Esko hasreleased a major new release of its Automation Engine workflow product, packed with new capabilities. And for the first time, it is available as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Esko developed Automation Engine SaaS in response to the ongoing challenges faced by its customers, and feedback from early adopters has been very positive.

“Designed and built by packaging experts, for packaging experts, Automation Engine has established itself over many years as the benchmark for optimized prepress workflow automation,” says Jan De Roeck, Esko director of marketing, strategy and industry relations. “This latest release represents a major step forward for Automation Engine. It introduces a cloud-based deployment option and an intuitive new web-based user experience that ensures even the most casual user will be able to initiate, communicate and work across teams effectively.

“This new Automation Engine will make prepress automation more accessible and easier to use for both long-time customers and for companies that are just starting out on their automation journey,” continues DeRoeck. “Users can access their personalized, secure, workspace at any time, from anywhere, in the new My WorkSpace application. For customers looking for even more flexibility, we are proud to introduce our new cloud-based offering, which takes the prepress experience to a new level in terms of quality, productivity and connectivity.

“With Automation Engine SaaS, we are giving customers the opportunity to enjoy the operational benefits of standardized automated workflows while embracing the freedom of cloud-based computing,” he adds. “Not only does Automation Engine SaaS reduce IT infrastructure overheads and headaches – such as flexible up-and-downscaling of server capacity, security, backup, guaranteed uptime and availability – but it also helps to boost operational productivity and cross-site working.”

Esko Automation Engine is the automated workflow product that automates prepress tasks and integrates with business systems, which speeds up the process, and more importantly reduces the error rate and need for operator intervention. “Flexible to fit with individual business needs, scalable and customized to optimize individual workflows, Automation Engine has become the beating heart of the prepress process,” states Esko product manager Paul Land. “With this new release, the heart of the prepress is beating stronger than ever.”

On top of the My WorkSpace application and next generation user experience, the newest release of Automation Engine includes a new “drop zone” feature, which makes launching workflows quicker and easier by enabling users to search and select workflows, drag and drop files to it, edit parameters and initiate – all from one location.