Industry Trends

Amcor Bemis or Online Printer? A Buyer’s Guide to Packaging and Print Formats

If you’ve ever tried to order packaging and printed materials at the same time, you know the first question is never “Which supplier should I use?” It’s “What exactly am I buying?” There is no universal answer. The right supplier for a tri-fold brochure is different from the right supplier for a custom plastic pouch, and both are different from whoever you buy your packing paper from.

I manage purchasing for a 130-person company—roughly $40,000 a year in print and packaging across six vendors. When I took over purchasing in 2020, the vendor list was a mess. Now it’s manageable, but only because I stopped treating every order like the same kind of problem.

First, the surface illusion about packaging and print

People assume that a low quote means the vendor is more efficient. Actually, it often means the vendor is hiding something: setup fees, low-grade materials, or a “we’ll get to it when we get to it” delivery date. The opposite is true too—paying more doesn’t automatically buy quality. The causation runs the other way: vendors who deliver quality can charge more because they’ve built that reputation.

Here’s what you need to know: the quoted price is rarely the final price. Total cost includes base product price, setup fees, shipping, rush fees, and the occasional reprint. One vendor who couldn’t produce a proper invoice cost us $2,400 in rejected expenses. Now I verify invoicing capability before placing any order.

Scenario A: You’re ordering standard printed pieces

If your project is a brochure, flyer, business card, or other standard product, this is the easiest category. The U.S. commercial printing market is roughly $85 billion per year (Source: PRINTING United Alliance, 2024), so there’s no shortage of options. Online printers like 48 Hour Print work well for these jobs: standard sizes, standard paper stocks, and a standard turnaround of three to seven business days. For brochure formats, that usually means 8.5×11, 11×17, tri-fold, half-fold, or single-sheet. Quantities can be as low as 25 or as high as 25,000+.

Do you need a specialized packaging manufacturer for that? No. A tri-fold brochure is not a packaging problem. It’s a printing problem.

The brochure formats you actually need

“Format” in the print world means size, fold, and paper weight. The most common brochure formats are:

• 8.5×11 tri-fold: the default for service businesses
• 8.5×11 half-fold: good for spec sheets or menus
• 11×17 half-fold: a larger corporate overview piece
• 4×9 or 5.5×8.5 mailer: used for direct marketing

For most projects, a 100# glossy text with a standard fold is fine. The expensive cover stock is only worth it if the piece needs to survive shipping or sit on a reception desk for weeks. For 500 tri-fold brochures, expect somewhere in the $35–80 range (based on online printer quotes, January 2025; verify current pricing).

I once approved a proof without checking the back cover. The old address made it to print. Two thousand copies. The reprint cost $400 and a client-facing apology. Now I check the back cover first—it’s the least exciting part of a brochure, and the easiest to miss.

The upside of switching some of my print volume to a discount printer was around $800 a year. The risk was missing a deadline and losing a regular client. I kept asking myself: is $800 worth potentially being the reason a launch date slips? In the end, I split the order—a small test run from the discounter and the main run from my usual trade printer. The test run was late. That answer stuck with me.

When online printing has limits

Online printers work well for standard products, but look elsewhere when you need:

• Custom die-cut shapes or unusual finishes
• Quantities under 25, where local shops are often more economical
• Same-day in-hand delivery, which only happens locally
• Hands-on color matching with physical proofs

Online printers vary in their strengths. Some prioritize price, some prioritize speed, some specialize in specific products. Trust me on this one: if you need to hold a proof before committing to 5,000 copies, find a shop with a table and a lightbox.

Scenario B: You’re packaging an actual product

This is where Bemis Company Inc and Amcor come into the picture. If you’re putting a liquid, a device, a medical instrument, or anything with regulatory requirements into a package, you don’t need a brochure printer. You need a packaging manufacturer.

