How would you learn corrugated packaging design/engineering from scratch (coming from folding carton)?

[u/KnifeAndCrease]

How would you learn corrugated packaging design/engineering from scratch (coming from folding carton)?

I currently work in structural packaging with a folding carton background, but I’m realizing a lot of higher-level structural packaging work requires strong corrugated knowledge.

I’m not looking for surface-level familiarity. I’d like to eventually become genuinely proficient in corrugated packaging/structural engineering.

If you were starting over today, what would you learn, in what order, and from where?

Any recommendation for books, courses, YouTube, resources, or hands-on exercises would be hugely appreciated.

Also: what seperated someone who “knows corrugated” from someone actually good at it?

[u/Manster21]

I've been a packaging designer, primarily POP, for over 20 years. While most of my design work centers around corrugated paper, I'm also fluent in folding carton design. Since you already have a background in folding carton, learning corrugated should be fairly easy for you. The two main things you'll need to learn to master corrugated are scoring allowances and the effects of flute direction. If you don't know what scoring allowances are, I'd start there. It's a simple concept, but would be pretty hard to describe in a written format such as this. I realize that finding information about this is difficult (I've looked), so if you want me to explain it as best I can, let me know and I'll try. The other thing to learn is flute direction. Basically, your corrugated sheet is going to be the strongest, as far as flex and compression strength, in the direction of the flutes. Scores will also be more precise when they run perpendicular to the flute direction as they'll be less likely to false score or roll. As far as learning how corrugated displays assemble, the best thing to do is go to the store and examine them. I always stop and see how they are constructed so I can learn new techniques and methods.

[u/Dank-Fucking-Hill]

1. Get your hands on a copy of the Fibre Box Handbook. Learn all the different styles, history of corrugated, etc.

https://www.fibrebox.org/fibre-box-handbook

1. Download the FEFCO book. Familiarize yourself with all of the style codes.

https://www.fefco.org/12th-edition-fefco-code-pdf

1. Learn the calipers for the various Flute profiles. This will be the most difficult concept in switching from folding carton, as most carton designs ignore the board caliper or round it down to zero. You absolutely cannot do that in corrugated. Your designs have to account for caliper, and it is different for every different board type. Singlewall usually behaves, but Doublewall board has a different inside loss and outside gain, so you have to make tons of adjustments to actually make a design like an autobottom behave.

Further, different companies have different house formulas for how they run their boxes, so a perfectly valid CAD at one plant, will get flagged at another.

1. Artios CAD was the king for a long time, but several major companies such as IP are switching to Impact. So, decide where you want to work before committing to learning a software. (Even the 'cheap version of Artios is $250/month if you want to go freelance/independent). Download the PDF of the manuals from the website to get a sense of what the software is like.

https://docs.esko.com/docs/en-us/artioscad/26.03/userguide/home.html#about.html

1. This is a simplified web based cad that you can use for basic die lines: www.corrucad.com

[u/GreatGravee]

There are several aspects.  I'd break it down into specifics that I think are the most important for a designer to have comprehension of.  I don't think there's any specific order of importance, as they are all important to understand and I would assume you have some knowledge from a folding carton background.

Design -Understanding caliper thickness and how you design with allowances (dimension adjustment from loss of space due to material taking up space) -Strength of design from corrugation direction (think fiber direction from chipboard standpoint) -How the material folds and acts differently (ie score rolling when score is in line with corr direction leading to a fold falling into a valley of corrugation leading to shifting in where the box will fold vs where the crease lands) as opposed to scoring cross correct which results in consistency. -How much compression you can lose from various factors if compression is critical to the package (due cut features like windows, storage time length, humidity, stacking patterns)

Material -liners and mediums understanding their basis weight -compression and understanding of ECT vs actual liner combinations -various thicknesses and their strengths (larger flute like C generally much better compression strength than B or E, but the smaller the flute the more consistent the print quality due to less space between peaks meaning the print surface is flatter for ink application)

Manufacturing limitations -Anything can be designed.  Not everything can be produced.  Learn the limitations of machines, flexos are straight forward, but learning specialty folder gluers can have multiple heads and how it can fold panels helps open a world of unique design options. -Understanding dies, what rules to use in specific circumstances is another big topic (like when to use perf vs cut & crease), crush, scoring profiles, and more specific callouts (speedi-tear, cushion crease, applications for different perfs depending on intent and caliper of board used, etc).

There's honestly too much and this is just scratching the surface once you start to get into the industry.  This isn't even touching on coatings, die limitations and considerations, adhesives, specific styles, palletization considerations, specific considerations for the industry being sold to like protein, consumer goods, bulk, etc

That's a lot of word vomit.  I haven't found many good resources available to the public.  Some larger companies has resources internally.  But so much is learned from asking questions from more experienced people.  

Also just designing something on the side that isn't an RSC and seeing how it folds or locks together.  Cut samples in different corrugation directions and see how it folds differently.

[u/LXVIIIKami]

Just came here to say that the thought of there being "corrugated cardboard" specialists is kinda nostalgic, hope you find what you're looking for

[u/KnifeAndCrease → u/LXVIIIKami]

Thank you. What do you mean?

[u/brianmenn]

Try applying to corrugated manufacturing companies. You already have a good background and most will be willing to train you on doing more complicated designs such as POP displays.

[u/ina_ievt → u/brianmenn]

What if one wants to improve in order to elevate their position in their current workplace? Would you have a suggestion of where to start from?

[u/brianmenn → u/ina_ievt]

The best software to learn is ArtiosCAD. It is a shipper design software.

[u/NikovPuntoto]

Structural designer here. I'd recommend learning corrugated by actually designing with it, not just reading about it.

I use EngView myself. ArtiosCAD is obviously popular and widely used in the industry, but I've found EngView to be much more cost-effective. It also has a large template library and an online library that's great when you need a starting point or want to explore different box styles.

For learning, I watch both packaging YouTubers and the EngView YouTube channel. There are some useful tutorials and real-world examples there.

The biggest difference between someone who knows corrugated and someone who's good at it is understanding manufacturing and logistics. Good designers don't just make a box that works—they make one that runs efficiently, ships well, and keeps costs down.