FEFCO calculator on the website:
Why, who needs it, and how it differs from other solutions
September 18, 2026 · @JariStrom
If a company sells corrugated boxes and packaging, the customer always asks the same question: "How much will a box made to my dimensions cost, and how much will it cost me?"
This usually takes the manager's time – opening Excel, manually calculating the layout, and estimating the cut to fit the roll width. This FEFCO calculator solves this problem right on the website: the customer (or employee) enters the length, width, height, and construction type—and immediately receives a flat pattern, workpiece area, cutting and creasing length, and a recommended roll width with minimal waste.
What and how the calculator calculates
It's based on standard FEFCO codes: from simple four-flap boxes (group 0200) to composite structures like telescopes and octagons (group 0300, where the box is assembled from several parts—body, lid, and bottom). For each shape, you can specify the corrugation profile (E/B/C/BC or your own value), gluing flap, and cutting gap—either use the default values or enter your own directly on the page. The result: we receive not only numbers but also an SVG drawing of the flat pattern, and for group 0300, even a true reference drawing of the structure. When pricing is enabled, the calculator immediately displays the blank cost based on the cardboard price per square meter.
A separate component—for corrugated cardboard manufacturers, this is a roll width selection: from a list of standard paper roll widths specified in the settings (e.g., 630, 700, 750, 850, 890, 1050 mm), the calculator selects the option with the smallest waste for a specific blank.
What else: flexible access via modules
In the first version of the component, the "Roll Width" block was firmly embedded in the calculator page—all visitors saw it the same way. Now it's a separate Joomla module, and every Joomla module has a built-in "Access Level" field.
This means you can display a roll width recommendation, say, only to registered wholesale customers or only to sales staff, while regular site visitors can simply see a form for calculating sizes and prices. The second module goes even further: a trusted employee can adjust the list of standard roll widths directly from the site, without accessing the admin panel—and this change is immediately picked up by both the calculator and the display module.
What's similar already on the market?
Similar calculators exist—and not just for Joomla.
FefcoBox (fefcobox.site) was a free web calculator: enter the internal dimensions and FEFCO construction type, and receive a flat pattern, area, corrugator cutout, final external dimensions, and volume. Logically, it's very similar to our calculator, but it's a standalone third-party service—the link points to someone else's domain, and you can't manage its settings. Unfortunately, it doesn't work, and that's what prompted me to create my own. Don't rely on others. I have my own now—let it work.
EasyPackMaker (easypackmaker.com) — ready-made templates from the FEFCO catalog, also works directly in the browser, without installation.
PackTuning "Corrugated Box Calculator" — its closest competitor in terms of functionality: it calculates box, sheet, and roll costs, printing, palletizing, and generates a process chart and PDF report. But this isn't a web tool, but a desktop program for Windows—it needs to be downloaded and installed on each manager's computer. The full version is available upon request and at a price; the demo version calculates with random size distortions.
Pro-Karton (calc-s.pro-karton.ru) is a catalog of calculators for specific FEFCO codes (0201, 0203, 0426, 0301, 0330, and others), but it's marked "for internal use only" on the website—meaning it's not intended for embedding on a client's public website.
There are also less similar tools—MIGAN-PAK, GofroStandart, Kor-Box: these are essentially price calculators for a specific vendor based on their price list, rather than a customizable tool that can be customized.
Some people don't need this, and some— Useful
If you need a one-time calculation of "how much one box costs" and don't want to keep the tool on your website, it's easier to use the phone, call the manufacturer, and there's no point in deploying a whole component just for that.
But for companies that already have a Joomla website and want a calculator specifically on their own domain, with their own design and without links to someone else's service, this option offers something none of the listed alternatives have: calculation parameters (gluing valve, cutting gap for corrugated profiles, list of roll widths) are configured directly in the admin panel or even from the frontend, and the display of individual blocks can be restricted by user groups—meaning you can show different information to public visitors, registered clients, and your employees.A set of data on the same page.
How it works — a real-life example
Here's how it's structured internally — from the directories in the admin panel to what the client sees on the website.
First, there are several access levels:
- There's the owner, the director, who has access to everything on his page. This includes a component, a sheet size module, a roll size module, and a pricing module.
- Next is the employee group. They see the calculator and the roll size module.
- And regular users, without the ability to see what the director and employees see, see a simple calculator with the prices you've offered them.
Groups and constructs
The calculator's core is a two-level directory. At the top are the FEFCO groups (0200, 0300, 0400, and so on), each with a brief description of the form and the number of constructs within:
Within each group are specific constructs (codes like 0501, 0601, 0900): each has its own code, title, formula status ("Done" / "Formula not implemented"), and group assignment:
The card for a single construct is essentially the "engine" of the calculation: it specifies the formula (in text, with reference to the designations L, W, H, d, GL, SE, and so on), the construct type (standard or composite—telescope, octagon, slide-sleeve), the JSON configuration for multi-part constructs, paths to reference drawings, and assembly notes:
Settings and Materials
The component settings tab configures default parameters: splicing valve, slot cutting gap (general and by corrugation profile in JSON), roll width list, and cost calculation toggle. There's also a new toggle here, "Show 'Roll Width' directly on the calculator page," which is disabled by default because this block is now displayed as a separate module:
Cardboard prices by grade (E/B/C/BC) are stored separately in "Materials and Prices"—they can also be edited from there via the front-end module by the administrator or a trusted employee (see below):
The calculator itself
This is what it looks like to the website visitor: design selection, dimensions, material and tolerances, print run with cost, flat pattern drawing, and final result – all on one page, updated live as you type:
Modules with restricted access
Two frontend modules allow trusted users to edit data without logging into the admin panel – each is limited to its own Access Level. Joomla.
Module "Prices for Materials":
Module "Applicable Roll Width" — edits the same list of standard widths as in the component settings:
And the "Roll Width" module — displays the recommendation (formerly item 7), now as a separate Block with its own Access Level:
Sources:
FefcoBox — https://fefcobox.site/
EasyPackMaker — https://easypackmaker.com/
PackTuning, Corrugated Box Calculator — https://packtuning.com/boxpricecalc/
Pro-Karton, Blank Area Calculator — https://calc-s.pro-karton.ru/
MIGAN-PACK — https://miganpack.ru/kalkulyator-korobok/
GofroStandart — https://gofrostandart.ru/kalkulyator/
CORBOX — http://corbox.ru/kalkulyator-stoimosti-gofrotary
