Esko provides pre-press software and hardware for the packaging and labels, sign and display and commercial printing and publishing industries.
The new partnership will enable Shuttleworth customers to save administration time by passing job specification details directly from the Shuttleworth MIS into a pre-defined folder, which is then imported directly into Esko’s Automation Engine.
The specification details exported from the Shuttleworth MIS are completely customisable, which means that any field held against the Shuttleworth job can be included in an XML export file.
The fields can include job specification, related codes, colour information, material details and cutter dimensions. The XML file can then be imported directly into Esko’s Automation Engine, which is used to populate the prepress workflow parameters to reduce errors and save time.
Shuttleworth marketing executive Dawn Safford said: “We are seeing more and more customers exploring the benefits of this type of workflow integration.
“The advantages for our customers are huge. They not only benefit from massive time savings in administration but these types of integration also increase efficiencies and minimise errors.”
Separately, the business has also launched a new software functionality called ‘kitting’, which it said enables users to easily create estimates and quote for several items on an order.
It is suitable for anyone wanting to manage one job that involves multiple items, such as some types of POS, packaging, labelling or display work.
Kitting enables users to add separate items and quantities to a single enquiry. The Shuttleworth MIS then calculates a price for the entire ‘kit’ and helps to manage the enquiry through production.
It can be used to produce vehicle livery kits or complex multipart jobs as the user can add the items and quantities required for the whole or parts of a job onto one enquiry. The Shuttleworth MIS can then calculate and quote a price.
When a job is raised the user can choose to create a single job or multiple jobs to manage and process the order. The kit can then be managed throughout the order and production process right through to delivery and invoicing.
“Managing multiple items for one quote can be a costly process, however the new kitting functionality means that users benefit through easy traceability, reduced administration and cost, and ultimately increased profit,” said Safford.
She added that the functionality would usually form part of an initial MIS setup but that it could also be added to existing systems.
Shuttleworth, which was established in 1981, supplies MIS to over 500 active sites and serves customers across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The firm will be exhibiting at Labelexpo 2015 in Brussels, Belgium from 29 September to 2 October.
