Gent (Belgium), October 12, 2006 – Esko, the market leader in packaging pre-production solutions, announces the introduction of a targeted range of value added consulting services that deliver expert advice for increased customer value and increased ROI. Converters, tradeshops, brand owners and retailers can depend on Esko as a trusted partner for developing strategies that focus on: Improvement, Innovation and Integration. Providing expert advice With over 20 years of experience, Esko has a long and rich legacy in the packaging industry. Since 1975, the company pioneered in many hardware, software and workflow areas in packaging. The company's expertise in the end-to-end packaging supply chain makes it a capable and trusted partner for providing its customers with mission-critical packaging graphics and structural workflow knowledge. Esko's consulting services will draw on its extensive resources in process management and optimization, leading-edge hardware and software solutions, and professional services and training. Proactive solutions for today's challenges in the packaging supply chain Esko's consulting services provide solid solutions for addressing the challenges in today's packaging industry. Consumer product companies must launch increasing volumes of products within very short time frames. Internal design and product lifecycle management processes are squeezed by severe time and quality requirements. The packaging process is further complicated by frequent updates and multi-disciplinary involvement. “We know that a company’s success is dependent upon finding ways to work smarter, quicker, and better, and Esko is ready to assist,” says Jef Stoffels, Esko Director Corporate Marketing. “Esko's consulting services enable us to share our expertise with customers throughout the value chain. We can help companies to identify and resolve workflow and quality challenges in design, prepress and production of packaging. Our new consulting practice focuses on what we call the I3 goals: Improvement of current processes, Innovation by adopting today’s best practices and technologies, and Integration of applications that drive operational, planning and design processes.” Esko will offer consulting services in five key domains: 'Quick Wins’, aimed at designing and achieving an ROI improvement roadmap; Color Excellence to improve color management standards and capabilities; Operational Excellence, geared at improving workflow efficiency and effectiveness; Collaborative Excellence, integrating partners in the packaging supply chain; and Integration Excellence, integrating application architectures based on the JDF framework. Profiting from Esko's expertise Customers like Connect Digital have benefited from Esko's expert integration advice. “The recent addition of JDF support has allowed us to automate links with our MIS system – we are definitely working faster now," states David Piercy, Connect Digital Production Director. "For example, all the folder structures are created by the job ticket, which saves time. Prior to this we had to retype all the parameters for dot gain. JDF has really sped up our workflow and reduced errors.” Esko assisted Pen & Inc with the installation of a new CDI and the company also participated in Esko’s Flexo Implementation Quality (FIQ) training program. "FIQ gave us direct access to Esko’s vast resources of digital experience and color knowledge. It was the information jumpstart we needed to quickly start producing premium quality flexo plates for our customer base,” states Alan Jeffcoat, Pen & Inc vice president of sales. “We are presently conducting an analysis of our workflow to determine the best use of manpower.” “The mission to improve flexo quality can be a complicated endeavor, but Esko’s experience can help converters and trade shops take full advantage of their workflows. Esko customers worldwide have benefited from our help in streamlining the use of their prepress tools to produce exceptional, high-quality work,” concludes Jef Stoffels. “We have been able to help many companies operate under a set of tighter guidelines which help redefine and modify their entire flexo processes.” Esko’s value added consulting services are available now to customers in North America and in Western Europe. The company plans a worldwide implementation for 2007. Additional information can be obtained from Esko's regional sales and service offices or by visiting www.esko.com.