We had a customer who was desperate to receive there order of plastic cards as they wanted to post them out to attendees of an event.

I phoned the courier company mid afternoon to see if they would be kind enough to provide any kind of update, unfortunately they were unable to do this.

At 5.30 our customer still had not received there order of plastic cards, so I rang the courier company again. This time they informed me that the courier van had been broken into & there would be a slight delay, however the order would be delivered by 6.30pm.

This time came and went and no delivery was made. The next day the courier company contacted us to tell us that our customers order has been one of the parcels stolen from the break in.

This was such a shame for the customer as they really needed their plastic cards.

Lucky the customer had another idea up there sleeve and instead of handing the cards out as pre-event tickets they would actually hand them out on the evening as an information card.

We are in the process of re-printing the cards for the customer and fingers crossed this re-print will be uneventful.

It just goes to show you than the unexpected can and does happen. If you know you need plastic cards for an event, get them ordered sooner rather than later so there is plenty of time for anything unexpected to be resolved. I guess this is true of anything in life not just plastic cards!

I wrote a blog a few days ago regarding a plastic cards order which had been stolen while it was in the couriers delivery van.

This particular order had a deadline and the theft rendered the original design un-usable.

The customer submitted a new design, which meant that the card could still be used. This time however they incorporated a signature panel/write on strip to allow a table number to be written on the cards which would identify the user. We produced the new design with the signature panel/write on strip (we decided not to charge the customer additional money for the strips as after all the theft was not their fault, come to think of it, it wasn’t our fault either however we do try to ensure our customers are happy).

The replacements cards are due to be delivered today – please cross your fingers for us and the customer.

We can offer postal proofs with our full colour solid plastic cards orders (apart from the special offers). There are numerous reasons why we can offer them. Basically the cards when printed and finalized may come out differently than expected. Reasons include:

– Orders with magnetic strips can be tested to ensure they work ok before the full order is printed. Occasionally the proofing stage can highlight problems before the full order is printed.

– The above also applies for barcodes.

– Colours can come out differently then expected when the artwork is printed on to plastic cards.

– A printed proof may highlight any areas of the artwork which have been provided by the customer as proof quality/low resolution. The customer can then decide if they have the ability to provide the artwork in a better quality.
– Optional extras such as embossing can be applied to show the final result, sometimes embossing may cover key text which the customer has not realised previously.

The above are example but highlight the obvious reasons for producing postal proofs.

Most plastic cards companies, often those shipping the cards into the UK from the far East, do not offer postal proofs, I think this is basically because it would take far to long to ship a sample card with the customer artwork on to the UK. Please bear this in mind when ordering cards from a company who does not produce the cards in the UK. Imagine if your full order arrived and it looked terrible or the magnetic strips did not work, I doubt anything could be done.

However, it may not be obvious that some companies are not producing the cards in the UK, i.e. their sales office may be here in the UK, so you need to ask them if the cards are produced here in the UK or if they are shipped in from the far east etc.
Place your order with us and receive your postal proof before we print your full order. This is to ensure full review and testing of any optional extras can occur before you commit to your full order being printed.

Why buy plastic cards to be used as plastic business cards?

Business cards are often exchanged during meetings or trade shows. They are a means of easily passing on business information, such as the person’s role, the company they work for and any contact information.

Having spoken to the person in question, the receiver of the business card has an address, a phone number or an email address if they do decide to follow up on anything that may have come up during conversation.

While you are a representative of your company, the business card effectively represents you. If you have a cheap, thin, cardboard business card that falls apart, this will he how you are remembered – if you’re remembered at all. However, if you have a professionally made, personalised plastic business card, you can maintain the good impression you’ve hopefully made in person.

You can get full colour plastic business cards in a gloss or matt finish. These cards will have rounded corners and are available in a variety of thicknesses, from credit card thickness down to a lighter, flexible thickness, which is slightly cheaper. You can also get cards with a satin black background or with a metallic look. Finally, there are frosted plastic business cards, which are semi-transparent.

