Precision Disc Blog

If your CD manufacturing or DVD manufacturing order is being shipped to you via a courier or freight company, please ensure you you examine the boxes BEFORE you sign for them.

At Precision Disc, when we ship your CD or DVD order we inspect it before it leaves our building to make sure that:

• The items are packed properly.
• The order is packed in suitable boxes for its weight.
• The boxes are is closed securely.
• The boxes are free from damage before they leave our site.

Examine your shipment before you sign for it!

Have you ever taken the time to read a Bill Of Lading? Right next to where you sign your name there will be a declaration stating that the goods were “Received in good condition” or a statement very similar to that. When you sign the Bill Of Lading you are actually agreeing that the shipment you received was in good condition.

So then, what happens if you do sign for the shipment without examining it first and then realize some of your CDs or DVDs were damaged in transit? The answer is, that you may have a battle on your hands with the courier company because they are the ones who are responsible for your order while it is in their possession… and you signed the Bill Of Lading.

How can you avoid this situation?

Before you sign anything you should carefully inspect the outside of the boxes for any signs of damage. Examples of damage include gouges in the sides of the boxes, dented edges or corners, the appearance that the box may have broken open and been taped shut again, etc. It is also recommended that you open any suspicious boxes (or even ALL of the boxes) to examine some of the product inside. Better safe than sorry!

As noted in our Terms of Business, Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. “is not responsible for loss, damage or delay of products after they have left our premises.” We’re a manufacturing company – not a courier company – so we have no control over the way the courier or freight company handles your CD duplication or DVD duplication order after it has left our facility.

Naturally, we want our clients to received their CD and DVD orders on-time and in good condition, so we don’t use just any couriers. If we experience complaints about a particular freight company we will not use them again but, as stated, that still doesn’t give us control over the shipment after it has left our building.

Top 10 reasons our neighbors in Seattle should consider ordering their DVD manufacturing and DVD duplication from Precision Disc in Surrey, B.C. Canada.

1. Factory-direct: When you work with Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. you are dealing directly with the people who manufacture your product… not a broker or middleman. We’re a bricks-and-mortar company with an actual facility that you can visit and even get a tour of (by appointment).

2. We’re close by: We’re just a two hour drive up the I-5 north of Seattle. Our manufacturing facility is located in Surrey, B.C. which is right at to the U.S./Canada border (across from Blaine, WA).

3. We ship to the United States daily: We ship to the U.S. regularly… every day actually… so there’s no worry about getting your DVD manufacturing or DVD duplication order shipped in a timely fashion. Next-day shipping to Seattle is available. 

4. No Duty or Tariffs: DVD Duplication and DVD Manufacturing goods are included in the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA), which means there are no cross-border duties or tariffs associated with the shipment of the goods.

5. No Canadian tax: If you’re ordering the goods from the U.S. and you’re having them shipped directly into the U.S. you don’t have to pay Canadian tax.

6. Favorable currency exchange rate: The difference between the value of the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar means you can save your money. As of the time of writing, the difference in the currencies would provide you a 10% discount off our products priced in Canadian dollars.

7. We have lots of U.S. clients: At Precision Disc we’ve been supplying our valued American clientele for years and literally have hundreds and hundreds of active clients in the United States. So, don’t feel like your exploring uncharted territory… we’d be happy to add you to our ever-growing list of happy U.S. clients.

8. Product warranty: We stand behind the quality of our work and warranty that our products will be free from manufacturing defects or we will be repair or replace the defective products.

9. We manufacture CDs too: Precision Disc is equally well known as a factory-direct source for professional CD manufacturing and CD duplication products and services – with all of the same great eco-friendly packaging alternatives.

10. Family owned-and-operated: Precision Disc is a family owned-and-operated company that opened its doors in 2001. Since that time we’ve been providing friendly personalized service to our clients all over Canada and the U.S. and look forward to serving your needs in the near future. Please give us a call with any questions or comments you may have!

I had an interesting conversation with a client in Vancouver, B.C. this week. The topic got around to how the internet has revolutionized the buying habits of consumers, whether that be for business or personal use. My client felt that scope of the internet has actually made the idea of shopping ‘local’ redundant. “Why hunt around for a local source when I can easily find a product anywhere in the country or the continent, pay online, and get the goods delivered via courier to my door in Vancouver in a matter of days?”

