Attaching
There are three primary ways to attach cards to a letter (called a “card carrier” within the industry). They are described below.

1. In-process attaching:  Datacard Corporation (www.datacard.com) is the largest manufacturer of card personalization equipment in the world. Approximately 20 years ago they pioneered the attaching of a card to a carrier in the same process the card was being personalized. This in-line attaching capability has the computer in the machine track the cards being personalized and scrapped, and the laser printing of the letters / carriers all at the same time. The attached uses a sticker which has two different levels of tack or stickiness, one on each side. This insures the sticker stays attached to the card carrier after the card is removed. Up to six cards can be added to the 8.5” x 11” letter which can be folded 6 different ways. In-line attaching is considered the gold standard in the industry for accuracy although it does tend to cost more than off-line attaching.
2. Off-line attaching:  High speed packaging equipment has been adopted by the card industry to attach cards to letters, retailer hang tags, and about anything else you can imagine. The most common piece of equipment is a Ga-Vehren. They use a flat belt to feed paper products on to which a card is fed and glue attached at speeds up to 10,000 pieces per hour. The machines are modular and can complete a wide variety of functions depending on how they are configured. Options include different glue pots, glue patterns, folders, multiple attachers, bump turns, and in-line inserting. Plus numerous electronic components can be integrated into the platform.
3. Hand attaching:  The simplest and most obvious solution to putting a card on a card carrier is to hand match and attach a card to a carrier. Although at first you may think this is way too error prone and slow (expensive), hand attaching has its place for some products. These include non-standard, highly complex orders that don’t lend themselves to machine driven solutions, very short run products where setting up a machine does not make sense, and very quick turn smaller orders when machine time is not available or again, the setup isn’t worth it.

Matching
Along with attaching is the very critical process of matching. A growing number of matching solutions are available to card companies today.

1. As mentioned above, in-line electronic tracking of the sequence of materials within one in-line machine is a very accurate and computer controlled method of matching cards and printed carriers.
2. Magnetic stripe verification is another. Mag stripe readers can be added to attaching equipment. As the card(s) is fed the mag stripe is read and the data is used to compare to the information on the carrier.
3. Barcodes are used to match the card to the carrier or the carrier to the card. There are a wide number of solutions in the barcode area, with a growing interest in 2-D barcodes now that many card printers are 2-D capable. 
4. Camera matching is an important verification solution for matching. Cameras can be mounted almost anywhere and used to check or double check the accuracy of a matched card and carrier. Typically there is special training for a camera based solution to insure what is being read is being done so correctly. 
5. Finally, there is hand matching. Naturally the most error prone and expensive, but as noted above in attaching, the most flexible of all of the solutions. One tip for hand match work: Don’t submit your data in name order. It’s easy for someone to focus on part of the name and if they are in sequence, it will be easy to put two identical names in a row leading to a potential miss-match.

Shrink Wrapping
Shrink wrapping comes in a number of formats and methods. An effective shrink-wrapping service includes several key elements:

           Quality Control on the products before they enter the shrink wrap area

          • QA for quantity per pack is a critical pre-production step to insure the number of items is correct
          • QA for sequence is important to make sure nothing is missing and nothing is out of order.
          • QA for labeling requires not one but two matches between the product and the label

The correct materials choice is crucial. One type and size does not fit all in shrink-wrapping. The vendor should be choosing the correct gauge, thickness, width, shrinkage amount, and clarity. In addition, the machine needs to be adjusted to insure the product is not folded or warped due to the pressure of the shrink wrap material.

Labeling
Labeling in the final and critical step. There are many options for labeling a package either on the surface of or below the shrink wrapping on the package. If your company sends some of its card packages to others to be distributed, your vendor should know and follow the labeling specifications precisely. CPS tracks the requirements of the third party distribution vendors and is able to help you and insure your product is problem free at the distribution center. We have our own standards as well as being able to support totally customer requirements for your packaging.

Boxes, Sleeves & Cartons
Often, it’s the simple things that can be the most important in the long run. The outer carton should be of sufficient strength to protect your product from repeated handling. Most customers order a year’s supply of plastic at a time in order to save on costs. That means it may handled numerous times, The right carton can make a big difference. The cheapest solution is not always the best. The sleeves or inner boxes must be of sufficient strength as well. Additional factors include box orientation, label direction, and sequence. Does your current vendor pay attention to the facing of every item in the carton and which way it is stacked? They should be.