Custom Half Slotted Containers
Custom half slotted containers — a shipping box with flaps on the bottom only and an open top — from 100 units. Used as a tray, a bin, the base of a telescoping box, or a pack-out container that is loaded from above, in the board grade the load needs.
A shipping box with the top left off, on purpose
- Board
- Single wall 32/44 ECT, double wall 48–71 ECT; C or B flute
- Style
- FEFCO 0200: bottom flaps only, open top
- Bottom
- Slotted, full overlap, or auto-lock
Get a price for Half Slotted Containers
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Where an open top is the point
The telescoping use is the one most people are buying when they ask for a two-piece corrugated box: the lid HSC is built to the base's outside dimension plus a board thickness, and the lid depth sets how much of the base it covers. The full version of that box, with a lid that runs the whole depth, is on our telescoping boxes with a full-depth lid page.
| Telescoping base | An HSC as the base and a second, larger HSC inverted as the lid — the two-piece box |
|---|---|
| Pack-out bin | Loaded from above on a line, then lidded or shrink-wrapped |
| Tote and storage | An open bin that stacks on its own walls; warehouse and archive use |
| Display tray | A shallow HSC that ships in a case and sits on the shelf as a tray |
Walls without a top to hold them
On an RSC the top flaps tie the four walls together; on an HSC nothing does, so the walls can splay under a heavy load or when the box is lifted by its rim. A deeper HSC needs a heavier grade than an RSC of the same size, and a bin that will be lifted full wants a double wall or a rolled rim. For a stacked bin, the load goes through the walls to the floor, and the corners are where it holds — the manufacturer's joint should be glued, not stitched, so the corner is a single stiff line.
A hand hole in each end wall makes a bin liftable and weakens the wall. Put it below the rim by two inches and reinforce it with a folded flap.
The bottom, and what it carries
- Standard slotted bottom — the four flaps, outer ones meeting, taped; fine for a lidded box.
- Full-overlap bottom — flaps that cross fully, for a heavy load and a floor with no gap; the construction of our full overlap containers for heavy loads.
- Auto-lock bottom — folds shut without tape, for a bin set up by hand on a line.
- A corrugated pad on the floor, which covers the flap gap and takes a sharp load.
Print, for the tray that is seen
An HSC used as a shipping base or a bin is printed like any shipping box — one color, the certificate stamp, the arrows. An HSC used as a display tray is a different brief: the outside of the walls is the shelf face, and it takes a printed white liner, a front wall cut lower than the sides so the product shows, and a brand panel. The tray ships in an outer case and is dropped straight onto the shelf.
Half Slotted Containers — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Board
- Single wall 32/44 ECT, double wall 48–71 ECT; C or B flute
- Style
- FEFCO 0200: bottom flaps only, open top
- Bottom
- Slotted, full overlap, or auto-lock
- Extras
- Hand holes, rolled rim, telescoping lid, lowered front wall for display
- One color flexo for shipping; printed white liner for display trays
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to four colors straight onto the liner; litho-lamination where the box needs full color or a photograph.
- Color
- Flat colors on kraft. Full color needs a white top liner or a laminated sheet, because brown shifts every color warm.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1.5 mm. The flute compresses, so corrugated runs wider than folding board.
- Tooling
- No die on a regular slotted box, which is cut on a slotter. Die-cut mailers and trays need one, made once and kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade liners and a vented build where the box carries hot food.
- Sustainability
- High recycled content through liners and flute as standard, and the box recycles whole if it is sealed with paper tape.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build half slotted containers on
Corrugated is a fluted sheet glued between two liners, and the flute decides nearly everything: how it prints, how it dents, how high it stacks. These are the grades we run.
E flute
About 1.5 mm. Prints well and folds crisply; dents under a stack. Retail boxes, mailers and light shippers.
1.5 mm, single wallB flute
About 3 mm. The working default for parcels — takes print reasonably and stacks reasonably. Most shipping boxes are B.
3 mm, single wallC flute
About 4 mm. More cushioning than B, slightly less stacking strength per weight. Common on grocery and produce cases.
4 mm, single wallBC double wall
B and C glued together, about 7 mm. Heavy or fragile goods, pallet stacking, anything over roughly 15 kg.
7 mm, double wallKraft liner
Brown, strong, absorbent. One or two flat colors flexo print well on it; photographs drink into the brown and go muddy.
Outer and inner linerWhite top liner
A bleached outer liner for full-color print on corrugated. Costs more and marks more easily than kraft.
Outer liner onlyRecycled-content corrugated
High post-consumer fiber through liners and flute. The default for shippers; a slightly greyer brown and no loss of strength at grade.
All flutesCoated and water-resistant
A coating or a wax-free barrier liner for damp stores and cold chains. Check the recycling stream before printing a claim on it.
B and C fluteNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Corrugated takes fewer finishes than folding board, and the ones it takes it takes well.
Flexo on kraft
One or two flat colors straight onto brown. Cheap, fast, honest.
Litho-lamination
An offset sheet glued to the flute: full color and photographs on a shipper.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance with no film, so the box still recycles whole.
White top print
Full color flexo on a bleached liner; brighter, and it marks more easily.
Inside print
A second pass on the inner liner — the panel a customer sees first.
Printed tape seal
The brand applied at the last moment, on paper tape that recycles with the box.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a corrugated box against the carrier, not the catalog: half slotted containers
Corrugated is cut to your internal size, so the box goes round the product rather than the product going into a stock size. That is where the money is: a box 20 mm smaller each way is often a whole postage band cheaper.
- Internal dimensions
- Length, width and depth of the space you need. Board thickness is added outside that, and the flute is thicker than people expect.
- Clearance and void fill
- 5–10 mm a side for a rigid product. Size it properly and you need no void fill at all, which is cheaper and better received.
- Stacking
- Tell us how high the boxes stack on a pallet or a shelf. Edge crush grade is specified from that, not guessed.
- Weight
- The contents weight sets the flute and the liner grade. Over about 15 kg we move to double wall.
- Score allowance
- Corrugated needs more room at the folds than boxboard. The dieline accounts for it; a box drawn from flat dimensions comes out tight.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1.5 mm on corrugated, wider than folding board because the flute compresses.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Half Slotted Containers in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about half slotted containers? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
What is a half slotted container?
A regular slotted container with the top flaps left off — four bottom flaps, four walls, an open top.
What is it used for?
The base of a telescoping two-piece box, a pack-out bin loaded from above, a storage tote, or a shelf display tray.
Can I get a lid for it?
Yes, a second HSC built to fit over the base — the telescoping box. The lid depth sets how much of the base it covers.
Is it as strong as an RSC?
Not for the same grade — without top flaps the walls can splay. A deeper or heavier HSC goes up a grade, and a bin lifted full wants double wall.
Can I have hand holes?
Yes, in the end walls, set two inches below the rim and reinforced. They make a bin liftable and we build them to hold.
Which bottom should I choose?
Slotted and taped for a lidded box; full overlap for a heavy load and a solid floor; auto-lock for a bin set up by hand.
Can it be a display tray?
Yes, with a printed white liner and a front wall cut lower than the sides. It ships in a case and goes straight on the shelf.
Does it stack?
Yes, on its own walls, if the grade is right. Tell us the stack height and the load and we choose the board.
Does it ship flat?
Yes, glued at the joint and folded flat. It squares up in a second.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes per size. It is cut on a slotter like an RSC, so the set-up is small.
How long does production take?
Corrugated runs fast. We give a date with the quote once we know the size, grade and print.
Will you send a sample?
An unprinted box in your size and grade, so you can load it and lift it before the order.
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