Esko helps brands drive internal efficiencies while leveraging the power of an integrated supply chain, providing automated tools to assure accurate regulatory labeling

Miamisburg, OH – Brand owners are continuing to strive to achieve internal & external efficiencies and drive innovation in an increasingly diverse, global and heavily outsourced packaging process. Many stakeholders are faced with an ever-increasing number of product variants and markets, making for a very challenging mix. Esko (www.esko.com) will offer comprehensive solutions for CPG & Pharma companies and their entire supply chain at two booths during Pack EXPO International (booth N-6328) and Pharma EXPO (booth W-435), November 6 – 9, 2016 at McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. 

Esko integrates their leading CPG & Pharma packaging management solutions with third party business systems, allowing companies to leverage the power of their integrated supply chains. Esko Software Platform 16 will be featured including four popular components: ArtiosCAD and Studio for 3D structural and graphic design, WebCenter for specification, process management & collaboration, and MediaBeacon for digital asset management. The company will also demonstrate embedded technologies from its partner, Global Vision, to eliminate time-consuming manual proofreading. 

Esko at Pack EXPO: Brand owners more efficiently working with packaging supply chain

At their Pack EXPO booth (N-6328), Esko will focus on complete demonstrations including project briefing, structural packaging development, graphic design development, the merging of 3D structure & graphics, packaging management, automated content and design inspection, project collaboration and approval, and digital asset management. Especially with increased regulatory requirements—including the recent changes to the Nutritional Facts Table—there is need for information and guidance. At Pack EXPO, Esko can show brand owners how to maintain accurate copy and assure regulatory compliance."

Esko Software Platform is the latest version of Esko’s portfolio of integrated software solutions for packaging management, design, prepress, workflow automation, color management and supply chain collaboration used for packaging and labels. These solutions enable CPG brand owners, Pharma companies and packaging & label converters to reduce time-to-market and raise productivity, while ensuring complete compliance with FDA and other local regulations. 

WebCenter and Esko's solution to compliance

Due to the importance and short timeline for compliance of the recent changes and requirements to the US FDA Nutritional Facts Table, there will be considerable focus on content management and new software to easily create—and proof—updated FDA nutritional templates on existing packaging. Esko customers will be able to automate updates to packaging and label designs for a timely and efficient transition to the new Nutrition Facts table format, minimizing time to market and ensuring accuracy.

Even in today’s digital world, the majority of packaging teams work with traditional methods of communication, such as phone, email and file sharing. This leaves little room for innovation and typically adds time to the process through lack of visibility into critical paths. WebCenter connects—and tracks—all stakeholders in the process and brings clarity to this process with a centralized project management and communication system. It helps to create —and track—nutritional content review workflows that automatically route new nutritional information and tables for transparent and speedy approvals. At the same time, Esko works with GS1 to ensure data can be exported to GS1 XML format and populate dynamic tables automatically in Adobe Illustrator. WebCenter’s Packaging Content Management (PCM) module seamlessly supports the cycle of artwork content end-to-end. PCM supports multi-language translation and can automatically translate content via WebCenter’s workflow, has built-in content reusability from the ground up, and is fully compatible with the Dynamic Content Adobe Illustrator plugin. 

Studio is a fast and easy way to turn ideas into beautiful 3D images for creative development or to impress a client. There is no more need to produce physical mock-ups all the time. Users have an accurate and technically correct package on the screen. Store Visualizer, with its 3D stereoscopic rendering, works with Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles, letting people see and touch virtual stores like never before. Rift’s advanced display technology enables the sensation of presence – the feeling as though you’re actually there. The result is an extremely realistic way to view products on a store shelf. It is easy for users to navigate a highly realistic virtual store, and interact with the packaging—even allowing the user to pick up an item from the shelf.  

