Box styles
Box styles4 min readUpdated
Shipping boxes and FEFCO codes
Ask a box maker for a shipping box and you may get a number back: 0201, 0203, 0427. Those are FEFCO codes. Learn to read a few and you can order the box you mean, and see which one our editor draws.
How to read a code
FEFCO is the European federation of corrugated board makers, and its catalogue of box styles is used by box makers well beyond Europe. Each style has four digits: the first two name the group, the last two the style in it. The groups you'll meet most often:
- 02, slotted boxes. One piece with one joint made by the box maker, flaps at both ends, delivered flat. Our shipping box, tuck lid shipping box and snap lock bottomSnap lock bottom A bottom of four flaps that lock into each other by hand, with no glue: fold one, two, three. Also called a 1-2-3 bottom. box belong here.
- 03, telescope boxes. More than one piece: a lid, a base or both slide over the body.
- 04, folder boxes and trays. One sheet folded into shape. Our mailer box and open tray belong here.
- 07, ready-glued boxes. Glued flat by the box maker, ready to use after a quick fold.
- 09, inner parts. Pads, liners and dividers that go inside a box.
A code describes the shape only, not the size or the board. Two boxes with the same code can differ in both, so order with all three: the code, the inside sizeInside dimensions A box's sizes measured inside, from crease to crease. This is what you type on our boxes, and what box makers quote. and the board. Paperboard cartons have a catalogue of their own, ECMAECMA code A code from the European catalogue of paperboard carton styles, such as A20.20.03.03 for a straight tuck end box.: our tuck box, for example, is ECMA A20.20.03.03.
The regular slotted carton, 0201
Our shipping box is FEFCO 0201: four walls in a row, a glue flapGlue flap A narrow flap at the end of the row of panels that the box maker glues to the last panel, turning the sheet into a tube. that joins the last wall to the first, and four flaps at each end. Every flap is half the width deep. The two long flaps meet in the middle; the two short ones meet only when the length and the width are equal. If the width were greater than the length, the short flaps would run into each other, so the editor doesn't allow it.
The flaps all fold on one straight crease line, with a slot between neighbours so they fold without catching: 4 mm wide, or twice the board on thick board. A thicker board only widens the slots; no crease moves. How the flaps close and get taped is in Closures and bases.
Flap styles, 0200 to 0206
The same four walls can carry deeper or shorter flaps. On our shipping box you pick them under Flaps, plus a switch for an open top:
| Flaps | FEFCO | How the ends close |
|---|---|---|
| Meet | 0201 | The long flaps meet in the middle. |
| Overlap | 0202 | The long flaps overlap; ours by 20 mm. |
| Full | 0203 | Each long flap covers the whole end, so the end is at least two layers of board. |
| Centre | 0204 | The short flaps are deeper too: every flap meets in the middle, two flat layers. |
| Long | 0205 | Every flap is half the length: the short flaps meet, the long ones overlap. |
| Full + centre | 0206 | Long flaps that each cover the end over short flaps that meet: three layers. |
| Open top | 0200 | No flaps on top; with Meet, that's 0200. For a tray, or a box you close another way. |
Deeper flaps make a taller sheet. At 300 × 200 × 150 mm the flat blank is 1034 × 350 mm with flaps that meet and 1034 × 550 mm with full flaps.
Try every flap
Open a shipping box and switch Flaps, or turn on Open top. The flaps redraw, and the walls stay the size you typed.
- Cut
- Crease
More of the 02 group
- 0210, 0211, 0212. The tuck lid shipping box is the same carton with a lid on its back wall. The lid closes over two dust flaps and tucks inside the front wall, so the box opens and closes again without tape. Under Bottom, the bottom is flaps (0212), a second lid on the back wall (0210) or on the front wall (0211). Sizes to start from are in tuck lid shipping box sizes.
- 0215 and its family. The snap lock bottom box has a 1-2-3 bottom that locks without glue or tape, and FEFCO codes most of its tops: tuck lid 0215, flaps 0216, handle 0217, snap lock 0220, open 0221, hang tab 0240. How the 1-2-3 bottom folds is in Folding cartons.
Before you order
- Size. Our sizes are crease to crease, the inside size box makers quote. The box is a few millimetres bigger outside. A box that fits its product needs less filler, and many couriers charge less for a smaller parcel.
- Board. Our shipping box starts on B fluteFlute The wavy layer inside corrugated board. Its letter (F, E, B, C, A) tells how tall the waves are., 2.8 mm, the usual single wall. Go to E flute for a small printed box, or to double wallDouble wall Corrugated board with two flutes and three liners, such as E+B or B+C. For heavy or large boxes and long trips. for heavy loads. Flute profiles and Corrugated board help you choose.
- Very big boxes. The flat blank has to fit a box plant's machines: for a shipping box we allow up to 1500 × 3200 mm. Bigger than that, the editor tells you and won't download it.