How to set carton marks, barcodes, pallet limits and scan checks before glove production ships, with practical specs for importers buying OEM and ODM gloves from China.
The Label Spec Should Be Fixed Before Mass Packing
A glove order can pass stitching, coating and AQL inspection, then still be delayed because the carton label is wrong. The usual problem is simple: the buyer sends barcode data after cartons are already sealed, or the label size does not match the retailer's receiving rule. For OEM glove orders, GloveMark asks for the carton marking file before bulk packing starts, not after final inspection. A practical cut-off is 5 to 7 working days before the packing date, because labels need printing, scan checking and line-side sorting by SKU. For a normal B2B shipment, the minimum outer carton label should show SKU, product description, size, colour, quantity, gross weight, net weight, carton dimensions, country of origin and carton number such as 1 of 80. For CE-marked PPE gloves, the product label and polybag artwork may also need EN ISO 21420 and EN 388 performance data, but the export carton label is a logistics label, not a replacement for the user information sheet. Mixing those two jobs is where many small brands get messy.
Which Barcode Belongs Where
A single retail pair normally uses an EAN-13 or UPC-A if it will scan at checkout. An inner pack or master carton often uses ITF-14 because it is more tolerant on corrugated board and encodes the case quantity. Pallet labels, when required by larger distributors, usually use GS1-128 with an SSCC number. These are not decorative stripes. The numbers must come from the buyer's GS1 allocation or from the retailer's vendor portal; a factory should not invent a GTIN for you. GloveMark can print and apply buyer-supplied barcode labels, and we can test basic scan readability before shipment. What we do not do is create official GS1 ownership or guarantee a retailer's database acceptance. A scanner may read a code perfectly, but if the GTIN is not active in the buyer's system, the warehouse will still reject it. For carton codes, we prefer a white label area of at least 100 x 70 mm on brown corrugated cartons, with quiet zones kept clear around ITF-14 bars.
Carton Size, Weight and Glove Packing Reality
Gloves are bulky and light, so carton size matters as much as carton weight. A 13-gauge nitrile-coated work glove packed 12 pairs per polybag and 120 pairs per carton often sits around 0.055 to 0.075 CBM per carton, depending on cuff type and liner thickness. Leather driver gloves or padded mechanic gloves take more space; a carton may hold 60 to 120 pairs, not 240 pairs, if the glove has foam knuckle padding or a thick fleece lining. For manual handling, many importers set a master carton gross weight limit of 15 kg or 20 kg. That is sensible. Pushing to 25 kg can reduce carton count, but it increases crushed cartons, worker complaints and rejection risk at some distribution centres. For glove cartons, we normally use 5-ply export corrugated board for heavier leather or winter styles and 3-ply only for lighter promotional or liner gloves. If the shipment is LCL, 5-ply is worth the small extra cost because the cartons may be handled more times during consolidation and de-consolidation.
Pallet Specs Are Not One Global Standard
A pallet plan should name the pallet footprint, maximum height, carton pattern and whether cartons can overhang. Europe often uses 1200 x 800 mm EUR-style pallets, while North America commonly uses 48 x 40 inch pallets. Some Australian and UK retailers have their own receiving rules. If the buyer only writes palletised shipment required, the factory and forwarder still do not know the height limit, pallet type, corner board requirement or whether mixed SKUs can share one pallet. For glove shipments, 1.6 to 1.8 m loaded pallet height is common, including pallet base, because higher stacks can lean when the cartons are light. Stretch film should be tight enough to stabilise the load but not so tight that it crushes carton corners. For FCL from Ningbo or Shanghai, many buyers ship floor-loaded to maximise cube. For warehouse-direct DDP or distributor receiving, palletising may be compulsory even though it reduces container utilisation. A 40-foot high cube has about 76 CBM internal volume, but palletised glove cargo may use materially less because of pallet gaps and height limits.
How We Control Labelling on the Packing Line
The cleanest process is to lock a SKU packing matrix before production: size ratio, pairs per polybag, polybags per inner carton if used, pairs per master carton, carton label code and pallet rule. During packing, the line should handle one SKU at a time or use a physical separation table. Size mixing is a real risk on gloves because a black size M and black size L PU glove look almost identical once packed. A wrong size ratio is harder to see than a sewing defect. Our normal control steps are sample label approval, first-carton check, barcode scan check, carton weight spot check and final carton count reconciliation. For inspection, the buyer can include packaging defects in the AQL plan, commonly AQL 2.5 for major defects and AQL 4.0 for minor defects under ISO 2859-1 sampling. Examples of major packaging defects include wrong barcode, wrong country of origin, incorrect quantity or mixed SKU in a sealed carton. Minor defects might include a slightly skewed label that is still readable and in the agreed position.
What To Send Your Factory Before Production
Send artwork as vector PDF or AI where possible, plus an Excel packing matrix with SKU, colour, size, GTIN, carton code, inner quantity, master quantity and destination rule. If labels are generated by a retailer portal, send the final PDF at actual print size, not a screenshot. For Amazon FBA-style workflows, the carton label and shipment ID must match the shipment plan; changing carton quantity after labels are generated can break receiving. For traditional wholesale, a simple ITF-14 case label may be enough. Lead time for printed stickers is usually 3 to 5 working days after artwork confirmation. Printed colour cartons take longer, often 2 to 3 weeks, and the MOQ may be 500 to 1000 cartons depending on size and board grade. For smaller OEM glove runs, a plain export carton with a printed adhesive label is usually more flexible than a fully printed carton. It lets you change SKU mix, destination marks or importer address without scrapping cartons. That is not fancy, but it keeps real shipments moving.
Talk to Someone Who Actually Makes Gloves
If you have a project you are scoping, send us the rough brief - target market, decoration method, an idea of quantities. We will reply with a realistic price band and an honest read on lead time. No deck, no high-pressure pitch.
If anything in this piece was unclear or contradicts what another supplier told you, email and ask. We answer most messages within one working day (CST 08:30-18:00).