Flint and super-flint are expressions for bottle glass qualities. Flint has good transparency, while super-flint offers the very best in clarity, often compared to crystal. Super-flint bottles tend to be of more substance, heavier, and often contain a deep base – 20-30mm – that gives the bottle a further feel of quality. Super-flint tends to be the choice of brands in the premium spirits sector, particularly those in the Vodka, Cognac, Brandy and Whisky categories.

As a feature to the mould itself, it is no problem to incorporate embossed/de-bossed features in your bottle. This is a cost effective (free) way to give your product more impact and individualize your brand. Not all detail can be achieved this way, but send us your design for review and we can let you know.

There are numerous types of decoration available to further customise the design of a bottle: Ceramic heat transfer printing: a method of applying a decal to the bottle that is then baked onto the surface of the glass. The cost of the label generally depends on the number of colours and its size.

For decorative patterns, see-through windows or as an overall treatment.

Full, partial or graduated coloration that is applied via a fine organic (food-safe) spray which is then baked “externally“ onto the surface of the glass. We have a portfolio of colours available or specific colours can be achieved through matching against a sample, or pantone colour. Colour can also be added into the glass material itself during production. Although many colours of glass are achievable in this way, clients may be somewhat at the disposal of the production schedule awaiting a run of a campaign of their desired colour.

Ancillary décor: metal badges, wood, plastic, wax, diamante crystals and other embossing and de-bossing.

We work with all our clients in the strictest of confidential as a matter of course. Those that wish us to sign a confidentiality agreement to this effect; we are willing to do so. This tends to be a pre-requisite for some of the larger firms that work with us.

The client is the owner of the mould and as part of our terms of service we cannot use the mould for any other customers. Clients are at liberty to “port” the mould to any other factory, or take it back after completion of the production, if they wish to do so.

We will not make another bottle that imitates your design. It belongs to you and we will respect this. We are a foreign company and operate with business practises and ethics accordingly.

In mass-manufacturing an MOQ defines the smallest quantity a glass manufacturer is able to produce for a given price. Due to the heavy and industrial nature of a glass plant, it is difficult to make bottles in small quantities. The distinction between flint glass and super-flint (custom) glass bottles is important here. Generally for flint glass, a client is required to order a minimum of 100,000 bottles, although for a pilot order a special dispensation can be made, and this figure can be reduced to 50,000 pieces. Producing super flint glass carries different conditions. In most of the cases, we can start at a MOQ of 20,000 bottles. In bottle glass plants in China, prices are generally indexed to the quantities per run, the larger the order, the lower the price.

A sample mould can be used as a phase of a client’s bottle-development process. It is a cost effective way for a client to review their design and make adjustments to it before committing to full production. A sample mould is only good for about 5-10 sample pieces.

A production mould is fabricated only when the final design has been confirmed. This is a full-set of production moulds, and depending on the size of the bank, good for around 500,000 pieces. In the event that a mass production moulds expires, either during or after its design-life, SGSBOTTLE will replace it free of charge.

Making a sample mould – an additional cost of $1,200 and 35 days lead-time -enables a client to look and feel their bottle in real life. In the event that a client is simply migrating their production to China and they are already familiar and comfortable with their design, there is perhaps no need to go through the sampling process. Advancing directly to production mould saves the fee and the 35 days lead time required to produce a sample mould.

In the event that a client is undergoing a new development, they usually elect to go through the sampling process before making the commitment to a full set of production moulds.5-10 fully decorated samples can be produced for review or even marketing purposes. Alterations can then be made to the design before production mould fabricated is commissioned.

It is very difficult to make adjustments to a full production mould set once they have been produced.

The cost of a full-production mould set (for a typical 700/750ml bottle) is as follows: –

In flint, MOQ 100,000 pieces:$4,800

In extra-flint, MOQ 25,000 pieces: $3,500

There is an alternative/preliminary solution to making a full-working prototype in glass. For $500.00 – and with an approximate 10 day lead time, it is possible to make an acrylic model. This is a solid piece of plastic acrylic, not operational as a bottle, but does provide a representation of the external shape of the design.

Maidao Glass is a company that strives to ensure that the client gets what they really want. We dont expect clients to be familiar with 3D CAD software, nor wish to pay for hugely expensive marketing or industrial design companies to help with the design elements of their new product.

Our marketing and design team is international and multi-lingual in Chinese, English as well as French, Spanish and Tagalog.

We have extensive experience in working together with customers and helping them achieve their vision on paper before making it into a reality. We also know where the engineering-limits are to working in glass bottle in China and can guide you to a design that is actually achievable in mass production.

Like all other bottling plant anywhere in the world; some dust, card shavings or other particulate can enter bottles and they should always be cleaned on your production line prior to filling.

Approximately how many glass bottles would fit in a 40HC?

For uniform 750ml bottles it is possible to fit approximately 25,000 bottles assuming they are packed in cartons on pallets. Approximately 27k if they are floor-stacked. For irregular 750ml bottles, this figure reduces to around 22k in cartons.

Approximately 60k standard 12 Oz. Beer bottles will fit in a 40HC.

The glass itself has no lead or other harmful chemicals. Upon request, SGSBOTTLE can have the bottles tested at an independent test facility to confirm.(SGS, TUV, Bureau Veritas)