Esko, part of the Veralto group, is the worldwide market leader within packaging and labelling software for workflow automation, quality assurance and online collaboration.
Esko helps pharmaceutical and medical devices companies manage their packaging preproduction designs, specifications, regulatory content and artwork portfolio in a compliant and secure way, helping raise productivity, reduce time-to-market, lower costs, expand business and improve profitability.
About Esko WebCenter Workflow Solution
Esko WebCenter digital solution protects pharmaceutical and medical devices companies’ consumers, patients, and brand by controlling the quality and accuracy of each label & packaging asset in a single, integrated workflow platform that can be validated for regulatory compliance.
WebCenter is a powerful and user-friendly online workflow tool that manages the process of label and artwork creation from specification to approval and distribution. It has the flexibility to handle simple projects or manage big campaigns that include multiple projects.
With WebCenter, the entire team and its supply chain can collaborate and approve label and artwork content from anywhere, all with validation to maintain regulatory compliance.
Improve Quality with WebCenter
- Reduce manual touchpoints with automation of tasks, from file inspection and comparison to content management
- Add automation tasks seamlessly into the workflow process
- Manage localization for country and regional requirements, keeping all versions in sync
Increase Visibility & Traceability with WebCenter
- Centralize labeling and content, specifications, CCDS, product data, etc. into a single platform
- Create projects and tasks to organize work, timelines, and responsibilities for labeling creation visibility
- Easily search for Impact Analysis (“Where Used”) and real-time views of current activity
Reduce Risk with WebCenter
- Reduce CAPA’s and recalls by validating to be compliant with requirements such as GMP, FDA 21 CFR, Part 11, Eudralex EU GMO Annex 11 guidelines, and Electronic Signatures (ERES)
- Create a systematic approach to support processes for version control for both files and content
- Verify, track, and trace each step in your labeling and artwork process
WebCenter allows pharmaceutical and medical devices companies to manage the complexity of label and artwork compliance with highly configurable workflows to match your business processes so you can increase speed-to-market. WebCenter can be easily adapted, scaled, and validated for your requirements.
- Specify the project information, change requests, briefing forms, and data collection and verification from the beginning of the project. All these details are attached to the project the entire time.
- Clearly identify individual roles and responsibilities for ownership and accountability of tasks.
- Automatic e-mail notifications when tasks are ready to complete or are waiting for approval.
- Seamless interface for designers and improved version control through the ability to integrate with artwork creation programs such as Illustrator.
- Centralized feedback with annotations from multiple reviewers through a single online source.
- Dashboards to view project status, identify bottlenecks, and search by various factors such as start date, due date, completed date, duration, time left, pending approval, etc.
- Maintain full audit trails of content changes and control versions of files.
- Fully configurable solution to fit your specific use cases, with the capability to integrate with your existing.
About Automated Artwork
Automated artwork is the process of automatically applying changes to labeling content within artwork. One of the primary benefits is ensuring consistency and maintaining high-quality artwork. Automation in the artwork process also significantly enhances efficiency, resulting in faster production. Automated artwork extends its capabilities to various types of artworks, including labeling and leaflet artwork, each with its unique complexities.
There are different levels of artwork automation, two common models include:
- Semi-automated: A manually initiated push of content from the content source into the graphical editor. In this workflow, the artwork operator would have control over the content push and would be responsible for “fine-tuning” the content for things like fixing overflows, font sizes, etc.
- Fully automated: Once content is finalized and approved at the content source, a “generate artwork” button would automatically execute the process of updating artwork with no or minimal operator intervention.
In either case, a company’s Standard Operating Procedures would dictate how the artwork changes are moved to a ready-for-release status. For example, a review & approval process would still typically be part of the process, even with an automated “generate artwork” process described in the fully automated model.
The goal of automation is to streamline and assist in the traditionally manually intensive activity of artwork updates. Company’s may decide to start with a more simplistic approach (semi-automated) and then over time, move to higher degrees of automation (fully automated).
The Esko Solution
WebCenter Content Management is a comprehensive solution that simplifies the content process, promotes content reuse, and reduces risks by allowing content updates to be applied uniformly across all affected outputs. With a web-based intuitive interface, content writers can efficiently create, manage, and reuse content. The solution ensures the consistent and traceable management of the content lifecycle, facilitated by flexible workflow capabilities. It also provides a repository for approved content, allowing the organization to store, organize, author, edit, review, manage versions, and create outputs from components seamlessly.
Additionally, WebCenter Content Management systematically manages content relationships with phrases, icons and tables within a core platform bolstered by standard, configurable iPaaS connectors for easy integration into existing processes.
If labeling content currently exists in a Structured Content Management System, Esko can integrate with it. The existing SCMS would remain as the source of truth and Esko’s content management interface would manage the content-to-artwork relationships and the artwork change process. In the cases where the source of truth is an MS Word format (often for leaflet content), Esko can extract content directly from the MS Word format to streamline the process and eliminate the effort of manually converting from unstructured to structured data sets.
WebCenter Content Management also allows for specifying and reusing various types of content, such as text, claims, symbols, and barcodes, for use in packaging artwork, labels, leaflets, and other materials. It also eliminates the need for manual copy-and-paste from spreadsheets and documents while ensuring compliance with submission-ready file formats. Clearly, this integrated approach simplifies and enhances the artwork automation process for pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
Create Your Business Case
Creating a business case for automated artwork involves considering various key drivers. Quantitative factors such as cost reduction, efficiency improvements, and the right-first-time approach are essential. Cost reduction strategies revolve around the critical importance of time in capturing full revenue opportunities. Emphasizing right-first-time quantitatively highlights the financial benefits of preventing errors as opposed to fixing them. Content reuse drives efficiencies in the process and ensures consistency across the product portfolio.
Automation further enhances efficiency by reducing manual effort, allowing employees to focus on value-added tasks and eliminating duplicate work. Automation mitigates risks by eliminating errors and ensuring a seamless end-to-end digital content flow, thus enhancing overall quality. Moreover, it fosters traceability across the organization, promoting better planning and collaboration.
Finally, automated artwork solutions empower highly regulated companies to tackle complex industry challenges. By optimizing processes and enhancing compliance, these solutions provide a competitive market edge.
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About Pharma Packaging & Labelling Forum 2025
Pharma Packaging & Labelling Forum 2025, organized by World BI, is an exclusive, invitation-only event that brings together industry leaders, regulatory experts, and solution providers to explore the latest advancements in pharmaceutical packaging and labelling. With a carefully curated agenda, the forum will deliver expert insights on Serialization & Track-and-Trace Technologies, Anti-Counterfeiting Measures, Regulatory Compliance & Evolving Standards and Sustainable & Eco-Friendly Packaging Solutions. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with top professionals from leading organizations, including Pfizer, Novartis, GSK, Roche, Merck, Sanofi, and more. Join us to gain valuable industry knowledge, exchange ideas with key stakeholders, and stay at the forefront of pharmaceutical packaging and labelling innovation.