Sample lead time versus production lead time in Longgang

Three clocks

White structure sample: board, wrap, and fit, often without final print. Printed sample: Kodak CTP plus Heidelberg on the wrap or carton. Production: materials, print, converting, pack, and booking. Wenzhou Taishan Printing Co., Ltd. runs these as separate sequences in Longgang, not as one calendar copied from a trading desk.

A structure sample answers cavity and lid — not colour, not foil, not a vessel. A printed sample answers the sheet — not drawer travel if you never pulled the tray. A production lot answers the container. Write which clocks you need on the first RFQ.

If you need a structure sample before a sea lot, say so on the first RFQ. Silent sampling is how a vessel is booked against a white box that has not been approved.

• Clock 1: white / structure / fit.
• Clock 2: printed wrap or carton sheet.
• Clock 3: production materials, converting, pack, booking.
• Write which clocks you need before anyone names a ship week.

What stretches a sample

Special paper, holographic wrap, magnet placement, EVA tooling, and a new heptagon or star dieline. Stock wrap on grey board is faster than a mill-order specialty sheet. MDF cores (catalog 1.5–7 mm) are a different bench than 1.5–3 mm grey board.

Artwork that is still RGB, missing bleed, or mixing foil into a JPEG filter will pause the printed sample. Structure can still proceed if you approve a white box first. Confirm that split on the RFQ.

• New steel-rule die versus a locked blank.
• Mill-order paper versus wrap already in the plant.
• Magnet, window, or EVA as extra tooling.
• Whether colour must match a coated target on the first sample.

Do not book the vessel on the sample date

Ask for two dates: sample ex-works and production ex-works after approval. Calendar sits on the RFQ reply. Destination and board lot can move both clocks.

Air samples and sea lots are different bookings. A courier carton is not a 20-foot load. Write the destination country and whether you expect air for the sample and sea for the lot.

What each sample does not prove

Approve only what sat on the bench. Changing inner size after a white sample is a new structure sample. Changing only a spot colour may still need a new plate. Write what is locked: cavity, wrap print, finish map, or all three.

• White box: not Heidelberg colour, not foil/UV, not master-carton cube.
• Printed sheet: not lid friction if you never closed a wrapped sample; not drawer travel if the tray stayed shut.
• Stamped wrap: not a locked production board lot until that lot is named on the PO.
• Closed lifestyle photo of a drawer or double-door: not scrape, rattle, or hinge clearance.
• Courier carton: not a 20-foot booking.

Plant sequence (without borrowing the sample date)

Catalog path: design → materials → Kodak CTP → Heidelberg sheetfed → lamination or varnish → converting → pack. White samples may skip CTP. Production does not skip materials. If the wrap is still being ordered, production cannot start from the sample photo.

Materials and destination

Board lots change. A grey-board core approved in a white sample should be named again on the production PO. Destination can add packing, pallet, and document time after converting. None of that belongs on the sample clock.

Food-contact or FSC claims, if they will appear on the carton, need current scans requested on the RFQ — not a catalog logo pasted as a contract. Those documents can sit on the production clock even when the white box is already approved.

• Ship-to country on the RFQ.
• Air sample versus sea production, stated separately.
• Whether packing must match a retailer inbound spec — confirm, do not assume.

Approvals that pause production

Colour on screen is not a Heidelberg sheet. If you must sign a printed wrap, say the production clock starts after that sign-off. Foil and spot UV on a mock-up are not stamps. Ask for a sample with the actual pass if those finishes are audited.

How to write dates on the RFQ

List the three clocks and which ones you need. If a launch week is real, write it as a need. We answer sample ex-works and production ex-works after approval. Send via taishanprint.com (EN/ZH/ES), [email protected], or WhatsApp +86 138 6598 7984.

• Need a white sample before print: yes/no.
• Need a printed sheet before the lot: yes/no.
• Production may start only after named approval: yes/no.