How to write a honeycomb paper specification sheet

A honeycomb paper specification sheet is one page that defines the roll you buy: the paper, the cut, the roll, the packing and the claim, each with a target, a tolerance and a test method. It also says how many rolls are checked on arrival and what happens when a check fails. Write it once, sign it with your supplier, and quote its number on every purchase order.

A purchase order says how many and when. A spec sheet says what, and it should not change from order to order.

We make honeycomb paper in Jaipur and export it to 20+ countries. A buyer with a clear spec sheet is, honestly, the easiest kind of buyer to serve.

Nobody has to guess, and nobody argues later about what "80 GSM" meant.

This note is about building that page. For the order itself, read our note on what to write on a honeycomb paper purchase order. The two documents work together.

What goes on the page?

Here is the structure I would use if I were buying from someone else. The values in the middle column are examples to show the format. Your own numbers come from your sample test and your agreement with the supplier.

Fifteen lines fit on one page.

If your spec needs three pages, I think it is trying to be a contract as well.

Why name the test method?

Because two labs can test the same paper and get different numbers if they use different methods. Naming the method removes the argument before it starts.

These are the international methods I would name, all published by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization:

1. Grammage (GSM): ISO 536:2019.
2. Moisture content of a lot, by oven-drying: ISO 287:2017.
3. Tensile strength, at a constant rate of elongation of 20 mm/min: ISO 1924-2:2008.
4. Tearing resistance, by the Elmendorf method: ISO 1974:2012.

US buyers often use TAPPI methods instead, which cover the same properties. Either is fine. Just name one.

Paper is tested in both directions, along the roll and across it, because it is stronger one way than the other. Write both on the sheet.

The conditioning trap

Paper takes up and gives off water with the weather, and its strength changes with it. So labs condition samples in a fixed atmosphere before testing.

ISO 187:2022 sets the standard atmosphere for paper testing at 23 °C and 50% relative humidity. It also permits 27 °C and 65% RH in tropical countries, where the first is hard to reach.

Here is why that matters to an importer.

A test done at 65% RH and one done at 50% RH on the same paper will not give the same strength numbers. Neither is wrong. They are simply not comparable. Write on the spec which atmosphere the supplier's report must use, or at least ask that every report states it.

Tolerances: agree them, do not invent them

I will not give you tolerance figures here, because they depend on the paper mill, the converting line and your product. A tolerance that no supplier can hold will be ignored. One that is too loose protects nobody.

Ask your supplier what their process holds, look at their last few lot reports, and agree a figure you can both live with. Then write it down. Our own lot checks cover GSM, roll weight, moisture and cut quality on every lot, so those are the numbers we can report against a spec. Our quality page lists them.

Sampling at receiving: how many rolls?

You cannot test every roll. Decide in advance how many you will check from each lot, and from which pallets.

A simple plan I would expect a small importer to manage:

1. Pick rolls from at least three different pallets, including one from the back of the container.
2. Weigh each roll and work out its flat length from the weight. Our roll weight chart shows the arithmetic.
3. Measure the flat width.
4. Pull a few metres from each through your own dispenser and check that the cells open evenly.
5. Compare the colour against your retained sample.
6. Record the lot number, date and results on one line of a register.

Write the number of rolls you will check on the spec sheet. Then the supplier knows the rule before the container leaves.

What happens when a check fails?

Most spec sheets skip this part.

It is the part you will need.

Write down, in plain words:

1. Who is told, and how fast. For example, the supplier is told in writing, with photos, within a set number of days of arrival.
2. What evidence is needed: photos, roll labels, weights, and a piece of the failed paper.
3. Who pays for a third-party test if the two sides disagree.
4. What the remedy is: replacement, credit, or acceptance at a lower grade.

None of this is pleasant to discuss. It is far easier to discuss before the first container than after it.

Keep the sample, keep the version

Two habits make a spec sheet work.

1. Retained sample. Keep a labelled piece of the approved roll, with the spec number on it, in a dry drawer. Ask the supplier to keep one too. When a lot looks different, you compare against paper, not memory.
2. Version control. Every change gets a new revision number and date. Send the new version before the next order, and ask the supplier to confirm it in writing.

I have learned to respect paperwork that looks boring. It is usually the reason nothing goes wrong.

Where to start

If you are writing your first spec, take the table above, fill in the example column from your best sample, and leave the tolerances blank until you have spoken to the supplier. Our GSM guide for light and heavy grades and our note on virgin and recycled kraft help with the fibre and grammage lines.

Send us your draft through the contact page. We will tell you which lines we can report on from our own lot checks, and which ones need a separate test.