Automation Engine automates mundane, repetitive prepress tasks and limits the editor work to specific tasks and quality checks. Files are preflighted for errors and entered into plate production with minimal operator intervention, resulting in maximum production uptime. Rush jobs can be slotted in as necessary, additional separations can be added onto plates and plate waste is minimized. 

ArtiosCAD is the world’s most popular structural design software for packaging design. With dedicated tools specifically designed for packaging professionals for structural design, product development, virtual prototyping and manufacturing, ArtiosCAD increases productivity throughout a company. 

Cape Pack, a solution for packaging design, pallet load optimization and supply chain profitability, offers customizable reports that contain interactive 3D views of logistics solutions and are stored in the cloud for easy sharing among all stakeholders.

Producing packaging is becoming more and more of a global exercise. This makes it very important to have one standard repository for brand assets that can be used by all stakeholders in the packaging supply chain. Esko will be demonstrating MediaBeacon, a leading digital asset management (DAM) software solution. Increasing pressure on error-free and timely production of brand expressions across a diverse media range turns an integrated DAM solution into a cornerstone for both print service providers and brand owners. MediaBeacon's intuitive and highly personalized widget-based solutions allow organizations to find, organize, convert, track, and distribute digital media across the enterprise and globally. 

Meanwhile, Clemson University (Booth N-4543) will be participating at PACK EXPO, demonstrating CUShop, the Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphic's state-of-the-art consumer experience lab. ESKO will once again sponsor the demonstration. “Clemson University’s exhibit displays technology that will be crucial to product development and will create a memorable experience for PACK EXPO attendees. Esko is proud to invest in students that are making a difference in the packaging industry,” says Phillipe Adam, vice president of Global Marketing at Esko. Brand owners can "See What Your Customers See" in a shopping environment using the latest in eye-tracking technology. Participating attendees will receive an email with their results in the form of aggregated data and heat maps providing insights on how to improve products through consumer testing.

Esko at Pharma EXPO:  Offering complete error-free regulatory content solutions

Esko’s (booth W-435) dedicated packaging, label and artwork management solution helps life science and pharmaceutical companies build quality into their processes, reduce the risk of errors at every stage, maintain absolute control and compliance, manage the challenges of controlling packaging and labeling copy and content, and adapt to changing regulatory requirements with ease. 

"More and more brands in fast-moving pharmaceuticals understand the need for efficient solutions to get their packaging from ideation to shelf faster while avoiding costly errors," explains Joe Eckerle, Esko’s Brand Owner Sales Director. 

Esko is the only company to have embedded integrated technologies from Global Vision (the world leader in the design of innovative proofreading technologies) into an automated workflow, eliminating time-consuming manual quality control checks. Automated quality checking tools allow customers to process more jobs with the same people and with fewer errors. Global Vision quality control tools include a spell checker and automatic checking of barcodes and Braille against an approved profile, running as a background process. This enables fast, systematic revision of all detected errors. 

On Tuesday, November 6 at 10am on the Pharma Expo innovation stage (W-320), Esko's Mike Baird, Global Business Development Manager for Pharma will lead a seminar, 'The Merging Moments of Truth'. Daily healthcare and communication functions are often performed in "silos" both internally and externally with stakeholders located throughout the world. Pharmaceutical and life science companies are under pressure to ensure both physical and digital touch points are consistent. All of these participants must perform flawlessly under extreme time pressure with the flexibility to adapt to changing drug regulations and labeling complexity. The presentation will take a look at how leveraging a pharmaceutical packaging management solution can allow companies to take ownership of their physical and digital assets. 

"Esko has worked for years to assure extremely efficient—and accurate—packaging workflows that benefit both the brand owner and the entire packaging supply chain. That also includes working with important third-party partners—like Global Vision—to complement our expertise and provide very powerful tools that can be provided in an automated process," concludes Eckerle. "In doing so, brand owners gain visibility and control over their packaging processes. We look forward to demonstrating how our systems truly contribute to cost efficiencies, smooth regulatory compliance and faster time to market."