Packaging is often the last thing a buyer thinks about: the machine is chosen, the price agreed, and someone translates the English manual a week before shipment. That is when the errors get printed. A box that shows the cooking basket for a model that does not include one, or a manual with 230 V data in a 120 V carton, is a return, a complaint or a customs question.
The box, the manual, the rating plate and the declaration of conformity describe the same product. Localize them as one set.
What has to agree on every surface
Before anyone translates a word, these facts should be fixed for each version you order:
- Brand and model name, written the same way on the rating plate, box, manual and declaration.
- Electrical version: voltage, frequency and power as on the rating plate, and a plug picture that matches.
- Capacity as the product page states it, for example 3.5 L with a 3 L recommended maximum fill.
- What is in the box. Standard accessories differ by model: KC7 ships without the cooking basket and jug plug, KC8 without the cooking basket. The box photo and contents list must match the model inside.
- The importer or distributor details your market requires, and where the rules say they must go; some markets want them on the appliance first and allow the box or a leaflet only when that is not possible.
What your market decides
Which languages are required, and on which surfaces, depends on the destination. Get that list from your customs broker or compliance adviser before you order; it is the brief for the translator. Sell into two countries with different language rules, and you may need two box prints, not one.
Order of work: facts, source text, translation, layout
Freeze the product facts first, then approve the source text, then translate, then lay out, then check one printed proof. Translating an old manual and fixing it later doubles the work in every language.
Logo, color, accessories, packaging and manual can all be customized. Custom cartons start at 100 pieces, and unused cartons can be stored for your next order. Mass production usually takes 30–45 days after the customization requirements are finalized, and artwork is part of that: while files are still going back and forth, the count has not started.
Localize the product documents, not a recipe library. Recipes and app content are a separate project.
The side-by-side check
Before you sign off the artwork, put these next to each other and read them line by line:
- A photo of the sample’s rating plate.
- The box proof: model name, electrical data, plug picture, contents list, languages, importer details.
- The technical data page of the manual in every language.
- The declaration of conformity and the model list in the test report.
Approve one numbered artwork revision per version only after the four documents agree. Anything that differs, fix it before print: a reprinted carton costs less than a container of wrong boxes.