Esko WebCenter 18 brings packaging management closer to the one-day target

Esko announced a major new release of its packaging management solution, WebCenter. WebCenter 18 streamlines and speeds up the packaging development workflow by delivering extra features that give brand owners and converters more control and visibility of their packaging preproduction specification, approval and project life cycle.

When CMO Council asked packaging professionals how long it takes to make a packaging change, they reported that changes take an average of about 198 days. Marketing leaders think it takes 90 days or less, but consumers don’t understand why packaging changes and other physical media can’t be made in one day.1 WebCenter 18 helps its users to get much closer to that one-day ideal.

Esko's WebCenter helps brand owners manage packaging pre-production specifications and project life cycles, enabling them to engage with the consumer by giving them have more control and visibility of the entire packaging design project.

The review and approval process with WebCenter has been improved, enabling more visibility into project status and reviewer input. With WebCenter 18, brand owners now understand the root causes of any bottlenecks, as it now captures the reasons for rejection and the number of approval iterations, allowing for ongoing process improvement. It can also automatically involve the right stakeholder after a rejection, speeding up the revision process.

What’s more, reviewers can now review the product exactly as it would be on the shelf. This improves the accuracy of the review feedback and so further reduce approval times and number of iterations. The 3D packaging models can then also be used to clearly communicate internally, but also to populate and market with retailers and consumers online.

WebCenter18.0 content management now includes built-in and custom templates, so users efficiently comply with regulations such as Nutrition Fact Tables and Over the Counter Drug Facts. The Graphic Content Management functionality allows brand owners to centralize artwork data, and merging it into templates, including the logging of symbols, logos and barcodes, as well as packaging copy and graphics. These elements must be perfect for branding and regulatory compliance, and this process completely removes manual processes that lead to mistakes. Translations within and outside of the system can be managed systematically as well.

Availability

WebCenter 18 will be available on April 17, 2018. Every new system will have the new version installed upon release. Existing customers will be updated following customers' request – this to ensure they can prepare for internal training and rollout.