Esko will have its largest West Coast exhibition presence when it participates at booth 5247 during WestPack, February 11-14, 2013 at the Anaheim Convention Center. WestPack draws key decision makers from the packaging community who are seeking industrial, food and beverage, medical, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmetics and personal care solutions, among others.

“From our view on the West Coast, brand owners along with package printers and converters have been increasingly interested in new packaging technologies,” explains Johnny Bass, vice president, Western Regional Sales, Esko North America. “We’re seeing people make significant investments – beyond traditional analog die presses and box machines. It’s because short runs require tools offering fast turnarounds by minimizing production touch points. There is also increased demand for our high-speed digital finishing machine, the Kongsberg XP, primarily because it can be used for a variety of applications, from packaging to signs & displays, while providing fast, exceptional quality production.”

For the first time at WestPack, Esko brings a Kongsberg digital finishing table. In addition, there will be an area for demonstrations of Suite 12.1, Esko’s software solutions covering an entire range of design, workflow and collaboration.

Kongsberg table: Finishing short run packaging and displays
Kongsberg tables are used to cut and finish prototypes, labels, short run packaging, and wide format jobs. One of the highlights of the Esko booth is the Kongsberg i-XN 24, easily the most versatile digital finishing device. It comes with a wide range of specialty tools offering speed, power and flexibility to automatically handle a wide variety of materials, such as corrugated, folding carton, solid board, foam, wood and a long list of plastics. MultiCUT-HP (High Power) is equipped with a water-cooled milling spindle delivering up to three times faster milling speeds.

Suite 12.1: the most integrated software suite for packaging, labels and displays
Esko will showcase the latest version of its Suite 12 software. While the complete, wide range of design, prepress and workflow applications will be on display, Esko will focus on a few primary solutions:

Studio turns ideas into beautiful 3D images for creative development. There is no more need to produce physical mock-ups all the time. Users have an accurate and technically correct package on the screen. While conventional mock-ups may be required, with Studio virtual mock-ups are faster and less expensive for initial design reviews.

ArtiosCAD is the world’s most popular structural design software for packaging design. With dedicated tools specifically designed for packaging professionals for structural design, product development, virtual prototyping and manufacturing, ArtiosCAD increases productivity throughout a company. ArtiosCAD is the ideal product for all corrugated, folding carton and POP/display designers.

Automation Engine is a modular workflow server with dynamic workflows that are easy to set up and operate. It ensures increased efficiency and throughput and saves time and money. It is, by all standards, an exceptional answer to the daily challenges of print professionals who need to increase quality, reduce errors and drive cost out of the process.

Equinox, Esko´s solution for extended gamut printing, standardizes printing presses on any set of 5, 6, 7 or more inks. Users save on inks (and plates) for packaging work and printers save time as the press workload between jobs is reduced to merely changing printing plates.

Full HD Flexo: Flexo plate quality causing printers to reconsider how to print jobs
Visitors can also learn more about HD Flexo and Full HD Flexo through real-life production samples that demonstrate the quality and extended color gamut produced with these flexo plates. With HD Flexo, many printers have moved jobs from offset and gravure presses to flexo. Full HD Flexo delivers very high quality print with impactful solids and smoother highlights. The plates print more consistently than standard digital flexo plates. Full HD Flexo also eliminates manual steps traditionally associated with flexo platemaking, including back and main exposures.

“Esko looks forward to meeting all members of the packaging supply chain during WestPack,” concludes Bass. “We have made a serious commitment to companies on the West Coast, offering them ways to become more efficient and cost-effective, while offering higher-quality work.”