For sign and display graphics businesses, the analogue-to-digital transformation is well underway. But while today’s wide format printers are more efficient and deliver higher throughput, there are still often bottlenecks in other parts of the design-request-to-shipping workflow. To help companies overcome these challenges and shorten time to market while improving productivity, Esko provides Automation Engine QuickStart for Sign, a turnkey workflow solution that automates prepress, enabling companies to handle more jobs faster.
Visitors at FESPA 2018 will find this solution and more at Esko’s stands. Automation Engine QuickStart will have companies up and running with improved Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) in five days, to immediately begin benefitting from the investment. It comes preloaded with proven workflows for sign and large format production, giving companies the possibility to eliminate repetitive tasks .
It also includes a direct link to Kongsberg cutting tables, significantly increasing workflow automation with less waste in the most expensive step of the process – finishing – since setups are automatically loaded into the Kongsberg workflow. It automates a wide range of tasks from product creation and preflight to approvals and production. Its customisable dashboard and reports ensure everyone involved in the process has immediate access to all information required to speed work through the plant and make fact-based business decisions for continuous operational improvement.
Geert De Proost, Esko’s director solutions marketing, said, ‘Our focus is on supporting the sign and display and corrugated sectors with integrated hardware and software solutions that address the requirements of a company’s business strategy. Our solutions will dramatically boost production capacity without the need to invest in additional headcount. They will also eliminate human error at every step by standardising processes. We are especially excited to present Automation Engine QuickStart for Sign and WebCenter QuickStart for Corrugated converters. Esko’s QuickStart solutions, offer companies out-of-the-box, proven and expert workflows for sign and wide format production, as well as the digital workflows required to speed up the time to market of corrugated products. The implemention of the QuickStart solutions only takes five days. And once they start down the digital path, it is easy for them to continue to add features and functionality to continue improving productivity and profitability.’
De Proost added, ‘Visitors to our stand will be amazed to learn they receive all of these benefits without the need to add headcount. In fact, it enables companies to reassign employees to more productive tasks while the QuickStart solutions take care of the non-productive repetitive tasks that are a waste of employee time. Operators can use Device Manager to monitor job status, and to manage and prioritise the queues of all connected devices, from the convenience of their offices without the need to run around machine to machine.’
In finishing, Kongsberg Automate aids increased productivity; it offers a broad array of impressive innovations that boost the performance of digital finishing operations to industrial levels. This includes the ability to add robotics for loading new materials and offloading finished materials for increased productivity and reduced operator interaction. At FESPA, a Kongsberg C64 cutting table equipped with a feeder and stacker will be on display.
Also on display on the Esko stand will be a Kongsberg X20 entry-level cutting table together with a wide range of specialty tools. Offering the ultimate in versatility, these tools deliver speed, power and flexibility to handle a wide variety of materials, such as corrugated, folding carton, solid board, foam, coating blankets, wood and a long list of plastics.
For the first time, Esko will demonstrate its WebCenter QuickStart for Corrugated, a packaging management solution for corrugated converters designed to handle design requests in minutes. Esko will also demonstrate the key elements of its ArtiosCAD solution for structural design, Studio for 3D projects and i-cut Suite for optimisation of prepress production.
Upcoming FESPA events include FESPA Africa, the region’s largest, focused exhibition for the wide format digital printing, screen printing, garment decoration and textile printing, which is co-located with Sign Africa and Africa Print, the region’s leading events for the signage industry. The event is taking place from 12-14 September 2017 at Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg.
ESKO http://www.esko.com
