Since 2014, every Pergament order — from the first inquiry to the delivery note — has lived in an MIS-class production management system, PSystem; we were the first printing house in Moldova to adopt one, and over twelve years more than 36,800 orders have passed through it. For you this means the order’s path is not a chain of verbal agreements with a manager but a reproducible process with a document at every step. Here it is, step by step.
1. Inquiry and calculation
Send what you have: the dimensions of the future product, or simply a sample of the goods that need packaging; the quantity — ideally two or three options at once; and the purpose — especially whether the packaging will touch food. A finished artwork file is not required at this stage: our technologist will propose the structural design and the sheet layout.
Our calculation is operation-by-operation: board, printing, die-cutting, gluing, finishing, packing into transport boxes — each operation with its own time and material norms. That is why the reply contains exact figures, not “approximately from”.
2. Variants, not a single number
In one reply we calculate 2–3 variants: a different quantity, a different board, with or without lamination, with or without a window. This is not a courtesy but the standard of the process: the system averages 3.7 calculations per order, and 88% of orders have at least two costed variants. You decide on numbers: it is visible what doubling the run gives you and what the finishing costs.
3. Contract and invoice — from the same calculation
Once a variant is chosen, the contract and the invoice are generated from the same operation-based calculation that produced the price. Discrepancies between quote and invoice cannot occur by construction — they are one and the same system document. Nor is there any waiting: the median invoice goes out 1.7 hours after the order is placed, and more than half are issued the same day.
4. The job’s technical passport
Before an order goes to the shop floor, the system fixes its technical passport down to the details: board grade and grammage, printing sequence and inks, cutting die number, coating type, gluing scheme, how the goods are packed for transport. The shop floor executes a document rather than “remembering how it was done last time” — so the result does not depend on who is on shift today.
The passport is stored indefinitely. A repeat run a month or five years later is printed from the same document: the same board, the same inks, the same die.
5. A slot in the production plan
The shipping date is not set by eye — it comes from the machine-load plan: behind the quoted deadline stands a slot in the schedule of a specific press and a specific folder-gluer. That is why your deadline does not slip because of someone else’s “urgent” job squeezed in out of turn. And it moves fast: the median time from order placement to production start is one day; half of all orders reach the shop floor within the first 24 hours.
6. Production: the order moves on its own
After payment the order does not need to be “pushed along”. Nine terminals stand at key points of the shop floor: in every zone people see on screen what to do and in what sequence — the job ticket and the plan reach them by themselves, without a foreman carrying paper. Every completed operation is registered in real time; over the years the terminals have logged more than two million entries.
When you ask “where is my order?”, the manager answers by looking at the system, not by phoning the shop floor: “printing is done, it’s being die-cut”.
7. Warehouse and dispatch
Materials are reserved for the order automatically, finished goods are booked into the warehouse when the last operation closes, and dispatch runs against an exact stock balance. Hence a convenient scheme for regular clients: order a large run at volume pricing, store it with us and collect it in batches as needed — at any moment you can see how much is left and what has shipped. The delivery note is generated from the same system as the calculation and the invoice.
Lead times by product type
Typical production times: cardboard packaging — from 100 pcs, 2–5 working days; food packaging and HoReCa — from 500 pcs, 3–5 days; rigid VIP boxes — from 20 pcs, 7–15 days; multi-page products — from 10 pcs, from 1 day; sheet advertising — from 100 pcs, from 1 day. Faster with a ready cutting die (our archive holds over 3,000); in high season lead times can grow.
If it is too early for a production run, start with a prototype: a sample printed digitally and cut on a plotter is ready in 1–2 days, with no plates and no die. The usual client path: prototype → pilot batch → production run on offset.
The repeat run: the shortest path
62.5% of our clients come back with repeat orders, and 60% of all orders are created as a copy of the same client’s previous order. A repeat is the fastest scenario: the die exists, the artwork is approved, the job ticket is in the system — there is nothing left to re-approve. This is how our regular clients work — the stories, with numbers, are collected in our case studies.
Further reading: box printing cost — price guides from real orders; how to choose a printing house — criteria you can verify before ordering; about us — history and numbers; for food orders — food packaging certification; categories — cardboard packaging, food and HoReCa, wine and spirits packaging, rigid boxes.
Frequently asked questions
What should I send to get a quote?
The product’s dimensions or a sample of the goods that need packaging, the desired quantity (ideally 2–3 options) and the purpose — especially whether there will be food contact. Artwork is optional: the technologist will propose the structural design and layout.
How long does the calculation take?
The operation-based calculation itself is a matter of minutes: the system computes from the norms of each operation, and one reply contains 2–3 variants. After the order is placed, the median invoice is issued within 1.7 hours.
How will I know what stage my order is at?
Every shop-floor operation is registered on terminals in real time, so the manager sees the stage in the system and answers immediately — “printing is done, it’s being die-cut” — without calling the shop floor.
What are the production lead times?
Cardboard packaging — from 100 pcs in 2–5 working days, food packaging — from 500 pcs in 3–5 days, rigid VIP boxes — from 20 pcs in 7–15 days, multi-page products — from 10 pcs from 1 day, sheet advertising — from 100 pcs from 1 day. Faster with a ready die, slower in high season.
Can I order a large run and collect it in parts?
Yes. The run is printed at volume pricing, stored in our warehouse and dispatched in batches as needed. The balance is visible in the system at any moment: how much is in stock and what has shipped.
What happens with a repeat order?
A repeat is launched from the stored technical passport: the same board, the same inks, the same die — even if years have passed and managers changed on both sides. Nothing needs re-approval, so a repeat run is faster and simpler than the first one.