The CD Manufacturing Process

The CD Manufacturing Process

To get into the business of CD duplication, you would of course first need to have a CD. Simple as this product may seem by virtue of our daily use of it, manufacturing a CD is not that simple a procedure. The process of making a CD goes through several stages, with the first stage involving production of CD-ROM. The remaining stages include CD-ROM and CD-Audio.

Quality Checking

When a customer provides a CD-Rom to the manufacturer they check that the same meets all ISO standards. This step is necessary to guarantee the right level of quality which professionals require for CD duplication.

Mastering with Glass

The next step in manufacturing is to create a master made of glass which is covered with a layer of photosensitive and then engraved with the customer’s data with the help of a laser light. To dissuade any piracy the plant also engraves a special number on every disc of glass it produces. Finally a coating of silver is used on the surface of the glass master through a vacuum evaporation process.

Electroplating and Pressing

The glass master is transferred to a mould used to press the discs with a nickel layer through electrolysis. Then the glass base and nickel layer are separated and the CD negative emerges. This is what is known as the stamper. The CD duplication is now ready for replication. A few seconds of pressing with injected liquefied polycarbonate completes the process and the CD with complete data, is ready.

Metalizing and Varnishing

A thin aluminium layer is then used to cover the CD duplication in order to make it readable. The aluminium acts like a mirror which reflects the laser light and the information becomes readable. Due to CDs undergoing all sorts of accidental process such as bending, scratching, dropping etc, it is also covered with a varnish layer. The varnish covers the aluminium and protects it from such elements. Now the disc is ready for printing.

Printing and Packaging

Printing is performed on the disc either through an offset process or silk screen process. Once the disc is totally ready packaging is done automatically. Companies also offer custom-made solutions to suit individual customer requirements.

All professional CD manufacturing companies ensure that the CDs they supply are of the highest quality. It is with such assurances that when CD duplication needs to be done, in this area too you can expect a perfect outcome.