Packaging Made Easy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Got questions? Here are some of the questions that we are often asked.
There are many reasons to choose Proficient Packaging for your packaging needs, but here's a few good points that should help convince you...
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The average team member at Proficient has well over a decade of experience and knowledge in cardboard packaging.
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As specialists in multiple areas such as die-cutting and gluing, we regularly run jobs for other businesses in the trade.
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We provide a personalised service to guide you through the entire process from concept, through to design and on to delivery... it can't be any easier!
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Large orders or short-run production. Big or small, we can handle it all.
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Extensive selection of products from heavy-duty corrugated boxes to folding cartons, labels, vacuum pouches, paper bags and even printed napkins!
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In-house structural and graphic design gets your project off the ground and into production in the quickest possible time.
Still not convinced? Give us a try and see for yourself and you'll be wondering why you would have even considered using anyone else.
Our prices are competive. Will you find cheaper packaging elsewhere? Perhaps, but we strongly doubt you would receive the same level of service or quality from another supplier that you will get from us.
We don't aim to be cheap, but we certainly aim to be the best. In return, you will get much better value for your dollar.
Yes. All our product is produced here in Melbourne and our materials are sourced locally to support other local businesses.
When businesses import products from overseas claiming them to be "cheaper", they need to establish if there are any real savings in the long run? When products that can easily be manufactured here in Australia are imported from overseas, it is at the cost of the Australian economy and jobs, which results in a steady decline in domestic manufacturing and skilled workers and also places a strain on our welfare system.
In short, Australian products are manufactured up to a standard, not down to a price. We all need to get behind Australian companies to keep Australian jobs and the money circulating in the local economy.
How long is a piece of string? We always aim for the quickest possible turn around times, but there's many variables that must be factored in. These include the the production processes involved, the amount of work going through the factory at the time of ordering, and how your order fits into the weekly board production schedule.
On average, we would advise a week from order for repeat jobs, but new jobs where tooling is required could be three weeks from order.
We will provide you with an ETA when you order and keep you updated as it progresses through production.
This answer is quite a simple one... All of them!
Cardboard packaging is environmentally-friendly and very versatile so it can be integrated into all market sectors. We provide packaging for everything from seafood, dairy and frozen foods through to dry goods, general manufacturing and retail. Archival boxes for offices, mailing cartons for on-line retailers, cardboard hampers for promotional gift items, heavy-duty cartons for car panels, printed point-of-purchase displays for merchansing, vacuum bags for dried fruit, zip-lock pouches for nuts, coffee bags, labels for bottles and jars, folding cartons for individual retail items and the corrugated outers to pack them in - we do it all!
Yes. Not all businesses are the same. At Proficient, one of the areas where we excel is in die-cutting and gluing, which are quite specialist areas. As such, we regularly perform these operations for other businesses that don't have the ability to perform the processes in their own operation.
All trade work is performed to the highest possible quality standard with each job handled with a high emphasis on discretion and confidentiality. If required, we can add your labels and pallet flags to save double-handling, we can even deliver directly to your customer on your paperwork if you wish us to.
A list of the trade services we offer is available on our services page or you can contact us if you wish to discuss this further.
Yes, we maintain a good selection of common cartons in stock that are ideal sizes to suit a wide selection of uses. Most of our stock cartons are in plain brown board, but there's some also available in white. All stock cartons can be digitally printed on our post printer if you wish to add your own branding.
Our stock cartons page lists the range of cartons we hold in stock and can be downloaded from here.
Yes. We have multiple printing methods available to provide you with custom-printed packaging.
We can use your artwork or have our in-house designers create artwork for you.
For short runs, our digital printer enables us to print directly onto existing cartons (such as our stock cartons) in full CMYK colour using water-based pigment inks so the print will be bright and long-lasting and is not affected by damp or cold. Not only standard cartons, but we can also post-print onto die-cut cartons, bags, and more!
This is a question that can cause a great deal of confusion. Please don't feel intimidated as it is second nature to us so we're happy to step you through it if you're not sure.
As a common rule, all measurements on our paperwork are in millimeters where the spcified size of a carton is the internal dimensions when the carton is erected. The order of the dimensions are written as L x W x D, where...
- L= Length - the largest side of the carton
- W=Width - the shorter side of the carton
- D=Depth - the height of the carton when sitting on a surface
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F=Flute - when present, F identifies the direction of the flute when only 2 dimensions are applicable (such as a sheet of board).
We have customers spread all over Melbourne, throughout regional Victoria and also some that are located in other states. We have our own trucks for local deliveries and a ute where access can be tight. We have preferred transport companies that we use for rural and interstate deliveries, but we can always notify you when your job is ready for collection if you prefer to make your own arrangements.
We have our own in-house designers, but if you are doing your own artwork, files can be supplied to us via email (under 10Mb), through our webform, or through a link to an external storage source such as OneDrive. We can create a OneDrive folder you if you don't have your own storage facility.
We use the latest version of Adobe Illustrator for our artwork so files should be supplied in .ai or .pdf formats.
In order to keep the process as smooth as possible, we have outlined the requirements in an "Artwork Guidelines" document that is available for download.
It sure is. Please don't feel guilty about using cardboard packaging. Cardboard is a biodegradable, compostable, renewable, sustainable product made from recycled paper and raw pulp from trees that are sourced from sustainable forests. Also, the inks used in packaging are made from eco-friendly vegetable oils and suitable for recycling too. We recycle all the offcuts from the manufacturing process so there's minimal wastage. However, cardboard can only be re-used if you fo your but and recycle your cardboard packaging to avoid it from going into landfill so please recycle!
Although we ensure that your packaging is manufactured in the most suitable material to meet your requirements, it is good to be able to decipher the code of the material that your packaging is made from. We have prepared a document that provides a short explanation of the code to help you better understand some of our language.
Yes... but only if pallets are not exchanged at the time of delivery.
Each pallet that is despatched to you is itemised on the delivery docket. Upon receiving the shipment, the same quantity of pallets should be exchanged with empty pallets or a charge will be added to the invoice for each pallet that is not exchanged.
However, it is easy to avoid pallet charges by ensuring:
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ample stocks of empty pallets are available for exchange when an incoming delivery is expected
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exchange pallets are of the correct specification and are in a serviceable condition
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all exchanged pallets are documented on the bottom of delivery docket upon signing for the shipment
