The paper parking coupon is ubiquitous in Singapore.

Many Singaporeans would have played a game of Parking Roulette before, tearing away tabs that are 10 or 15 minutes later than the current time.

But not many of us know how the parking coupon is created.

Turns out, a small-medium enterprise in Singapore is responsible for creating the moulds from which parking coupons are pressed.

Paper products moulds manufacturer

Singapore Memory Project recently published a video interview with Heng Chye Yam, the owner of Metalwood, a business that creates moulds for paper products.

Mothership.sg also spoke to Heng about the laborious process that goes behind making the coupon moulds.

The process

First, the Computer Design Department churns out a mould design using a specialised packaging design software.

For carpark coupons, this design would be the 85 tabs.

Next, the Laser-cutting Department transfers the design via a laser cutting machine onto plywood or Medium Density Fibre boards.

The laser cuts grooves into the boards for cutters to be affixed onto them.

The Knifing Department then creates specialised cutters. These are fashioned, trimmed, mounted, and assembled into the grooves that have been cut into the boards.

Lastly, the Quality Control Department checks the finished moulds before delivering them to their customers (mainly printing companies).

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Creating moulds for various products

Aside from parking coupons, Metalwood also produces precision cut mould for paper packaging products such as cigarette cases, tissue boxes, red packets and envelopes, among other products.

As we move towards using digital solutions like parking apps, there will not be a future for paper parking coupon anymore.

You can watch the video interview with Heng below:

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Top image via YouTube