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GHENT, BelgiumEsko is showcasing a wide range of innovative solutions for brand owners and label converters at Labelexpo Europe 2017, Sept. 25 to 28. These solutions work to address various business challenges faced by brand owners as well as converters across the end-to-end label workflow. Esko is joined by X-Rite and Pantone on Stand 3C50 at the show.

“All industry trends confirm that the label industry continues to enjoy healthy growth, with a shift toward more short runs that need to be turned around faster. At Labelexpo, visitors will see solutions on our stand that address this trend and simplify many steps in the process of label production throughout each stage of the workflow,” said Udo Panenka, president of Esko. “Our range of solutions, together with those from the Product Identification Platform of Danaher, shorten the lead time by cutting time out of processes, reducing the risk for errors and assuring consistently high output quality.”

Labels Simplified

Sixty percent of respondents to a recent CMO Council study sponsored by Danaher companies identified product labels and packaging as a critical touchpoint in their omni-channel engagement strategy. In fact, the study suggests that physical touch points like product packaging and in-store displays are seen as more important to the success of the overall customer experience than channels like email, direct mail and mobile apps. At the same time, consumers expect brands to be responsive to trends, suggestions, complaints and more.

As a result, brand owners need to be able to adapt their labels and packaging even faster, and to print lower quantities “just in time.” In fact, many brand owner respondents to the CMO Council study looked to be able to achieve a 14-day turnaround for packaging changes. Converters need to respond to these requirements with a more efficient and integrated production workflow that can involve a mix of print environments. And they need to do so with as much automation as possible in order to deliver profitably against these demands.

For label and packaging converters, Esko solutions are designed to improve lead time and equipment utilization, reduce errors, and ensure consistently high output quality regardless of the printing technology used. The result is an overall improved efficiency in the entire operation, from incoming order to the delivery of the printed and finished materials.

Productivity and Profitability

At Labelexpo Europe, Esko is demonstrating how its innovations work to bring efficiency to each of the workflow steps of a prepress and flexo plate making operation. Key workflow steps of focus are:

Project management: Manage assets, approvals and projects from the initial concept to print-ready design, and connect ERP/MIS systems to workflow for smooth throughput and single data entry. Innovations on display at the show include:

Design: Hyper-realistic 3D mockups for presentation, proofing and quality assurance, including:

Prepress editing: Intuitive PDF editing with packaging-specific preflight functionality. Esko innovations include:

Flexo plate making: An innovative, highly simplified, automated and coordinated plate making process with guaranteed quality and consistency, including:

Printing and Ink: Color management supporting all printing processes and ink sets, even in mixed environments. X-Rite, a Danaher partner company, will be co-exhibiting with Esko at the show. Innovations include:

Esko Joins Forces with Key Industry Suppliers

New to Labelexpo Europe is the Automation Arena, held in collaboration with Cerm, Esko, Xeikon, MPS, Kocher + Beck, AVT, Rotocontrol, Matho and Wasberger, featuring two automated press lines for digital and conventional label production from job creation through prepress, printing, finishing and invoicing. The Esko software platform, with a focus on cost control and productivity optimization, shows support for an end-to-end label workflow with hyper realistic 3D viewing, web collaboration, PDF editing, content management, and quality assurance tools.

Esko is also teaming up with the widest range of industry partners ever at Labelexpo Europe 2017, ranging from digital printing, ERP/MIS integration and color management to flexo platemaking. Worldwide Esko sales and support experts will also be present to handle all enquiries.

Panenka concluded, “Our presence across the Labelexpo floor clearly demonstrates how Esko’s end-to end prepress solutions are essential to the future of the industry. We are looking forward to having meaningful discussions with visitors to our stand about how Esko solutions, and those from our Danaher sister companies and partners, can benefit the specific needs of their businesses.”