How does PackPrice calculate packaging prices?
PackPrice computes packaging cost by combining six core lines: material (area × grammage × price per kg), waste, the per-unit share of one-off setup costs (tooling/plates), printing, labour and margin. These are computed together consistently across 1,500,000+ calculation configurations.
Step by step
- 1
Write the prompt
Describe the box size, material (board/paper grammage), printing and quantity in one natural-language sentence, e.g. '180x100x50mm, 350gsm bristol, CMYK, matte lamination, 1000 pcs'.
- 2
AI computes
The system computes blank area, grammage, waste, tooling share, printing, labour and margin together to produce the packaging cost.
- 3
See the cost breakdown
Paper, printing, lamination, cutting, die, gluing, pallet and margin are itemised, together with unit price and total.
- 4
Share the PDF quote
A detailed quote is produced as a professional PDF in seconds, ready to send to your customer.
Cost lines
- Material cost
- Blank area × grammage (kg/m²) × price per kg. The layout is derived per box model.
- Waste
- Applied as a multiplier on material cost based on cutting layout and material-vs-order width fit.
- Tooling / Plates
- The die and printing plates are one-off costs, amortised across quantity and not charged on reorders.
- Printing
- By method (flexo/offset/digital) and colour count; quantity and colours set the cost curve.
- Labour & cutting
- Machine setup, cutting, gluing and packing times.
- Margin
- Variable + fixed-cost share divided by (1 − margin) to reach the selling price.
How do we audit accuracy?
PackPrice does not promise an accuracy percentage; it makes the calculation auditable instead. Every price is shown broken down into the lines above, so you can compare the result against your own cost line by line. The engine is protected by more than 2,000 automated regression tests: they run on every code change, and the deployment step never starts unless they pass, so no cost line can change silently. Box models are also benchmarked in bulk against published market price lists. That is not a certificate of accuracy but a bug-hunting method: real defects in model selection and sheet/roll sizing were found and fixed this way.
Frequently asked questions
Where does PackPrice get its prices?
Calculations rely on centrally-kept current raw-material and labour prices and per-user formulas/rules. When prices change, they are updated in one place.
Why is the result more consistent than manual costing?
The same formulas apply automatically to every quote, removing human formula and entry errors; only the inputs vary.
Is waste included?
Yes. The waste rate arising from the cutting layout and material-vs-order width fit is reflected directly in the cost.
Does PackPrice give 100% accurate prices?
No, and we do not claim any such figure. The result is a cost computed from defined line items for the dimensions and materials you enter; it reflects your cost to the extent that you supply your own raw-material prices and margin. Because every line is shown separately, verifying and correcting the result stays in your hands.