Corrugated Paper Standards (old vs. new)

Corrugated paper standards in use today are a mixture of the old and the new.  To keep things simple, we’ll use the terms ‘Mullen’ for the old and ‘ECT’ for the new.  The Mullen standard focuses on sidewall surface strength (horizontal penetration) while ECT (Edge Crush Test) is based on edge compression resistance (vertical crush).

So which packaging standard is most important and often used?  The key is to know which standard best fits each packaging application.  Corrugated paper is produced and available for both the Mullen and ECT box standards and both are widely in use.

The bigger question might be…why are two standards still in use today?  Cost-reduction was the motive for creating a new standard and box penetration resistance became its sacrificial lamb.  What effect did this material savings have on shipping damage claims?  That all depends on what’s being boxed and how it’s being shipped.

Packaging sales reps will often offer ECT based savings as an easy (lazy) way to capture more business.  Changing boxes from the Mullen to the ECT standard could provide some material cost savings, but it might also result in creating more damage claims and unsatisfied customers.  

It’s not always cheaper or better to change from the Mullen to ECT standard and a non-biased analysis should assist in that selection.  This is truly a task better left to a packaging consultant than guesswork or trial and error.