Essentra Packaging is the first global packaging manufacturer to implement the Esko Automation Engine workflow solution as a cloud deployment across Europe in its pre-press department.
Following a successful trial run at its plant in Lublin, Poland, Essentra Packaging has now embarked on a programme to integrate Automation Engine across many of its pan-European sites. The solution is being delivered as a SaaS (Software as a Service) deployment, allowing the company to benefit from a simplified IT infrastructure while improving efficiency and productivity through process automation and digitalisation.
"We had been looking for a standardisation solution for our prepress systems and processes for a long time," explained Mark King, Technical Manager (Packaging Division) at Essentra Packaging. "A SaaS deployment is essential for a company like ours, as we operate in many locations and can run different systems at each site. We therefore needed a complete solution that would scale for our business, and Automation Engine SaaS meets all the criteria for that."
Automation Engine, Esko's highest performance workflow automation solution, offers flexibility to easily meet changing business needs. It is also scalable and can be customised to optimise individual prepress workflows. "The solution enables companies like Essentra to automate, standardise and improve prepress workflow so the entire organisation can reap all the benefits faster," explained Paul Land, product manager, Esko. "It automates prepress tasks and provides full integration with business systems to effectively speed up processes, while significantly reducing error rates and the need for manual operator intervention."
"With the latest generation of Automation Engine, we have introduced a cloud-based deployment option," said Paul Land. "Essentra Packaging had already indicated they were looking to move from Automation Engine's locally installed software to a SaaS solution hosted in a cloud-based environment, so we invited the company to participate in our pre-release programme."
Mark King went on to explain that Essentra Packaging had achieved its growth in part through acquisitions, so it was working with different systems and layers of software across the company. "Our Lublin plant was chosen as a pilot site as it manufactures a wide variety of products. Here we were able to use the new system in the development of both cartons and labels. After this first successful deployment, we now have a solid plan for the system rollout throughout the packaging department."
"Automation Engine SaaS provides us with the standardisation that allows us to unify all locations and work to a standard process everywhere," said Mark King. "Workflows are stored centrally and provide access for all sites within our group. This gives us the flexibility to share knowledge and artwork - all in a consistent format. By creating these specific workflows for these jobs, our operators can consistently create the same job, day after day with the same results - this even applies to different operators. This improves efficiency and ensures that each job meets all quality standards and is delivered on time."
"For example, we are seeing a significant time saving in the imposition of jobs," said Mark King. "When we go through this process manually, it can take up to 30 minutes. With Automation Engine SaaS, the time is reduced to just two to three seconds."
"Another advantage with SaaS is that the software is continuously updated. We can deploy new features faster," he explains. "This means we benefit from the agility and flexibility to make quick adjustments and changes with instantly updated, automated workflows depending on client needs."
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