How to get quotes on printed roll stock and flexible film

Step 1: Know which machine the film runs on

Film has to match the machine. Find out (from your equipment or your co-packer):

• Machine type: vertical form-fill-seal (bags of chips, snacks, powders, frozen vegetables), horizontal flow wrap (bars, cookies, baked goods), thermoform-fill-seal, or tray sealing with lidding film
• Make and model, if you know them
• Sealing method: heat seal jaws, impulse, or ultrasonic, and the jaw temperature range the operator uses
• Roll limits: core inside diameter, maximum roll outside diameter or weight, web width, and unwind direction
• Registration: whether the machine uses an eye mark (registration mark) to cut at the right place, and where it needs to be

If a co-packer will run the film, ask them for their film spec sheet. Many have one, and it saves a round of questions with every converter.

Step 2: Describe the product and the barrier it needs

• Product: what it is, how it's filled (hot, ambient, frozen), and whether it's oily, salty, sharp-edged or powdery
• Shelf life target and storage (shelf-stable, refrigerated, frozen). If you don't know your shelf life yet, see shelf life testing.
• Barrier needs: moisture (MVTR), oxygen (OTR), light, aroma and grease
• Process: nitrogen flush, vacuum, retort, microwave or boil-in-bag use
• Structure: if you have a current film, send its structure (for example a printed outer layer laminated to a barrier layer and a sealant layer) and gauge. If not, ask each converter to recommend one and explain why.

Step 3: Write the print and roll spec

Ask every converter to quote in the same unit, for example price per thousand impressions at each quantity, so the numbers line up.

Step 4: Ask for samples and a line trial

Before a production order, ask for unprinted or stock samples of the proposed structure and run them on the machine. Seal strength, slip, curl, and how the film tracks through the forming collar show up in minutes on the line and don't show up on a spec sheet. Ask who pays for trial film and whether the converter will send a technician.

Step 5: Compare quotes line by line

• Price per unit at each quantity, in the same unit
• One-time costs: plates or cylinders, prepress, color matching, and whether they repeat on reorders
• Minimum per SKU and per order
• Overrun and underrun tolerance (many converters ship within a tolerance of the ordered quantity and bill for what ships)
• Lead time from artwork approval to delivery, and from reorder to delivery
• Structure and gauge actually quoted, compared with what you asked for
• Freight terms and payment terms
• Trial support and samples

A low unit price with cylinder costs and a large minimum can cost more on the first order than digital printing with no plates. Ask for both if your volumes are borderline.

Step 6: Get the food-contact and claims paperwork

• Food-contact compliance. In the U.S., the substances in food packaging that can migrate into food have to be authorized for that use, for example under FDA's food additive regulations or a food contact notification. Ask each converter for a written statement that the structure complies for your food type and conditions of use (temperature, fat content, contact time).
• Recyclable or compostable claims. Under the FTC's Green Guides, a "compostable" claim has to be qualified when municipal or institutional composting facilities aren't available to a substantial majority of the consumers or communities where the product is sold. Recyclable claims have similar rules. Ask the converter what supports any claim before you print it.
• Audit certificate, if your customers or co-packer require the converter to hold one (for example a GFSI-benchmarked packaging scheme).

What drives lead time

• Print method: digital runs skip plates and usually start faster; flexo and gravure need plates or cylinders made first
• Proof and color approval rounds
• Lamination and curing time for multi-layer structures
• Custom structures vs. structures the converter already runs
• Converter backlog and freight

Questions to ask roll stock suppliers

• What structure and gauge do you recommend for my product, shelf life and machine, and why?
• Can you share barrier data (MVTR and OTR) for that structure?
• Can I get trial film, and will it run on my (or my co-packer's) machine model?
• What's your minimum per SKU, and can SKUs share a run?
• What one-time costs apply, and do they repeat on reorders?
• What's your overrun and underrun tolerance?
• What food-contact documentation do you provide for this structure?
• What's the lead time from artwork approval to delivery, including freight?

How PostRequest helps

Tell us your product, machine and quantities once. Our agents shortlist flexible packaging converters and digital film printers that fit your volume, email each one your spec from a PostRequest address, follow up once, and line up the replies: price per unit at each quantity, one-time costs, minimums, structure quoted and lead time. Converters see your spec, not your name or company, until you choose to connect. During early access, a person on our team reviews every comparison before it reaches you.