Use this article when a customer requires a specific paper brand on their work and you need to understand how that requirement narrows the substrates a quote can use. After this you will know what a brand is in the substrate model, how brand restriction reaches a quote, and which parts of the calculation a brand mismatch can change.
What a brand is in the substrate model
A brand is the manufacturer label on a paper line — for example Munken Lynx, UPM Finesse, or Sappi Magno. In GelatoConnect Estimator a brand is attached to a substrate in the paper library: a single row in Substrates can carry one or more brand names alongside its weight, coat, and sheet size.
A brand becomes a restriction in two ways:
Per substrate — a substrate row in the paper library is tagged with the brand it physically represents. The same nominal spec (Silk 115gsm SRA1) can exist as several rows in the library, one for each brand the shop stocks.
Per customer or job — a customer record (or a single quote's product selection) can ask for a brand by name. "We only print on Munken Lynx" is the most common form; the requirement travels with the customer so every quote for that customer carries the brand filter.
When neither side names a brand the field is treated as "any brand is fine." The Estimator does not invent a brand match; it just stops filtering on the column.
How brand restriction reaches the quote
A brand restriction reaches the production route through one decision rule:
If the customer or job requires a brand, only substrates whose brand list includes that brand stay in the candidate pool. If no brand is required, every substrate that meets the other specs is a candidate.
The check runs after weight, coat, and sheet size have already narrowed the pool, so it removes papers that match the spec but not the brand. There is no partial credit and no implicit substitution — a Silk 115gsm SRA1 row tagged Munken Lynx does not satisfy a UPM Finesse requirement, even though the weight, coat, and sheet size are identical.
A substrate row with no brand tagged is treated as brand-neutral. It will match a brand-free job but it will not match a job that names a brand — brand-neutral is not the same as "every brand."
A worked example
Northgate Press stocks three Silk 115gsm SRA1 rows in the paper library — the spec the press wants for a 5,000-run brochure on the XL105. They are identical in weight (115 gsm), coat (Silk), and sheet size (SRA1 — 900 x 640 mm), but they sit at different supplier prices:
Row A — brand Munken Lynx, €1,420 per ton
Row B — brand UPM Finesse, €1,400 per ton
Row C — no brand tagged (house-stock generic Silk 115gsm SRA1), €1,380 per ton
Scenario 1: customer requires Munken Lynx. The customer record carries a brand requirement of Munken Lynx. When Northgate Press builds the quote, the route narrows the substrate pool to Row A only. The Substrate bucket on the price breakdown reads €1,420 per ton against the press sheet count; Rows B and C are removed from the candidate list before the route is costed.
Scenario 2: no brand requirement. The same job for a different customer with no brand on the record runs against all three rows. The route picks Row C at €1,380 per ton — the cheapest equivalent — because every row is now a valid candidate and the route selection optimises on the cost.
Scenario 3: brand requirement, no stocking match. A third customer requires Sappi Magno, which Northgate Press does not carry as Silk 115gsm SRA1. The pool empties for that spec. The Estimator returns no viable route on that substrate row and the operator sees a missing- substrate signal on the quote; see Why a substrate is missing from a quote for the recovery flow.
Across the three scenarios the press selection (XL105), the finishing machines, and the bucket markup percentages are unchanged. Only the substrate row that goes into the Substrate bucket — and therefore the substrate cost line — moves.
What this affects
Route candidate selection. A brand restriction removes substrate rows that do not carry the named brand. Routes built on those rows disappear from the candidate list before the route is costed.
The Substrate bucket cost. Different brand-tagged rows in the same nominal spec usually carry different cost-per-ton values. When the brand restriction forces a specific row, the Substrate bucket follows the cost on that row.
The substrate name on the price breakdown. The breakdown shows the substrate row that was actually selected, so the brand-tagged row is the one that appears on the quote letter and on any exported quote.
What this does not affect
Print machine selection. The press route is chosen by sheet size, colour configuration, and machine compatibility, not by brand. The same XL105 path runs whether the brand requirement is Munken Lynx, UPM Finesse, or none.
Finishing and binding selection. Cutters, folders, and binders are chosen by step compatibility and the product spec. A brand swap on the substrate does not change the cutter on Guillotine 1 or the stitcher on Stitcher 1.
Markup math. The category's adjustment model (VA percentage, VA per press hour, or gross profit percentage) runs against bucket totals. A brand swap changes the Substrate bucket value, not the model itself or the markup percentage the category targets.
Customer rebate. The rebate is computed on the final price after markup. Changing brand changes the substrate cost feeding the markup, but the rebate percentage and gross-up formula are unchanged.
Related task articles
How grain direction works with substrates
Assign substrates to products and parts
Why a substrate is missing from a quote