Esko focuses on AI, sustainability and more with innovations

Esko has launched six new technologies designed to drive efficiency, sustainability and profitability for converters and shorten time to market for consumer packaged goods brands.

Esko president Joël Depernet used the opening keynote presentation of Esko World 2025 to officially unveil the raft of innovations that embrace cloud computing and artificial intelligence to deliver improved sustainability, third party integration, central data storage and greater efficiency in process and task management. Kicking off this year’s packaging technology event in front of more than 500 packaging and labels converters, brand representatives and packaging experts at the St Louis Union Station Hotel in St Louis, Missouri, Depernet detailed how the six new innovations address today’s fast-changing business environment and evolving regulations.

'In the face of mounting challenges for brands and their label and packaging partners, these latest introductions to the Esko ecosystem underline how we remain true to our aim of continuous improvement through innovation, developing technology solutions that address the growing business need to better connect people, processes and technologies,' said Depernet. 'As a long-term partner to our customers, we are committed to innovating to ensure our solutions empower and enable anyone using them in the packaging value chain to benefit from improved operational efficiency, quality and to more easily achieve sustainability objectives.'

Esko chief marketing officer Jan De Roeck said: 'Delivering significant improvements in everything from quality control to compliance management, color control to data-driven decision making, we have specifically developed these latest technical innovations to address the pain points that have a critical impact on today’s packaging supply chain, while preparing for what lays ahead.'

The six innovations introduced at Esko World are:
•    Esko Comply, an AI-powered artwork review and compliance checking tool, available now to the pre-release community ahead of wide release in November 2025
•    Esko WebCenter Go, a complete packaging management technology for small-and-medium-sized brand owners, available from September 2025
•    Esko WebCenter Pack, delivering complete packaging management specifically for converters, available immediately following its global launch at Esko World
•    Esko Print Clone, an AI-powered cloud-based color matching solution that effectively reverse engineers a color profile, minimizing trial and error and speeding up color matching, available worldwide following its launch at Esko World
•    Esko Cape Prime, a packaging-driven sustainability technology that helps converters successfully reach their own sustainability targets, available to the pre-release community
•    Esko CDI Quartz, now available worldwide, an addition to the market-leading family of Esko CDI and XPS plate imaging and exposing solutions, which delivers accurate plates that reduce ink usage

'Driven by AI and the Esko S2 platform, this raft of innovations underlines the value of true end-to-end integration,' said De Roeck. 'Each of these new Esko solutions delivers tangible benefits for global brands and their packaging converters and serves to further automate, connect and accelerate the process of developing and bringing to market a packaged product.'

De Roeck explained that integration was key to the ongoing success of the Esko ecosystem, underlining the power of collaborative relationships with a number of key partners in attendance at Esko World. 'From the world of connected packaging we are proud to work with Bl.ink, Zappar and Scantrust; with Cerm, DynamicsPrint, eProductivity and PrintVis in the MIS field; and with X-Rite Pantone, The Grey Elephant and Schlafender Hase in color and quality assurance,' he said. 'From the world of regulation and sustainability, we work closely with our partners at TraceGains, Recyda, Regask, CarbonQuota and FoodChain ID; and in printing and finishing with our friends at HP, Canon, Kongsberg PCS and AllenField.'

Gary Iles, senior vice president of marketing at TraceGains, said: 'Now as part of the Veralto family, we’re excited to introduce the first Esko-TraceGains integration at Esko World.

'Our solution creates value by keeping product formulation and labeling teams in sync with packaging design and compliance teams, delivering an industry first Source-to-Shelf seamlessness that speeds time to market.' 

Esko World, a technology-focused event for packaging professionals, provides visitors with a wide range of interactive learning opportunities, sharing best practices and educational workshops. Now in its 34th year, Esko World 2025 is taking place from June 3-5 at the St Louis Union Station Hotel, St Louis, Missouri.