Xerox Distributes Esko Software For Packaging

Esko has announced that Xerox is to become a European distributor for some of Esko's packaging software and hardware, as part of a digital print service for the packaging industry.

Esko has announced that Xerox is to become a European distributor for some of Esko's packaging software and hardware, as part of a digital print service for the packaging industry.

The Esko products will be sold in all countries where Xerox Europe operates, with Esko providing post-sales service and support.

The agreement between the two companies incorporates a series of digital products from the Esko Scope software family, that will operate as a complement to the variable data capabilities of the Xerox iGen3 digital press and the Xerox Docucolor 8000/ 7000/ 5000 family of digital presses.

The presses are used to produce short-run packaging, together with finishing possibilities that include an in-line ultraviolet coater applying a permanent, scratch free coating.

The Esko suite of products for Xerox features Deskpack, its pre-press software that turns Adobe Illustrator CS2 in to a full packaging design and pre-production tool.

Deskpack is claimed to allow the designer to visualise the packaging, or carton being modelled in three-dimensions.

Also included are Plato, an Adobe certified step-and-repeat application for folding cartons and labels and Backstage, Esko's workflow server.

Additionally, Xerox will distribute Esko's Kongsberg XE10 and i-XE10 digital cutting and creasing tables, used for mock-ups, sample making and converting short packaging runs.

Producers of consumer goods and pharmaceutical companies face ever increasing pressure to optimise their supply chain from design to finished product.

Test marketing, for samples of consumer goods, or trails of test drugs, is expensive and time consuming using traditional print for short runs.

With Esko's Scope and Deskpack software modules and the Kongsberg XE10 and i-XE10 die-less converting tables, Xerox now can provide pre-print and post-print packaging capabilities, enabling the iGen3 and the Docucolor family to operate in short-run packaging operations, said the company.

Anoush Gordon, director and general manager of the production group at Xerox UK, said: "Our agreement with Esko demonstrates our strategy of opening new business opportunities through working with our partners.

The Xerox iGen3 is supremely positioned to print new test marketing applications for products, for example in the pharmaceutical, toy and health and beauty sectors.

The variable data print capabilities make the iGen3 a valuable tool in creating many variants of package designs required for test marketing." Carsten Knudsen, Esko's president and chief executive officer, said: "With Esko, Xerox digital press customers now will have access to the most advanced technologies for packaging pre-production.

This will enable them to become more efficient and professional in their operations and to optimise their workflow by taking time, cost and risk of errors out of the process." The Esko software and hardware will be available in the UK from the second quarter of 2007 through the Xerox sales network.

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