Use cases / Packaging
Find a packaging supplier. Checked against your brief.
Describe the pack, the print and the certification you need. Ordren finds packaging suppliers, reads their own websites, and shows the sentence that supports each requirement.
Start from this brief
FSC-certified folding cartons, 2,000 a month. Made in the United States.
Draft my briefFSC-certified folding cartons, 2,000 a month, four-color print. Made in the United States. Ships to Portland, Oregon.
Ordren heard
- Folding cartons primary
- FSC certified
- Four-color print
- Made in the US
- Ships to Portland, OR
- Minimum order to ask
- Unit price to ask
01 — How to vet a packaging supplier
What a supplier’s own site can prove. What their site can prove. And what you will have to ask. What you still ask.
RequirementWhere suppliers usually state it
- Carton styles and board
- A products page: folding cartons, sleeves, and the board grades they run.
- FSC chain of custody
- A sustainability or certifications page, with a certificate or license code. Check the code yourself in the FSC public certificate search.
- Print process and colors
- The printing page: offset or digital, and how many colors.
- Where the cartons are made
- The About or plant page. If it names a plant outside the United States and you required a domestic one, the supplier is excluded.
- Finishing, such as foil or embossing
- A finishing page: coatings, foil stamping, embossing, windows.
Ordren checks, on their own pages
- Carton styles and board
- FSC certificate
- Print process
- Where the cartons are made
- Finishing options
Check the code yourself in the FSC public certificate search.
You ask, in the RFQ draft
- Minimum order
- Unit price
- Die and plate charges
- Lead time from proof
02 — A sample packaging shortlist
Nine suppliers assessed. Five must-haves each. Nine suppliers, five must-haves each.
Sample data · Fictional suppliers
Shortlist · Sample data
FSC folding cartons, made in the US
9 assessed · 5 must-haves each
- 18 found
- 9 assessed
- 27 pages read
Alderline Carton
5 of 5 checkable must-haves verified · 2 to ask
Verified · FSC certified
The supporting sentence, found on Alderline Carton’s own site in a stored copy of the page.
“We hold FSC chain-of-custody certification and can print the FSC label on your carton.”
alderlinecarton.example/sustainability Open stored copy
Foxglove Print & Pack
3 of 5 checkable must-haves verified · 2 to ask
Verified · Folding cartons
The supporting sentence, found on Foxglove Print & Pack’s own site in a stored copy of the page.
“Folding cartons and sleeves in short and medium runs.”
foxglovepack.example/products Open stored copy
Tamarack Box Company
2 of 5 checkable must-haves verified · 2 to ask
Verified · Folding cartons
The supporting sentence, found on Tamarack Box Company’s own site in a stored copy of the page.
“Folding cartons, sleeves and counter displays.”
tamarackbox.example/products Open stored copy
Harborlight Packaging
3 of 5 checkable must-haves verified · 2 to ask · 1 not met
Verified · Folding cartons
The supporting sentence, found on Harborlight Packaging’s own site in a stored copy of the page.
“Custom printed folding cartons at low minimums.”
harborlightpackaging.example/ Open stored copy
03 — RFQ questions for a packaging supplier
The gaps become your first email.
Every Unknown for a shortlisted supplier becomes a numbered question, so the first email asks for the certificate code the website left out. You open the draft in your own email and send it yourself. Ordren contacts nobody.
Sample draft · To Foxglove Print & Pack
We need 2,000 folding cartons a month, printed in four colors on FSC-certified board. Before we ask for a quote, could you confirm three things?
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Are you FSC chain-of-custody certified, and what is your certificate code? FSC certified, and the code?
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Do you ship to Portland, Oregon? Do you ship to Portland?
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What are your minimum order and unit price at 2,000 a month? Minimum and price at 2,000?
Open in your email Sample draft · You send every message
You send it from your own email. Ordren contacts nobody.