Automotive packaging
Automotive packaging and car parts packaging
Car parts break the usual rules: a small box can hit 25kg, faces are machined to a tolerance a single knock ruins, and goods-in has to count what arrived without unpacking it. We are a family run, independently owned corrugated box manufacturer making automotive packaging to measure in Letchworth Garden City, from single spares to line-side kitted formats.
Specified on weight, not volume
Dense castings and machined parts get a board grade that carries the real weight, checked against your part before you order.
Dunnage designed around the part
Partitions, cell dividers, die-cut trays, layer pads and foam profiles so components arrive clean, countable and undamaged.
Kitted, stocked and delivered
Line-side kits assembled in-house, call-off stock at our own site and delivery on our own vehicles across the region.
What we supply
Packaging formats for automotive components
Heavy duty automotive boxes
Made to measure single, double and triple wall boxes for components from small machined parts up to castings, housings and full assemblies.
Partitions, trays and layer pads
Corrugated cell dividers and die-cut fitments for repeat component families, plus layer pads for stacked and palletised despatch.
Foam inserts and surface protection
Closed-cell and U-profile foam for machined and coated faces, anti-static bubble wrap where electronics are attached.
Papers, VCI-friendly wrap and consumables
Kraft, imitation and corrugated interleaving for oily parts, plus strapping, edge protection, pallets and labels on one delivery.
Sizes are cut on our own box-making machines, so a pack can be made to the exact part rather than the part being forced into a stock box. Our bespoke packaging page explains how made to measure boxes are produced, and heavy duty cardboard boxes covers the double and triple wall grades used for the heaviest assemblies.
Getting the pack right
Specifying packaging for car parts
Start with the true weight of a full pack, not the size of the part. Dense components put a board grade under far more stress than the box dimensions suggest, and the failure usually shows as a blown bottom seam or a collapsed stack rather than a damaged part.
Then decide what has to be kept apart. Loose parts abrade each other in transit, so partitions, cells or a die-cut tray almost always pay for themselves in reduced rework. Where a face is machined, coated or painted, a foam profile holding the part clear of the box wall protects it far better than loose fill.
Finally, plan for goods-in. A fixed cell count means the receiving end can verify quantities without stripping the pack, which shortens booking-in and reduces disputes.
For oily or freshly machined parts, corrugated paper and imitation kraft interleaving stops oil migrating through the pack, and VCI-friendly wrapping handles the corrosion risk on longer transits or overseas movements. Parts with electronics attached go into anti-static bubble wrap.
If your line is currently assembling packs by hand, we can supply the same components as a kit through our assembly and stock holding service, and hold the run at our own site for call-off.
Our engineering and automotive industry page sets out the wider component packaging picture, and everything else, from tape and strapping to pallet wrap, is in our product range.
Send us one part and we will specify the pack
Tell us the component, its weight, how many go in a pack and where it is going. We will come back with a board grade, a dunnage design and a price, and make a sample before you commit to a run.
Frequently asked questions
- What is dunnage packaging for automotive parts?
- Dunnage is the internal material that holds a component in position inside the outer pack: corrugated partitions, cell dividers, die-cut trays, layer pads and foam profiles. Its job is to stop parts touching each other and to keep them off the box wall, so a machined or painted face arrives without abrasion, burrs or knocks. On repeat component families we design the dunnage around the part so goods-in can count what arrived without unpacking the whole box.
- What board grade do car parts need?
- It depends on weight rather than size, because machined and cast parts are dense. As a guide we use uprated single wall for small dense packs up to around 25kg, BC double wall from 25kg to 40kg and for anything stacked on a pallet, and triple wall for castings, housings and heavy assemblies. Board weights and performance vary by mill and by run, so we confirm the grade against your actual part weight before you commit.
- Can you make packaging for oily or freshly machined components?
- Yes. Oily parts are normally interleaved with corrugated paper or imitation kraft so the oil does not migrate through the pack, and parts with a corrosion risk sit alongside VCI-friendly wrapping. Parts with electronics attached are packed in anti-static bubble wrap.
- Do you supply line-side and kitted packaging?
- Yes. We assemble kits on our own site, so a box can arrive at your line already containing the boxes, partitions, foam, labels and consumables for a given build, rather than being made up by your operators. That is part of our assembly and stock holding service.
- Can you hold automotive packaging stock for call-off?
- Yes. We hold stock at our Letchworth Garden City site and release it against a schedule or a call-off order, so you get volume pricing without giving up factory floor space. Blanket orders across a model year are common.
- Do you supply single spares as well as production volumes?
- Yes. We supply everything from one-off spares and aftermarket despatch packs through to production and pallet quantities, and we can make a sample of a bespoke size before you commit to a run.
- What automotive customers do you supply?
- We supply engineering machine shops, component manufacturers, motorsport and performance specialists, aftermarket and spares distributors across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Northamptonshire and London, and deliver UK-wide.