Des Plaines, IL - Schawk, Inc., a leading provider of brand point management services enabling companies of all sizes to connect their brands with consumers to create deeper brand affinity, announced today that it has developed an innovative new Copy Management System (CMS) that ushers in a new era in brand management technology.

"We believe that our new CMS will revolutionize how copy is managed and maintained throughout graphic supply chain processes," said Stephen Kaufman, chief technology officer for Schawk. "This innovation gives brand owners a 'single source of truth' for all copy -- in multiple languages -- and automates it in a manner that improves efficiency and message consistency while reducing risk."

Acting as a central repository for all work-in-process and approved copy, the CMS provides a single location for all of an organization's copy owners and approvers to input and approve copy in all required languages. This includes legal statements, UPC symbols, marketing language, ingredient statements, food safety warnings, product use instructions, as well as information from logistics, manufacturing, engineering, and regulatory departments.

This first-of-its-kind CMS is already in use by the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories, as well as the world's leading manufacturer of high performance alkaline batteries.

The CMS also automates the placement of copy into 'live' packaging mechanical art files. It does this by linking the appropriate copy to all the mechanical art files that require it -- even across brands. This means, for example, that any copy that may be common to all of a brand owner's packaging can be applied automatically to thousands of mechanical art files at one time. This one-to-many relationship significantly reduces the time and effort required to manage copy, which often undergoes multiple revisions right up until printing.

Added Kaufman, "Errors in copy on packaging can have potentially costly and damaging consequences. With increased scrutiny and oversight of products and their safety by federal regulators -- and the global workflows that bring them to market -- reducing exposure to potential liabilities is increasingly important."

Another benefit that the CMS delivers to brand owners is reducing the complexity of even the most challenging global workflows. By lessening the number of times copy is "touched" manually, the CMS makes the process of moving copy onto packaging files much faster and more predictable, thereby helping get new products to market more quickly. The CMS currently focuses on the most complex and closely regulated brand touchpoint -- packaging. This is why Schawk typically designs its technology solutions to meet packaging requirements first and then modifies it to meet the requirements of other brand touchpoints.

Developed by Schawk Digital Solutions, the Copy Management System meets the Intelligent Packaging Consortium (IPC) XML specification which enables accurate packaging information to travel from system of record through the supply chain to the retail shelf. Founding members of the IPC include Schawk, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, General Mills, BearingPoint, Adobe and EskoArtwork.

The key features of Schawk's CMS are:
-Central location for managing and approving copy
-Ability to manage translations in a side-by-side view
-Warnings for character limits (overflow checks)
-One-to-many relationship (copy to artwork)
-Ability to see the impact of a copy change on the artwork it exists on
-Automated transfer of copy to corresponding artwork (through Adobe Illustrator interface)

The Copy Management System may be integrated into the recently released 3.0 version of BLUE, Schawk's proprietary, enterprise brand management technology software product. BLUE is the only graphics lifecycle management technology to be developed and implemented by a company that is fully immersed as an active participant in the global processes required by brand owners. BLUE is an integral component of Schawk's brand point management offering.