EskoWorld, held June 15 to 18, 2014, in Orlando, FL at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort attracted over 700 attendees according to internal reporting from Esko. Users looking to learn more about the company’s newest innovations and provide input on their own experiences found themselves immersed in an environment that welcomed an open exchange of information.
Esko Suite 14
Day one of the event included Disney’s own Mickey and Minnie Mouse introducing Bernard Zwaenepoel, senior VP software business, Esko, for the kickoff keynote address. Zwaenepoel announced the newest product enhancements to the company’s Esko Suite 14 and welcomed product managers to the stage to highlight innovative features of the solution.
The latest release of this productivity software for packaging preproduction and management addresses the importance of the entire supply chain, offering tools to streamline the process from end to end. Key points focused on in this newest iteration include increasing importance of workflow automation, the use of smart templates to handle package variations, quality, a more task-focused software user interface, and the integration of the supply chain and data sharing via the cloud.
Esko’s Vision
Press and analysts were invited to a briefing conducted by the Esko management team on the second day. Carsten Knudsen, CEO, Esko, provided insight on the company’s vision.
A key goal for Esko, according to Knudsen, is to drive digitization of end-to-end workflow. Customers that are a target for this change are brand owners/package designers, print service providers, and packaging and label converters. According the company, drivers of this growth are the need for better, faster, cheaper, and “greener”; brands taking charge of the supply chain; transition to digital print; workflow automation and integration; and changing consumer behavior in high growth markets.
For the Customers
The customer conference was crafted to provide over 70 education sessions in a number of market segments including digital flexography, commercial print, digital finishing, packaging, structural design, three-dimensional design, and brand management. All of the sessions allowed participants to provide input on the topic at hand. The Esko team believes in the voice of the customer or VOC, reporting that helps them evaluate year to year how to update and upgrade its software.
The event also presented customers with the opportunity for up-close, one-on-one time with product managers to learn the ins and outs of solutions from both Esko and its partners. EskoWorld’s Partner Zone included Chili Publish, Color Logic, DuPont, EFI, Enfocus, Global Vision, Hewlett-Packard, MacDermid Printing Solutions, Meta Communications, Southern Lithoplate Inc., The Quick Brown Fox GmbH, Western Computer, and X-Rite.
EskoWorld takes place in Scottsdale, AZ in 2015.
Aug2014, Digital Output
