EskoArtwork, the global market leader in innovative design, pre-production and collaboration solutions for the packaging and commercial printing industries, is gearing up for a prominent presence at Drupa 2008.

Spread across over 800 square metres on its stand in the new Hall 8b, EskoArtwork will present a comprehensive overview of its integrated software and hardware solutions and associated services for today and tomorrow, organised along themes that reflect the different customer communities and industry segments the company serves.

Software product highlights include the new Studio and Studio Toolkits for Boxes and for Flexibles, production colour management workflow featuring a.o. Equinox, and a series of key product upgrades incorporating the results of EskoArtwork's efforts to cross-integrate its various workflow lines. On the equipment side, there is the CDI Advance Cantilever for sleeve imaging, the CDI Spark 4260 Auto, and the Kongsberg XP series for high-performance digital short-run converting.

Connect More! - The key to future business growth

‘The days of computer systems being islands of automation or company departments operating in splendid isolation are long gone,’ stated Carsten Knudsen, EskoArtwork president and CEO. ‘Successful companies today continuously push the limits of efficiency and strive to adopt the best operational practices to create value and remain competitive. EskoArtwork's mission is to help our customers bring together all the systems, the software and the hardware, people and information assets available to them and effectively connect these into high-performance workflows. Operator guidance, process automation and supply chain collaboration are the drivers fuelling our innovations.’

EskoArtwork's ‘Connect More!’ vision is expressed in different ways and dimensions. It starts with integrating more closely the various steps within a single workflow and linking these to adjacent processes in the value chain, to save time and eliminate errors. It is about bringing together product design, packaging structure, graphics decoration and print visualisation to boost creativity and packaging brand impact while reducing design and approval overhead. It includes intelligent interfaces between software and hardware components to make operations more reliable, repeatable and measurable.

It acknowledges the need to consider legacy data and systems from various suppliers to maximise the return on past investments. It involves bridging jobs and processes between traditional printing and converting methods and the digital technologies of the future to ensure continuity and a smooth migration path.

Finally it covers improving in-house communication between departments to connect the pressroom with sales and accounting, as well as promoting collaboration between brand owner or print buyer, designer, printer / converter and even logistics parties to guarantee transparent processes and final results that meet customers' expectations.

‘EskoArtwork has always attached a high value to connectivity when developing its systems and products,’ continued Knudsen. ‘Being a strong driver and supporter of open industry standards, we also have engaged in a multitude of industry partnerships to complement our solutions with components and expertise from other best-in-class companies. Needless to say that this vision of connectivity - whether looked at from a systems technology, global operations or end-to-end supply chain perspective - is a reflection of what our thousands of packaging and printing customers value most in maintaining an ongoing relationship with our company.’