Flexible Packaging Film Yield and Pouch Cost Calculator
Film is sold by the pound but pouches are sold by the thousand. This calculator bridges the two using thickness, density and layout, so you can see pounds to buy and the film cost per thousand pouches before you price the rest of the job.
Your numbers
One mil is 0.001 inch.
Approximate specific gravity. Use your supplier datasheet for coextruded or laminated structures.
Print makeready, bag-machine start-up, splices and rejects.
Your results
Film cost only, before printing, lamination, adhesives, zippers, spouts, bag-making and freight. Specific gravity values are typical and vary by grade and additive package.
Film cost per 1,000 pouches vs thickness
Sweeps Film thickness from 1 to 6, holding your other inputs fixed.
Connect film costs to your ERP quotes
Optional: a short review of how resin prices and item yields could drive pouch quotes automatically.
Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.
How to use it
Pick the film thickness in mils and the resin or substrate. Enter the web width, the repeat length and how many pouches share the web across. Then set the pouch quantity, a waste percentage that includes print makeready and bag-machine start-up, and the film price per pound. The result shows yield in square inches per pound, pouches per pound, pounds to buy, linear feet of web and cost per thousand pouches. The chart sweeps thickness so you can see how a down-gauge saves money.
Formula and units
Yield in square inches per pound equals 27.68 divided by the product of thickness in inches and specific gravity. The constant 27.68 is the volume in cubic inches of one pound of water, so density in specific gravity maps directly to weight. Web area per pouch is web width times repeat divided by pouches across. Pouches per pound equal yield divided by area per pouch. Pounds to buy equal quantity divided by pouches per pound, grossed up by waste.
Worked example
A 3 mil LDPE film has a yield of about 10,000 square inches per pound. A 12 by 8 inch repeat uses 96 square inches, giving about 104 pouches per pound. For 100,000 pouches with 6 percent waste you buy roughly 1,010 pounds. At 1.80 dollars per pound the film is about 18 dollars per thousand pouches. Dropping to 2 mils cuts that by about a third, which is why gauge is the first lever a buyer examines.
Common mistakes
People often use the wrong density for laminates, treat the web width as the pouch width and forget that fin seals, gussets and trim consume film. For laminates, add the layers by weight rather than assuming one material. Also remember that film suppliers quote thickness tolerance, and a few percent of overweight can matter on long runs.
- Use supplier yield data for multi-layer structures
- Include gusset and seal allowances in the repeat
- Price printing and lamination as separate operations
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the constant 27.68 used?
One pound of water occupies 27.68 cubic inches. Because specific gravity is density relative to water, dividing 27.68 by specific gravity gives cubic inches per pound of the material. Dividing again by thickness gives area per pound.
How do I get yield for a laminate?
Add the weights of the layers: for each layer compute pounds per square inch as thickness times specific gravity divided by 27.68, then sum and invert. Or use the structure yield from the laminator's datasheet.
What does pouches across mean?
It is the number of pouches made side by side from one web. Two across means each repeat of the web yields two pouches, so the web area per pouch is halved and the cost per pouch drops.
Is the film waste percentage realistic at 6 percent?
It is a plausible planning figure for small and medium runs, but actual waste depends on print registration, number of colors, bag-machine setup and splices. Replace it with your own job history.
If purchasing and estimating in your plant still rely on per-pound quotes pasted into spreadsheets, we can connect this logic to your item and vendor data on-prem.
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