First-ever North American exhibit demonstration of the largest Kongsberg table, and launch of ArtiosCAD 12 structural design software are highlights of booth #3320

At booth 3220 during SuperCorrExpo, October 1-4, 2012, in Atlanta, Esko (www.esko.com) will showcase for the first time at a North American tradeshow its largest, automatic Kongsberg XP44 Auto finishing table. With a footprint of nearly 12 feet by 36 feet, and a maximum sheet size of 88 x 130 inches, the Kongsberg XP44 delivers exceptional, continual 24/7 lights-off operation of packaging and point-of-purchase displays. The Kongsberg XP44 Auto will be finishing corrugated boxes that have been printed on HP and Océ digital presses. SuperCorr will also be the launch of ArtiosCAD 12, a new major release of Esko's flagship structural packaging design editor.

SuperCorrExpo is the largest trade show in the Western Hemisphere catering to the corrugated industry. SuperCorrExpo assembles all that is corrugated under the same roof and at the same time. Visitors get an up-close, hands-on look at the latest technology and innovations.

"As more jobs become digitally printed, there needs to be a fast, effective way to finish them. We decided to bring the Kongsberg XP44 Auto finishing table to give visitors to SuperCorr a firsthand look as to how productive it truly is," remarks Mark Quinlan, President, Esko Americas. "And with ArtiosCAD 12, Esko has an extremely strong structural design solution, as well."

A large footprint for SuperCorr
On the Esko booth will be an operational Kongsberg XP44 Auto, a fully automated dieless finishing machine designed for up to 24/7 continuous operation for packaging and point-of-purchase displays. The Kongsberg XP44 Auto will be finishing corrugated boxes that have been printed on HP and Océ digital presses. The XP Auto cuts packaging and POP displays directly from CAD designs. Compared with conventional cutting and creasing systems for packaging, this avoids the lead times and high cost of making cutting dies. Thus, the Kongsberg XP Auto turns short run and special request converting into profitable jobs with short turnaround times.

With automatic loading and unloading, the XP Auto runs completely without human intervention, offering the highest digital converting capacity available on the market. Exclusive for the XP Auto is the ability to register sheets with the print side facing down, most useful for processing corrugated board. It can be emptied while the machine continues working on the next sheet. It is the perfect complement to a wide format digital printer, offering a full digital production workflow.

The Kongsberg XP Auto can handle a wide range of materials. While it has been optimized for run sizes of several hundreds of sheets of corrugated or other heavy-duty paper sandwich materials, it is also efficient with foam, foamboard and plastic corrugated. When equipped with a milling tool it can also handle rigid materials such as MDF, Forex, Dibond, acrylic panels and foamed PVC.

ArtiosCAD 12: Structural design with 3D and communication tools
ArtiosCAD is Esko's flagship structural packaging design editor, with over 13,000 licenses sold worldwide. Providing tools for 3D design, editing, rendering and visualization, ArtiosCAD 12 assures that the viability of a package is discovered further upstream in the supply chain.

ArtiosCAD 12 has integrated the latest native 3D file import libraries from Esko's technology partner, Spatial. This offers a speed improvement of over 50%. The 3D import preview feature allows designers to select individual parts from a model assembly. This lets the structural designer quickly and automatically build a carton around the imported 3D parts to be packaged.

One of the fastest growing trends in the industry is Retail Ready & Shelf Ready packaging. ArtiosCAD 12 lets suppliers quickly and easily build RRP designs and automatically create stunning 3D animations. These can accurately show user-defined perforations and tear-away designs required in RRP packaging designs, in addition to the full set of common perforations. Beta ArtiosCAD 12 customers reported saving hours of time with new automated animations of tear-aways and RRP designs.

ArtiosCAD is available in two versions: the standard version and ArtiosCAD 12 Enterprise, enabling global "cloud" sharing and collaboration with WebCenter 12. With ArtiosCAD 12 Enterprise, all assets are centralized in a corporate private cloud, a secure web-accessible database enabling dynamic online collaboration between design groups, CAD and graphic designers, suppliers, brand owners and production. ArtiosCAD 12 is currently shipping, while ArtiosCAD 12 Enterprise will be ready for delivery after SuperCorr.

New graphic solutions for corrugated prepress
During SuperCorr, new solutions launched earlier this year at drupa will be shown. Visitors can also discover Suite 12, a wide array of software solutions addressing corrugated artwork, management, design and prepress, color management, workflow automation and process integration. With Suite 12, Esko focuses on adding value by introducing new productivity and efficiency benefits. This is done by closely integrating all flagship tools and engines, by adding rich 3D functionality for a holistic experience, and by enabling mobile collaboration and web-based packaging management.