Workflow Automation And Intelligent Kongsberg Finishing Tables Cut Out Waste And Idle Time

Ghent, Belgium – In today’s highly competitive environment, sign providers should be looking beyond their production equipment to find an automated end-to-end workflow that ensures faster time to market, fewer errors and improved profitability. If they recognize that waste is created everywhere; via complex manual steps, equipment idle time, incorrect material handling or lack of workflow control and if they seek to eliminate idle time—in design creation, pre-press, on press and on the finishing table, they should visit Esko at FESPA 2017.

During FESPA 2017 (stand A1-C25, May 8-12 in Hamburg), Esko will feature software and hardware solutions that help companies get the most out of their production workflows, their equipment, and their staff.

“At Esko we develop and integrate software and hardware solutions,” explains Stuart Fox, Director Digital Finishing. “This enables us to offer modular solutions supporting signage and display production businesses. We make it easy to get started with simple steps in design or prepress and with Esko as a partner you can easily automate your entire digital workflow. At FESPA 2017, we will demonstrate how anyone can remove waste and idle time from their workflow with smart solutions, workflow automation or hardware.”

Simplifying display design from the start

Esko's powerful structural design software, ArtiosCAD, the world’s leading packaging structural design software is ideal for use by POP, POS, and free-standing display designers. The ArtiosCAD Display Store (www.esko.com/displays) makes designing attractive displays possible for everyone, and gives printers fast access to an extensive library of ready-to-use displays, that can easily be adapted to the needs of the end customer. Studio, Esko’s 3D design solution for Adobe Illustrator, enables a 3D preview of displays, allowing customers to view an exact digital representation of the final product. This reduces the number of physical samples required and speeds up the approval process, taking time and cost out of job preparation.

Wide format workflow software boosts production throughput

Featured at FESPA will be Automation Engine, a dedicated workflow solution that combines wide format workflow automation with i-cut Suite’s tasks of preflighting, file editing, as well as, adding cutting paths and optimal nesting to a sheet. Automation Engine creates productive workflows that increase throughput on digital printers and digital finishing platforms, while reducing errors and improving file management and communication to customers.

Enfocuswill also show Enfocus PitStop for preflighting and EnfocusSwitch for additional workflow automation on the Esko stand. .

Esko's Device Manager will also be featured at FESPA. This new solution gives everyone in the company a view of their digital finishing tables status. It is used to communicate the job status and helps to manage jobs more efficiently based on precise cutting time estimates and substrate selection. Precise production planning and prioritization of digital finishing jobs becomes significantly easier to manage. Operators can prioritize table queues, insert rush jobs and balance workloads among different tables, even when tables are located at different sites. The Estimating solution within Esko Device Manager enables highly accurate job quotes and fast production planning. With Device Manager, digital finishing becomes a controlled, predictable and managed process throughout the entire workflow.

Wide format finishing: Simplified Kongsberg platform choice

Esko has streamlined and improved its Kongsberg table portfolio to help customers easily identify the systems that best suit their needs. They can pick from two primary families based on the type of work they typically produce – choosing the greatest flexibility for versatile and creative jobs (Kongsberg X), or the best productivity for efficient production runs (Kongsberg C). For those that are new to digital finishing or have only limited needs for a cutting table, the X Starter offer the Kongsberg Experience for less and is upgradable to evolve with your business on display at FESPA will be Kongsberg X20 and Kongsberg C60 finishing tables.

The Kongsberg C60 table will be shown with a new automatic feed and stacking system that frees personnel from loading and stacking. This system can be fit to any Kongsberg C – no matter the size. It means that operators can control a number of machines concurrently or can be reassigned to other tasks. Media is always ready and waiting for the cutter, which eliminates delays caused by loading and unloading the table. The system is also modular: companies can install the feeder first, and add the stacker at a later date. Visitors to the Esko stand will appreciate the system’s small footprint.

“What companies are learning is that increasing table cutting speeds does not significantly affect productivity,” Stuart Fox, Director Digital Finishing, adds. “Typical finishing operations are less efficient than they could be when equipment is not used optimally. When there are too many manual steps or setting up cutting tables takes too long, prioritizing jobs or optimizing material handling is not always possible. That is why Esko has focused on ways to accelerate the entire production cycle of its finishing tables. By eliminating wait time in the prepress workflow and in the finishing areas, we make it easier and faster for companies to increase throughput and reduce waste."