Reusable packaging for printed circuit boards and assembly manufacturing

PCBs and EMS

During a product's ramp-up phase, prototypes and small batches travel back and forth several times between the customer, the contract manufacturer and the test lab. Consigned material goes out, the populated assembly comes back, and after testing it goes out again.

Today every one of those legs gets a new cardboard box. Yet the route is always the same and the partners are known - the ideal case for packaging that simply travels along.

So funktioniert der Kreislauf

The assembly travels to the EMS provider or the test lab in a dimensionally stable, padded reusable box, and comes back in the very same box. Between the rounds nothing is thrown away and nothing new has to be bought.

The effect is strongest where a prototype or small-batch portal exists and small lot sizes run regularly. For pure series production shipped on pallets, by contrast, the loop is not the right tool - we would rather say so up front.

  • Packen & verschließen

    • Secure the assembly in its usual protective packaging as before
    • Place it in the padded reusable box - it replaces the outer carton, not the inner packaging
    • Close it tamper-proof all round, with a security seal if required

  • Versenden

    • Slide the shipping label into the label holder
    • Hand over to DHL, UPS, DPD or GLS as before - in the standard parcel network, with no surcharge
    • Tested with up to 400 kg stacking pressure and in a drop test from 80 cm

  • Zurücksenden

    • Unpack at the partner - the box stays on site for the return leg
    • The populated assembly or test sample goes into the same box, back to the customer
    • With several rounds per project, the same box just keeps travelling

More for suppliers

PCBs and EMS & Mehrweg: Ein Dreamteam

  • A genuine back-and-forth loop

    Out and back between known partners, often several times within the same project. The return leg does not have to be created here - it already exists, just with single-use packaging so far.

  • Savings three times over

    Reuse avoids up to 94 % of waste and 76 % of CO2 emissions, and packaging costs fall by an average of 53 %. On a project with several sample rounds, that pays off in the very first run.

  • Protection on every leg

    Dimensionally stable, padded boxes instead of soft cartons: prototypes are one-offs, and transport damage costs weeks. The box replaces the outer carton - the assembly's usual inner packaging stays exactly as it is.

  • Fully traceable

    Seals and tamper-evident closures make unnoticed opening visible, and the GRAI code makes every cycle readable. With consigned customer material that is more than a metric - it is proof of where something has been.

  • Regulation

    With the PPWR, reuse turns from a nice-to-have into a requirement. Sample and prototype shipments are the easiest place to start, because the route is fixed and the loop is small.

Passende Verpackungen

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Häufige Fragen

Is the reusable box suitable for ESD requirements?

hey circle does not currently offer a dissipative version. The box replaces the outer carton, not the inner packaging: the usual ESD protective bag around the assembly stays exactly as it is. Where a customer specification explicitly requires dissipative outer packaging, this has to be clarified case by case.

Is it worth it for just a few samples per project?

During the ramp up phase the same shipment travels back and forth several times between you, the contract manufacturer and the test laboratory - that is where the loop pays off, because otherwise every round costs a new carton. If a sample goes out once and never comes back, it does not pay off.

What about series deliveries?

Series production with pallet shipping is not the use case. The reusable box is designed for sample traffic and for small batches in parcel format - we would rather say that upfront than afterwards.

Wie kannst du mit Mehrweg sparen?

Unser Team berät dich gerne zu den Vorteilen einer Mehrweg-Versandverpackung für deinen Versand-Kreislauf.

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