Friday, March 27, 2009

April Special – CD Digipak!



March’s CD Digipak special offer was so popular we decided to have another CD Digipak special for April!

Order in April to get a great deal on our CS1020 style Digipak which includes CDs with full colour print, all set-ups, .pdf proofs, wrap and even a free barcode if you need one.

Order as few as 100 units or as many as you like. Our CS1020 Digipaks are eco-friendly, printed 4/0 (CMYK), are available with clear or black disc trays and, yes, the trays are completely recyclable.

For full details and pricing please visit www.CDwest.ca/special.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Examine it first… then sign for it.

If your order is being shipped to you via a courier or freight company, make sure you examine the boxes BEFORE you sign for them.

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Just so you know… when we ship an order it is inspected to make sure it is packed properly, in suitable boxes for the weight, is closed securely, and is damage free.

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Have you ever taken the time to read a Bill Of Lading? Right next to where you sign your name there will be a little declaration stating “Received in good condition” or something very similar to that. By signing the Bill Of Lading you are in fact agreeing with the declaration that the shipment you received was in good condition.

So, what happens when you sign for the shipment (without examining it first) and then realize that some of the goods were damaged? Well… you may well have a fight on your hands with the courier.

To avoid this situation the very least you should do is carefully inspect the exterior of the boxes for signs of damage… dented corners, gouges in the sides, etc. It also wouldn’t hurt to open the boxes and examine some of the product inside.

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We don’t own the courier company so we have absolutely no control over the way they handle a shipment after it leaves our facility. If they were to damage the goods while in transit please don’t blame (and yell at) us.  :-)

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Monday, March 23, 2009

Just installed Windows Live Writer

I’ve downloaded/installed Windows Live Writer with the hope it will make it easier and more practical for me to update our blog. I’m hoping so - it’s often very difficult to find a moment during busy work days.

I guess it’ll be pretty easy to figure out if I’ve been successful!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

What's The Diff? CD Duplication vs. CD Replication

When you're in a particular industry it's pretty easy to take what you know for granted, and to assume that other people also know what you know.

Despite that little nugget of truth, I'm often surprised how many people use "CD duplication" as a very broad term covering all manner of CD manufacturing... and... how many people have no idea what "CD replication" is.

Having said that, there's absolutely no judgement being passed of any kind on that matter... it's just one of those 'things'. But I digress.

CD duplication is easy and quick to do, and it's best suited for small quantities of discs. It's the very same process of 'burning' CDs that you would do in your own computer except the duplication of CDs is done on a larger scale using duplication 'towers' that can burn several discs at the same time to make it more time efficient and cost effective than duplicating one at a time.

CD replication is the actual creation of CDs from scratch - also referred to as 'pressed' CDs or 'stamped' CDs - and is the highest quality and most durable method to produce your discs. Each disc is custom made, being injection-molded from polycarbonate pellets with the data physically added as an integral part of molding process. Because of the set-up costs and time involved to replicate discs, this process is best suited for larger orders and orders not required in a super-super rush.

At the end of the day I think that most people want the higher quality and durability of the CD replication but, when only a few discs are needed or a super fast turn-time is required, CD duplication is the way to go.

Additional info is on our website about this topic.