Certainly an interesting point, but I think it’s a bit short-sited. We were discussing the packaging details for a DVD duplication project he will be sending to us shortly, so I decided to play the role of ‘devils advocate’… but not to the point of offending him, of course.

(A) Time zone: Our company is located in Surrey B.C., just a 30-40 minute drive from his office in Vancouver. Because we’re in the same time zone and work pretty much the same office hours, he can always reach me during the business day. The same can’t be said when dealing (for example) with a company in the East that is 3 hours ahead of us on the West Coast.

(B) Proximity: As mentioned, our office is a reasonably short drive from Vancouver so my client always has the opportunity to visit face-to-face, or even send a same-day courier at a minimum of expense. Closer proximity equates to smaller lag-times for shipping, so he gets his DVD duplication order much sooner, less expensively, and with a much smaller carbon footprint. After all, every extra kilometer of distance means extra transport cost, plus more fuel is consumed and additional pollutants are released in transporting the goods.

(C) Hidden Costs: We do get a fair number of Canadian clients who price shop in the United States and then want to haggle price with us. What they often fail to take into consideration is the currency exchange rate which, at the time of writing this, will add 10% to the cost of the U.S. goods, plus any applicable State tax, cross-border charges such as duty, customs brokerage, etc. The end result is that the “landed cost” of my client’s DVD duplication project to his Vancouver, B.C. doorstep is significantly higher than the original “sticker cost” of the goods. Not such a great bargain after all.

(D) Supporting The Local Economy: “Oh, you’re breaking my heart!” claimed my client when I brought up the notion of supporting the ‘local economy’. With a depressed global economy there’s certainly no more important time than now to shop locally. Spending money at home means keeping local businesses open, which keeps local people employed, which keeps the gears of the local economy lubricated. An ultra-simplistic analogy, but a reasonably fair one.

(E) Laws: Heaven forbid that something goes wrong with an order, to the extent that a manufacturer’s warranty is called upon or, even worse, some sort of legal action ensues. There are laws that protect consumers against fraud and other unpleasant situations, but the laws that protect you in your home Province, State or Country may not protect you when you’re doing business with a company from outside your ‘home court’ or jurisdiction.

In the end, I think I may have put a few dents in my client’s original convictions, but he assured me he wasn’t coming to my company for his DVD duplication work just because we were ‘local’. Instead, he said it’s because we do good work… and… he enjoys the conversations we have!

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Our first Tutorial for Silkscreen Printed discs was how to create colour separations, and based on the positive feedback we’ve received we have followed that up with  Tutorial Number Two: Using Less Than 100% Solid Colour.

From our experience a lot of todays do-it-yourself designers (as well as a fair few professional graphic designers) aren’t experienced in designing for commercial print and don’t realize that designing for the internet or multimedia applications has a different set of rules than that of commercial print. For those designers Silkscreen printing must seem like a plot to drive them crazy.

One of the best features about many methods of modern printing is designing on a computer-screen where “what you see is what you get” (aka: WYSIWYG) … you get to proof your designs on the very same display device that the finished design will be viewed on (though we will conveniently ignore the fact that the colours may look different when viewed on different computer monitors).

With commercial print, what you see on your monitor may very well NOT be what you get… with Silkscreen printing being the biggest offender. Proof-in-point is when you use less than 100% solid colours in your design but, rather than re-explain it all here in this post, it’s better to read out our tutorial which shows images of the difference between what you see on your monitor and what will actually go to print.

Discs in Eco-Sleeves are always a favorite of our music industry clients and corporate clients alike, so July’s Special should be right on the mark!

Place your order in July to receive special pricing on CDs or DVDs packaged in our CS100 style Eco-Sleeves. Order as few as 100 units or as many as you require.

Quantities of less than 300 units are duplicated CDR or DVDR media with full colour inkjet disc print, and quantities of 300 or greater are top-quality replicated CD audio discs or DVD5 discs with your choice of either CMYK Offset print or up to 5 colour silkscreen print. All of the set-ups, film, pre-press, electronic proofs, assembly, barcode and shrinkwrap are inlcuded in the price!

If our July Special isn’t quite what you’re looking for we still have great pricing on other packaged products such as Digipak and a variety of other styles of eco-friendly CD Sleeves and CD Jackets which includes Short-run CD and DVD Eco-Packaging!

If you have any questions or comments about July’s Special or any of our products and services please  give us a shout!