Content Management in WebCenter from Esko is making significant time and cost savings for brands, with one multinational customer reducing its end-to-end labelling lead time from 14 weeks to just 14 days with structured content.

As a result of the global pandemic, consumers now place significantly more value on food safety and hygiene, according to McKinsey1. As brands adapt their packaging and labelling to meet changing regulations and legislation, it’s essential that speed to market must not come at the cost of accuracy to maintain consumer trust and confidence.

Matthew Haws, vice president global marketing at Esko Brand Solutions, said: “In reality, many businesses are still working with disconnected processes, which is a real minefield when it comes to approvals. In the case of heavily legislated industries, such as pharmaceuticals for example, it slows lead times down if multiple stakeholders are struggling to track various versions of both content and artwork for approval.”

The content management function of Esko workflow management software, WebCenter, which includes both packaging and structured elements, makes it simple for teams to specify, manage and reuse content to be used in artwork designs by connecting content and workflow directly in the artwork creation process.

“This single source of truth helps brands to navigate the complexities of managing content when creating and marketing consumer products,” continues Haws. “Enhanced efficiency, faster lead times, and improved quality can be planned into one central process.”

WebCenter structured content coordinates regulatory efforts company-wide, including affiliates and partners within a single?system?tightly integrated with label and packaging departments. Through collaborative editing and improved traceability, brand teams can re-use approved content for labels, IFUs, and leaflets with complete confidence.

When every element that makes up a label or pack on a consumer product must be created and approved at a rapid pace, the ability to manage the creation and approval of everything down to barcodes and symbols, in one system, ensures that packaging and labels are compliant and error-free.

“Eliminating error-prone manual processes and increasing efficiency by automatically feeding content into artwork is invaluable when accuracy is essential to maintaining brand trust. The influencer effect had already established consumer confidence in brands as a major factor in the purchasing decision. The pandemic has heightened the need for brands to maintain consumer confidence as a powerful marketing tool.”

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