated PoS and PoP

We are now able to offer a full design, sampling, production and fulfilment service for floor standing display units (FSDU’s) and counter display units (CDU’s), with no tooling charges for artwork set up.

Please contact our sales team with your POS enquiries on 01638 667326 or sales@capscases.co.uk.

In 2017, we continue with our program of investment in equipment, to provide the highest level of service and choice to our packaging customers. At our Baillieston factory, less than 10 miles from Glasgow, we are awaiting the arrival of our newly rebuilt 3 colour 2.2 metre case-maker complete with a full rotary die cut section. This latest piece of technology will be used to convert corrugated board into finished printed cardboard boxes, e-commerce packaging and POS displays. We are excited about this as it will enable us to improve our capacity and our print offering to the Scottish market.

If you would like to know more about Caps Cases, please call us on 01638 667 326, email sales@capscases.co.uk or visit our website.

2016 was a great year for Caps Cases. Across our 3 sites in Newmarket, Hoddesdon and Baillieston, we focussed on improving productivity through investment in leading technology, we competed alongside leaders in the corrugated cardboard packaging solutions industry and we maintained the edge with our customers through innovation and unrivalled customer service.

In 2016 we manufactured 67,000,000 boxes, passed 36,400,000 m2 of corrugated board through our converting machines and added 8000sq ft to our factory premises. In 2016, we also drank lots of coffee and created a couple of 5-a-side football teams ! Here is a little showcase of some interesting facts and figures about our business last year:

As we start 2017, we are set up for continued growth, we are looking to further refine our production techniques with quality, recycling and landfill prevention at the forefront of our minds and overall, we look forward to creating great boxes ! If you would like to know more about the packaging solutions we offer, please call us on 01638 667 326, email sales@capscases.co.uk or visit our website.

Yoco Club is a monthly whisky subscription club that delivers single malt whiskies directly to your door. Set up by a group of young Scottish entrepreneurs who love two things: technology and whisky, the Glasgow-based Yoco Club delivers whisky rarely found on your supermarket shelves.

With their hearts and minds set on quality packaging, Yoco Club approached Caps Cases to design and manufacture a twistwrap box to use in their e-commerce business. The box needed to be functional, offering enough protection to cushion up to whisky bottles per package – even more importantly the packaging needed to be appealing to the eye and offer information about the Yoco Club whisky. The Caps Cases bespoke corrugated cardboard design protects the whisky bottles whilst our digital print capability enabled the packaging to be eye-catching and memorable.

Like Yoco Club, share your brand innovation with us and we will innovate your packaging with you.

Caps Cases recently supplied boxes for use on a toy drive organised by RAF Mildenhall. Here is a note of thanks from the RAF Mildenhall Teen Coordinator:

I just wanted to say thank you from the Torch Club, Mr. Martin and Myself for helping out with the Toy Drive by supplying boxes. Without the combined effort family and community, this project would not have been the success that it turned out to be. We just recently finished the toy drive and collected over 120 toys for West Suffolk Hospital. I have attached some photos from the Toy Drive along with the delivery to the hospital. Thank you again and have a happy holiday.

Caps Cases supports #christmasjumperday @savechildrenuk We raised over £70 on Friday 16th December by wearing our Christmas Jumpers and paying £2 each to Save The Children.

 

Based on an article by Carolyn Heneghan Published 6th December 2016

Shoppers spend on average just 27 seconds making their shopping aisle decision. This makes shelf appeal incredibly important in capturing customers. Top quality, well- designed packaging can create a bold, consumer-facing advertisement on the shelf.

Manufacturers looking to boost top-value products should focus on creating premium packaging. With the right mix of shape, graphic design and functionality premium packaging can influence whether a consumer sees a product as more valuable and worthy of a higher price than its competition.

Packaging visual design needs to be appealing, eye-catching and have an instant impact – consider Digital Print, flood coating, 4 colour print. Alternatively simple sophistication and elegance can also give your product the edge.

Packages with high functionality are perceived as Premium by customers – so for your corrugated packaging, consider features like high performance plastic openings and closures, reinforced handles, locking devices, magnetic closures.

“Premium packaging, if executed and positioned correctly should enable manufacturers to command a higher price point and deliver incremental sales for the brand,” With the use of premium packaging already on the rise, experts predict that more manufacturers will adopt this strategy as they work to improve their top lines.

Stay ahead of YOUR competition – talk to Caps Cases today about innovating your packaging for that premium product.

WT Author’s new dress watch collection for men, ‘No . 1934’, was inspired by 1930s designs. This new collection of British-built timepieces has handmade leather straps and subtle 1930s references and are strictly limited to 125, 100 or just 25 pieces for each design. This is a collection that deserves very special packaging. The striking e-commerce box was created by Caps Cases using our latest technological investment machinery in Newmarket – the HP Digital Printer and our Zund Production CAD machine.

‘The boxes look AMAZING. They were better than I could have ever imagined. And the new Digital printing has opened up so many more ideas for us.’

Praised the Creative Director of WT Author.

Caps Cases new digital print facility has enabled us to produce even higher end print inside and outside, like the excellent WT Author presentation box. Our specific e-commerce packaging features include resealable sale or return tapes, transit-safe outers and our world-famous internal dividers.

Share your brand innovation with us and we will innovate your packaging with you.

