A combined workflow solution has been announced by EFI and Esko this will enable companies to produce packaging with a single seamless and integrated workflow.
The collaboration will connect EFI Fiery digital front ends (DFEs), Esko workflows and EFI ERP/MIS solutions to provide a unified production eco-system for packaging companies. In addition, customers using the Esko workflow will be able to prepare jobs once for output and use EFI’s optimisation tools to route them to their Fiery driven digital production devices.
‘When I learned that EFI and Esko became development partners, it got us very excited,’ said Jim Rosenthal, CEO of Paradigm Digital Colour Graphics Inc. ‘We’ve been considering purchasing a new digital press to offer some folding carton printing to our customers, but we have no experience or tools to manage the preparation of this type of work. A solution from EFI and Esko will not only help me offer new products to my clients, but it will also integrate with my EFI MIS to ensure I’m doing it efficiently.’
Beyond the DFE and workflow integration, the companies will also enhance existing integration between Fiery DFEs and the full platform of Esko workflow tools as well as EFI’s ERP/MIS and web to print products. ‘We’ve heard from many of our commercial print customers that their existing workflow tools, most of which were purchased with a CTP device, are just not flexible enough to help them expand the vast opportunity in digital packaging production,’ said Toby Weiss, senior vice president and general manager, EFI Fiery. ‘Packaging is a key area of growth for EFI and our customers and many of our Fiery partners now offer great digital printers that are suitable for packaging production. We believe a Fiery and Esko combined solution will be the best way to meet this need in the packaging workflow space.’
The integration is planned for release at the end of 2016. The EFI Fiery DFE combined with the Esko automation platform and additional integration into EFI’s Productivity Suite is planned for release in 2017.