Foiled plastic cards

The outcome of US08 could so easily have been different if McCain had used the services of www.cpcards.co.uk

Perhaps if his plastic cards had metallic gold or metallic silver foiling (hot foil stamped / foiled blocked) this would catch the eye more?

A series of personalized plastic cards sporting campaign slogans on one side and McCain is able on the other may well have helped to place a Republican in the White House.

The advertising power of plastic cards

This is often underestimated. Plastic cards are seen as special, possibly because they are similar to Bank or Credit cards, so where a paper or card stock is used a business card may be thrown away, whilst the plastic card will often be kept. Perhaps the known monetary value of Bank and Credit cards becomes associated with Plastic Cards in the publics’ psyche.

A campaign such as McCains could so easily have used Plastic Cards as a memory jogger to the US populace. Handed out to the queues of voters in every state some would no doubt have considered the message and by the time they reached the front of the queue voted for the guy associated with the little plastic card tucked in their wallet.

Stranger things have happened.

Plastic Cards

Over the last few weeks we have been receiving more requests for smaller quantities of plastic cards (around 100 or less).

This is because lots of smaller companies are looking to implement loyalty card schemes. This is to assist them in these difficult financial times to win customers.

Loyalty Cards

Some of the loyalty cards are very simple. They sometimes say nothing more than 10% discount when shown at time of purchase. It just goes to show that you don’t necessarily need a barcode or magnetic strip card type system for it to be successful.

Plastic Business Cards

We have found an increase in plastic business cards sales over the last few weeks. This is despite the current economic climate. A lot of the current card sales have been for loyalty cards. This is an attempt from our customers are hoping to gain more increased customer loyalty in these difficult financial times.

Loyalty cards can reward loyal customers. At the moment customers will be less likely to spend what money they have unless special offers or discounts are available. Without a loyalty card incentive the customer, especially within the current economic climate will shop around more for a better deal.

On 1st January 2009 plastic cards will assist people in the Manchester Area with weight loss. Residents who goto keep-fit classes or weight loss clubs or go for a jog in the local park will be eligible to receive rewards. The rewards will be given as points added to a plastic loyalty card. Similar to a plastic video store card or a supermarket loyalty card. The points can then be redeemed against healthy food, sports equipment or sessions in a gym. If the scheme is successful in Manchester it will be extended across the UK. Even walking children to the bus stop or train station is awarded with points.

In this present climate of carbon awareness, it is all too easy to overlook the green credentials of the plastic card. It would be easy to consider that plastic as a product degrades slowly and should therefore be avoided, but no, that is not so with plastic cards.

The initial use for the card is to pass on information. A simple messenger fulfils it’s duty as hired, then what? A plastic card will carry it’s message through rain and snow without losing meaning. A plastic card is durable and long lasting. A plastic card impresses when the message is delivered.

Once the initial purpose of a plastic card is done, what next? The possibilities for using discarded plastic cards are endless. It is only limited by the imagination. As a simple applicator of wall filler, plastic cards are ideal, with their size, smooth edges and flexibility combining to produce an extremely useful tool.

Consideration of further uses for plastic cards will appear later.

Feel free to contribute your own ideas for plastic cards and sticky back plastic tape.

With plastic cards, especially loyalty and membership cards becoming increasing popular, companies are ordering thinner (420 microns thick) plastic cards so their customer can more easily carry them in their wallets.

The thinner plastic cards are just as durable as the thicker 760 or 680 microns thick plastic cards. However they are around the same thickness as a good quality normal card based business card.
The only downside the the thinner cards is it is not possible to emboss or to add a magnetic strip to the 420 microns thick cards.

Unfortunately for our frosted translucent clear plastic cards which are foiled printed with metallic foils, we are unable to apply magnetic strips or emboss the cards.

Matthew Smith on Matt Black Plastic Cards