I am new here, and hoping some of you can help me. I am an intern at a large company, and right now I am working with the production artists on creating files for the product packages here. I am doing a project to standardize the way they do things, and I was asked to do some research. I need to know how other people do things, to make sure we are up to standards with other people in the business.

PLEASE: if you feel that this is too nosy, and you don't want to give away your tip, simply don't respond!
So I'll just ask a few questions, reply to as many as you'd like, and please add any other information if you think of it.

What programs do you use to create your artwork? (I'm assuming Adobe Suite, but if there is anything better, I would like to know!)

What are some of the little tricks that you have learned when designing and using the programs that have saved you time?

Do you use PDFs, or another file format for your final output for your customers?
If you do use PDFs, do you use the distiller to generate them?

How do you work with printers and prepress houses to ensure the final product is exactly how you want it?

What is your definition of a "World Class File"?

Thanks so much for anyone that choses to respond, this will help me a great deal!