Same specification line
Ask each plant to repeat cavity millimetres, wall thickness in mil or μm, resin grade, hinge lock and decoration process on one line. If a plant substitutes RPET for virgin PET or changes gauge, treat that as a new construction, not a silent equivalent. Oxygen transmission rate and water vapor transmission rate, when requested, should name the method rather than a marketing adjective.
Costs outside the piece price
Thermoforming tools, trim dies, print plates or screens, artwork revisions, nested sleeves, pallets and freight stay outside the piece or carton price unless the reply lists them. A lower piece figure that hides tooling is not a cheaper total. This desk does not publish a savings percentage.
Sample and document path
State whether you need a stock cavity, a decorated sample or a line-trial quantity. Request food-contact and migration testing files for the named resin and ink pairing. Those documents belong to the supplier lot. They are not converted into a site-wide certification badge.
Pack-out and destination scope
Write the export carton flute profile or paperboard caliper, nest count and the receiving state or postal code. Seal initiation temperature applies to any heat-seal lidding film, not to the hinge wall. A die line for a pressure sensitive adhesive label should travel with the cavity drawing so print buyers can quote labels on the same silhouette.
What this desk will not claim
No US contract filling, no held inventory, and no verified factory rating. A supplier preference (high-end, mid-range, budget or undecided) is a shopping filter. Burst strength and edge crush test numbers belong on the shipper carton, not on the clamshell wall. Flexographic printing versus digital print is a run-length decision written on the brief, not a default process this desk assigns.