What A Twelve-Week Packaging Lead Time Really Looks Like

When a customer tells us their launch slipped, it is almost never the filling line. It is a mould, a print plate or a vessel that took longer than the schedule assumed.

Weeks 1–3: specification and tooling

The bottle, cap and valve combination is fixed and tooling is either pulled from stock or cut. If a new mould is needed, this is where the schedule is decided — not later.

Weeks 4–7: sampling and approval

Pre-production samples arrive, get filled, and are checked for compatibility: does the pump prime, does the liner survive the formula, does the label sit flat on the curve.

Weeks 8–12: mass production and decoration

Printing, hot stamping or labelling, then packing and dispatch to our plant. This is the part most people plan for, and it is only the last third of the timeline.

The practical takeaway

Start the packaging conversation in the same week as the formulation brief. The two run in parallel far more often than they run in sequence.