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Over/Underrun Explained and Defined

July 17, 2017

Every order for our custom poly bags has over/underrun tolerances which are determined by different factors throughout our process

Custom polybag manufacturing is subject to over/underrun percentages based on volume purchased. So many items we buy as consumers come in exact amounts. For example, we buy 1 shirt or 5 cans of soup or 2 paint brushes. All these things are made in large volumes and then sold in smaller lots. Custom packaging generally does not work the same way because of the word “custom”.

Custom polybags first requires starting with custom raw materials. The raw materials arrive to us for print and conversion within an overrun/underrun tolerance. Second, we print the material on a flexographic print press and incur some scrap in setup. Lastly, we take the printed rolls to the bag converting equipment for bag making and there again experience some scrap in this final manufacturing step.

We order raw material based on historical scrap values for the print press and bag converting equipment as it relates to the bag size, construction and print copy ordered. Inherent variations in the production process will result in at times more bags than ordered and at times less. Variations in the process become more pronounced in smaller runs forcing a wider over/underrun percentage. Over/underrun percentage will narrow in range as order quantity increases as any variation within the process has less effect over more bags.

A helpful means to think about an over/underrun is to think about the difference between store-bought cookies versus making a batch where you mix the ingredients yourself. Store bought often will say on the package “6 cookies” for a set amount of money. You know you will get 6 cookies. When you mix the ingredients and bake them yourself, you may at times get more or less than the target amount based on your waste and the amount of batter initially mixed.

The over/underrun percentages are stated on each quote we send out. If there are specific requirements as it relates to over/unders, please let us know and we can quote accordingly.

We hope this helps.  Thanks for reading!

 

 

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