“Caps Cases has sights on POS and bespoke packaging with double-beamed Zünd D3 investment”

Caps Cases says it plans to expand into new areas including the point-of-sale (POS) and bespoke packaging sectors after becoming one of the first businesses in the UK to install a double-beamed Zünd D3 digital cutting table.

Family-owned business Caps Cases was established in Newmarket in 1982 and is a specialist convertor of corrugated material, working across the packaging and retail industries. After investing in a new digital printing system, an HP Scitex 11000, the company sought a complementary finishing system that didn’t require tooling, so attended Drupa 2016 to research the new options on the market.

The show, held in Düsseldorf, Germany from May 31st to June 10th 2016, saw the debut of the new Zünd D3 cutting table. Fitted with an innovative double-beam system, up to three different modules and an intelligent controller for optimal job allocation, the Zünd D3 can effectively double users’ output potential.

“When we saw the Zünd D3 at Drupa we were impressed,” says Trevor Bissett, Managing Director of Caps Cases. “The build quality is excellent and Zünd has really thought about the functionality and productivity of being able to cut two sheets at once or have one large sheet with two heads operating on it at the same time – that was a big draw for us. So we came home from Drupa with much lighter pockets!”

The Zünd D3 L3200 was installed at Caps Cases in September. Thanks to the modular build of Zünd systems, the Zünd team was able to ‘shoehorn’ the 10 metre-long Zünd D3 ‘into quite a tight space’, says Trevor Bissett. This modularity also enables users to change tools on the fly or upgrade whole elements of the table at a later date, future-proofing against changes in business direction. All Zünd cutting tables are also designed for maximum automation and have safety features that exceed industry standards.

In addition to fitting the table the Zünd UK technician team, based in St Albans, has visited Caps Cases several times to ensure the Zünd D3 and the HP Scitex are working together perfectly. As the D3 is the first production CAD machine used by Caps Cases this has involved a learning process; formerly the company procured a new cutting form for each job which involved extra costs for the customer and subsequently needed to be stored. “As you can imagine we’ve accumulated thousands of these forms since 1982!” says Bissett.

Now, however, Caps Cases can produce new designs digitally, which means it can offer short-run, branded packaging to its customers. Fashion houses and craft beer brands are on the radar for new business, as well as more POS, where this machine really comes into its own.

The Zünd D3 L3200 is currently running two shifts a day, and may later be joined by more Zünd equipment at a later date – Caps Cases is planning a visit to Zünd UK’s dedicated demonstration suite in St Albans to see the rest of the range.”

When we were approached by St Thomas More Primary school to transform their playground into a Winter Wonderland inclusive of a German style Christmas market, we were delighted to take up the challenge. But then it was as if all our head designer’s Christmases had come at once as we were approached in the same week by Ely St Johns School who are looking to raise funds for a new library ! Designer grumpy Ken loves everything about the Christmas season so he busied himself up with his team making corrugated 1.8 M x 2M shop fronts in readiness for the school Christmas bazaar ! As usual, our awesome designer went over and above the call of duty making up 10 corrugated shop fronts that would line the playground and busying himself furnishing Santa’s Grotto with a cardboard stable and a corrugated cardboard reindeer to boot ! We are ever hopeful that in the New Year, Ken will actually design something with matching enthusiasm that we may actually be paid for :).

Further Congratulations to Mrs Bissett and Mrs Jolly at St Thomas More Primary School who did a great job of assembling and decorating the shop front stands! Feedback from the parents was excellent and it was a pleasure to see so many children happily spending their parents money on sweets, gifts and other Christmas related items ! The Christmas bazaar raised in excess of £2000 for the school.

“Caps Cases combines family business values with up to date product technology.  Our bespoke cardboard packaging business spans 3 sites across the UK – Newmarket, Hoddesdon and Glasgow.  Our multi million turnover makes us one of the largest independent sheet plant businesses in our industry in the UK.  The quality of our packaging – and our reindeer – is reflected in our outstanding quality accreditations.

 For a personalised quote for e-commerce packaging, POS displays, die-cut cardboard boxes – or a Christmas Market Scene – please click here”

Caps Cases Baillieston and Newmarket manufacturing sites of quality corrugated cardboard packaging were recently audited against our quality, hygiene and environmental certifications.

These certificates act as a seal of approval which our customers often ask to view to give them confidence that we continue to be capable of making high quality products, in a hygienic and environmentally sound manner.

Our Baillieston factory in Scotland was audited against the new BRC issue 5 in August 2016 and achieved an ‘AA’ grade. Our Newmarket manufacturing Headquarters were audited in September and also achieved an ‘AA’ grade, as well as passing the ISO9001 and ISO14001 audits. As ever, we continue to review areas in which we can continually improve our products and services for customers. If you have feedback for us regarding our products or service, please contact Jamie here.

One particular Tweet sparked great joy for us at Caps Cases last week. Cry in the dark is a charity that reaches out to children and young people in Romania who are marginalized by poverty and sickness. Caps Cases supports the charity each year through donating our time and materials and doing what we do best – making cardboard boxes, specifically shoe boxes to be turned into Christmas boxes. On our Twitter page this week we received a joyful message from @Cry_in_the_Dark:

“A huge thank you to @CapsCases for donating the 150 cartons we need to transport our Christmas shoeboxes to romania! You guys are amazing”

 

Follow Caps Cases on Twitter at @CapsCases for daily insights into our company and our values