Regular Slotted Containers (RSC) Explained: Applications & Alternatives
Regular slotted containers (RSC) boxes are the most used box in packaging. Made with corrugated material, often mistaken as cardboard, these boxes are used to package, ship and store products in a variety of sizes.
They are designed with equal length flaps. Two outer flaps are one half the containers width. Flaps are positioned at the bottom and top of the box with the two longest flaps meeting in the middle. These boxes must be measured from the inside with the sequence length (L) x width (W) x height (H).
RSC boxes can pretty much be used for most packaging applications due to its design, versatility, and material options, as corrugated can be manufactured in a variety different strengths/thickness.
To help you decide whether a regular slotted container is the best option for your packaging needs you should consider its common packaging applications.
Regular Slotted Container Packaging Applications
There is abundant amount of packaging applications for RSC boxes, but here a just a few for you to get a better understanding of what RSC boxes are used for:
- Consumer goods
- Appliances
- Toys
- Shipping boxes
- Office Supplies
- Electronics (computers, TVs, monitors, accessories, and other products)
- Beverages
- Personal care products
- Automotive and industrial products
- Fragile products
- And much more
Essentially, RSC boxes can be used to package a variety of products that are small to medium weight. However, there are applications where RSC boxes are not the best option from a financial standpoint or by practically. As a result, you should always consider the alternatives to regular slotted containers.
Alternatives To Regular Slotted Containers
Even though RSC boxes are the most used packaging product, you should always consider what is best for your product. Choosing the right packaging can help you better protect your product, limit waste, decrease costs and better promote your product.
Here are list of packaging alternatives and when you should use them instead of an RSC box.
- Poly Bags – Also known as plastic bags, poly bags are a more cost-efficient approach to packaging lightweight and small items. However, these bags do not provide the same level of protection as an RSC box.
- Pouches – A type of flexible packaging used to package loose solids, liquids, and powdered products. Pouches are much cheaper per unit compared to RSC boxes, which may make it more cost-effective option. Recommended for non-fragile products.
- Folding Cartons – Also referred to as a foldable box, these cartons are much lighter and cheaper to produce as they use less material. However, they do provide less protection and are recommended for lightweight, smaller and nonfragile items.
- Rigid Box – A type of box used to package luxury or high-priced items. These boxes provide more overall protection that RSC boxes but are much more expensive.
- Full Overlap Box – FOL boxes provide additional support and protection at the bottom and top of the box compared to RSC. This is because FOL is designed with full length flaps that overlap each other rather than meet at the middle. As a result, these boxes can support much heavier applications, but cost more to produce as extra material is needed.
- Half Slotted Containers – HSC boxes are a popular type of corrugated box that is the exact same as an RSC box, except without one set of flaps. Usually, HSC boxes are open or can have a lid. These boxes are designed to provide an easy access to a box’s content.
Pouches
Rigid Box
Folding Cartons
If you are looking for custom or stock corrugated boxes or alternative solutions, then contact Brown Packaging today to get started.
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