The calculation, without hidden assumptions
Estimate the laboratory-style top-to-bottom compression baseline for a conventional corrugated RSC from measured ECT, board caliper and box footprint. Then keep your chosen safety factor visible while checking allowable top load and column height.
How to use this calculator
Use measured ECT and combined-board caliper from the actual corrugated specification; do not substitute burst strength.
Enter box length and width in the selected unit system. Box height is not an input to this simplified McKee form.
Enter the loaded weight of one finished box, including product and packaging.
Choose a project safety factor deliberately. The calculator does not pretend one factor covers every humidity, dwell-time or pallet condition.
Optionally enter the planned number of boxes in one vertical column to see capacity utilization.
For critical packaging, validate the estimate with conditioned physical compression/stack testing.
Where people use it
- •Screen a corrugated RSC specification before prototype testing.
- •Compare the effect of ECT or caliper changes on estimated BCT.
- •Check a proposed boxes-high column against an explicit safety factor.
- •Connect carton material planning to pallet-load and shipment-weight workflows.
32 ECT, 16 × 12 in footprint
With 0.17 in board caliper, perimeter is 56 in. Simplified McKee gives about 579.5 lbf estimated BCT. At an entered 4× safety factor, allowable top load is about 144.9 lbf. A 25 lb loaded box therefore screens to five boxes above the bottom, or six boxes total in a vertical column.
What the result does not assume
- •The simplified McKee relationship is an empirical screening model, not a physical Box Compression Test certificate.
- •It is most defensible for conventional corrugated RSC-style geometry and board. Die-cuts, hand holes, vents, reinforcements and unusual constructions need specific validation.
- •Humidity, long storage, creep, pallet overhang, interlocked patterns, misalignment, damage and manufacturing variation can reduce real stacking performance.
- •The safety factor is deliberately user-entered; MAXScanner does not invent a universal factor for your distribution environment.
- •Metric inputs are converted to a consistent imperial McKee basis internally and force output is converted back to newtons.
Frequently asked questions
What is BCT?+
Box Compression Test strength is the top-to-bottom compressive force a box withstands under specified test conditions. This page estimates it mathematically; it does not perform the physical test.
What is the simplified McKee formula?+
The commonly used screening form is BCT = 5.87 × ECT × square root of board caliper × box perimeter, with a consistent unit basis.
Is ECT the same as burst strength?+
No. ECT measures edgewise compression resistance; burst testing measures a different board property. Do not substitute one for the other in this equation.
Why is box height not entered?+
This calculator implements the simplified McKee form whose geometry term uses footprint perimeter and board caliper. Real box height and construction can still affect actual performance, which is one reason physical validation matters.
How does the stack-height result work?+
It divides BCT by your entered safety factor, then divides that allowable top load by loaded box weight. The floor gives boxes that may sit above the bottom box; adding one gives the total column.
Can this certify my pallet stack?+
No. Treat it as an engineering screen. Critical shipments need appropriate physical compression/stack testing, conditioned samples and packaging-engineer or supplier review.
Semantic next steps
Continue the calculation
These links move to a different input, formula or project stage rather than a keyword variation of this page.
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Keep the result connected to the real job
MAXScanner keeps the formula and assumptions beside the result so you can verify the number before using it in a drawing, estimate, specification, worksheet or document. Where a supplier, manufacturer, drawing or applicable standard owns a requirement, that source remains authoritative.