an elongated strip of a sheetlike substrate bearing microelectronic elements such as semiconductor chips is advanced in a downstream direction through one or more folding stations where successive portions of the substrate are folded so as to form a strip including a plurality of fold packages , each including confronting top and bottom runs and a fold region with one or more of the runs bearing one or more microelectronic elements . the strip incorporating the plural fold packages can be wound on a reel or otherwise handled , stored and shipped to a subsequent manufacturing operation , where individual fold packages can be severed from the strip .