CD replication & DVD replication

Amstore offers a complete service for your replication requirements, supporting all key formats, including
 

What is Replication?

Replication is the process of making an exact replica i.e. exact copies of your master. It’s the most cost effective manufacturing process for high volume requirements for the CD Rom / Audio – DVD Video / DVD Rom market.

The replication process for CD and DVD consists of the following key stages:

• Glass mastering

• Stamper creation

• Injection moulding

• Disc printing
   

From receipt of your master, we create a Glass Master, which is basically a piece of glass substrate from which Stampers are created. The Glass Master is placed in baths where nickel Stampers are grown on to the Glass Master through a galvanics process. The first Stamper to come off the Glass Master is called the Father and from this Father Stamper, a Mother is grown and a further family of Stampers.
 

It's these Stampers that are used on the injection moulding lines to physically press (or Stamp) your replica discs. As the discs are injection moulded and Stamped, they pass down the injection moulding line where each disc is individually metalised (to make it reflective) and coated with a protective lacquer, finally its UV cured and then tested for physical imperfections.

When the discs come off the line, they appear silver on both sides, so next, the artwork needs to be printed onto the disc. The two common print methods used in CD & DVD printing is the Screen printing process and the Litho printing process. The look and nature of your artwork will depend on whether the disc is Screen or Off-Set printed.

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Typical Run sizes

The entry quantity for CD and DVD Replication is 500 units or more. This is because the machine set ups and the process involved, makes it's not economically viable to produce a lower quantity. Due to the set up costs, the higher the quantity ordered, the lower the price becomes. At a certain volume the unit costs for a CD or DVD will bottom out and at this point, you are down to royalty, raw material and machine running costs. If a run of less than 500 units is required, we offer a highly competitive and quick turnaround CD and DVD Duplication service.

There are no maximum run sizes for Replication as this purely depends on your requirements. It's not uncommon for us to process production runs of over 1million units, however the average run size tends to be around 10,000 units.

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Lead times

Our standard CD & DVD replication service lead time is 10 working days from your sign-off of the Proof. This assumes that we have also received your Purchase Order, approved content master and payment terms have been agreed. When special disc packaging is required, this may extend the lead time.

Although 10 working days is our standard lead time, it is not uncommon for us to reduce this slightly when needed. If you need a replication lead time of less than 10 working days, please speak with your Amstore Account Manager or contact us to talk through your project.

When achieving quick lead times, it is critical that your job is planned into the production schedule as far in advance as possible, as the Glass Mastering process, Stamper creation, injection moulding and disc printing process physically takes quite some time.

We need to carefully plan the manufacture of your job around your delivery date, whilst allowing for manufacturing contingency. During the high season October-December lead times are under more pressure than usual, so the more notice given, the better it will be for production planning.

 

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