Amcor acquired Bemis in 2019, creating one of the largest packaging companies in the world. The Amcor Bemis packaging unit brings together healthcare packaging, sharps containers, industrial films, laminates, and flexible packaging. That acquisition matters for buyers because it means a smaller brand can access materials and engineering that used to require a huge volume commitment.

Bemis Manufacturing Company—the operational side—handles projects where the package is a functional component. Think of the water bottle Cirkul sells with its flavor cartridges: the label has to wrap around a curved surface, survive condensation, and still look good after being handled. That’s not a job for an offset print shop. The supplier has to understand substrate flex, ink adhesion, and die-cut geometry.

Working with a large packaging manufacturer can feel intimidating when your order is small. But the good ones will ask questions before they send a quote. “What’s your filling line speed?” is not a red flag. It’s a good sign. It means they’re treating your product as a real application.

Every cost analysis pointed to a cheaper laminate supplier. My gut said the clear film wasn’t the same. I went with my gut and ordered a sample from both. The cheaper one had a cloudy haze once applied. That sample cost me $60 and saved a production run of thousands.

Here’s the counterintuitive part: before you order a custom die-cut package, ask if there’s a stock format that fits your product. If you’re launching a new beverage or beauty item, stock bottle labels and sleeves can save weeks of tooling time and thousands of dollars.

Don’t skip the minimum order quantity conversation

Small isn’t unimportant—it’s potential. When I was starting out, the vendors who treated my $200 orders seriously are the ones I still use for $20,000 orders. If a packaging sales rep dismisses you because you need 1,000 units, that’s a warning. The best reps will ask what your target volume is for the next 12 months, so they can design a package you can grow into. Granted, that requires a little more work on your side—forecasts are boring. But it saves time later.

Scenario C: You just need protective wrapping and shipping supplies

Sometimes “packaging” is not about marketing or product protection. It’s about getting a box to the customer without damage. In that case, you are buying commodity supplies, not engineering.

This is the scenario where “how long is a roll of wrapping paper” becomes a real question. I’m not 100% sure why that query is so common, but it matters. A standard roll of packing paper might be 30 inches by 100 feet, or 36 inches by 1,000 feet for industrial setups. If you don’t know the length, you can’t compare price per square foot across vendors.

For this category, a packaging distributor or even an office supply company is usually your best bet. The product is standard, lead time is short, and competition keeps prices reasonable. The process is fairly straightforward once you have the specs.

But don’t just compare the per-roll price. Calculate the cost per square foot. A roll that costs $2 more but has 50% more length is a no-brainer. I almost made the opposite mistake on a rush order: the cheaper roll was shorter, and by the end of the quarter we had reordered twice. To be fair, the cheaper roll looked fine at first glance—you have to do the math.

How to tell which scenario you’re in

Here’s the decision guide I use when a request lands on my desk.

1. Is the piece mainly printed communication? Then you’re in Scenario A. Online printer or local shop. Pick your brochure formats, get a digital proof, check the back cover.
2. Does the package need to protect, contain, or dispense a product? You’re in Scenario B. Talk to a packaging manufacturer like Amcor Bemis. Bring your product, your filling method, and your annual forecast—even if it’s small.
3. Are you just wrapping boxes for shipment? Scenario C. Buy from a distributor, compare by square foot, and move on.

If you’re on the fence, start with a request for quote. The response tells you a lot. If they reply with “what’s the end use and filling speed,” you’re in custom territory. If they ask “how many sheets and would you like them folded,” you’re in standard print land.

The real bottom line

Guaranteed turnaround isn’t about speed—it’s about certainty. For event materials, product launches, and any deadline you can’t miss, certainty is often worth more than a lower price with a vague “estimated” delivery. The lowest quoted price is seldom the lowest total cost once you add setup, shipping, rush fees, and the occasional reprint.

Take it from someone who has managed six vendors at once: the goal isn’t to find one supplier for everything. It’s to match the supplier type to the product category, then use the right format, material, and quantity for that specific job.

So, which one should you use? Depends on what you’re buying. And now you have a way to decide.