Business

EskoArtwork, the packaging pre-production specialist, will use Drupa 2008 to demonstrate integrated systems for packaging design and production.

The Belgian firm will show the new Kongsberg XP digital cutting machines for short-run production. The range handles corrugated board, plastic, foam and rigid display materials, and has a maximum cutting speed of 100m/min.

The machines, in three sizes from 1,680x3,200mm to 2,200x4,800mm, feature automatic tool levelling, automatic registration, multiple vacuum zones and a new operator workstation.

Also new on the equipment front are two Cyrel Digital Imagers (CDI), one for flexo sleeve imaging and the other for automated flexo platemaking.

The CDI Advance Cantilever, designed for the imaging of large-format sleeves, comes with a cantilever air cylinder, which allows a very fast exchange of print sleeves without requiring additional handling equipment. Users can exchange drums for sleeves up to a length of 2,110mm, or for 1,270x2,032mm or 1,067x1,524mm plates.

The Advance Cantilever operates at a maximum speed of 8sqm per hour owing to a fibre laser with multibeam optics.

The CDI Spark 4260 Auto is primarily for the flexible packaging and folding carton markets. It can process three full-size digital flexo plates at once and takes 12 minutes to image a 1,067x1,542mm plate of any thickness.

New software products include the Dynamic Content plug-in for Adobe Illustrator, which links text files with package designs.

Dynamic Content enables users to create a text link in an Illustrator file directly to an XML file created by the brand owner. A single, XML-based text file can then be shared across a number of designs, or multiple text sources, such as different language versions, linked to a single design.

EskoArtwork said this significantly reduced the number of times the file was reviewed, cut down on errors, reduced lead times and saved costs.

A second new plug-in for Adobe Illustrator is Studio, which brings interactive 3D design to folding carton, corrugated and flexible packaging, together with Studio Toolkits, which is a collection of supporting simplified structural designs.

EskoArtwork said Studio reduced the need for multiple mock-ups, helped to spot design errors faster, and offered a 3D image so that designers and brand owners could instantly see how the artwork would look on the pack.

Two versions of Studio Toolkit will be demonstrated: Studio Toolkit for flexibles, which allows designers to build structural models of pillow bags, gusseted bags and rectangular stand-up pouches; and a version for boxes, which allows designers to create box shapes that can be decorated and folded within Illustrator. Alternatively, designers can take an existing technical drawing and fold it into a 3D representation of a box.

The firm will also join forces with management information system supplier Dr Lauterbach & Partner, MAN Roland and Bobst to present an end-to-end JDF workflow for packaging production.

EskoArtwork will be on stand A23 in Hall 8b of the Messe Düsseldorf.

Drupa 2008 runs from 29 May to 11 June.

For more information visit www.drupa.de