Esko honors Artios founder

James retired from Esko earlier this year, but in 1976, while employed with Notting Ltd in England, James headed a team that designed and wrote a CAD/CAM product to design folding cartons and associated tooling.  This product was chosen by the Paperboard Packaging Council as one of the major technological innovations of 1978.

As one of the founders of ArtiosCAD, Simon came to the US in 1978 as the president of Lasercomb America. In that role, he was responsible for growing both the software division and manufacturing division to a global presence, creating a company with subsidiaries in the UK, South Africa and Australia.

He was part of the team that sold Artios to Barco in 1998. After he sold his software company, James held a variety of positions with Barco and, later, Esko, ranging from vice-president of sales in Europe, president of Esko North America and Esko senior vice-president for global marketing.

‘For many years Simon has been instrumental in the growth and strategic development of Esko, and the company has very much to thank him for,’ said Carsten Knudsen, Esko chief executive officer and president.

‘Also his influence in the packaging industry cannot be underestimated. We are grateful that we had the honor to work with Simon, and will miss his unique insights and warm friendship.’