Hold every carton job to its artwork proof, board lot and cutting die.

A folding carton plant prints sheets of paperboard, cuts them to a flat shape and glues the sides so the buyer can fold and fill the carton by machine. The buyer is a brand that cares most about colour, artwork and a clean crease, and it will reject a whole run over one wrong word on a leaflet carton. Proofs matter. Printing, coating and cutting happen on separate machines, so the job passes through many hands. Handover is where errors begin. Proofs get lost.

Software for folding carton makers keeps the artwork version, the board lot and the cutting die with the job from first proof to last case. Planners see the offset press, the die cutter and the folder-gluer as separate queues. Prepress staff see which artwork is approved and which is not. Quality staff see which inspection result belongs to which run. A brand asking for a sample gets a fast answer. No hunting.

A brand sends artwork, a board type and a carton style such as a tuck-end, a lock-bottom or a sleeve. Prepress checks the file, builds the imposition and sends a proof for sign-off. Nothing prints without it. The estimator prices by sheet size, ups per sheet, ink and coating, then checks the cutting die, the board stock and the finishing steps before the quotation goes out. Stores issues paperboard by grammage and caliper, and the planner books the offset press, then the coating, foil stamping, embossing and cutting steps in order.

Sheets go to the die cutter, where the cutting and creasing die is fitted and waste is stripped. The folder-gluer folds and glues the sides, and a camera or an inspector checks print, glue lines and the window patch if one is fitted. Cartons are counted into cases or bundles. The packing list carries the artwork version, the batch and the count per case, so the packer can check the delivery. Nothing leaves unchecked.