The customer
Eco-friendly signage pioneer
Originally a sign company, Enseignes & Néons also engages in digital wide format printing.
Based in Istres, on the Mediterranean coast near Marseille, Enseignes & Néons was the first in France to incorporate HP latex technology because it was eco-friendly, at a time when this technology was still brand new.
The HP latex technology enables Enseignes & Néons to embed signs in large format latex prints and embed large format printed signs in flags, boards, panels or stands.
The Esko Automation Engine gives us the freedom to focus on more work with the same equipment.
Gaylor Herold, Managing Director, Enseignes & Néons, France
The challenge
Shorten production time and increase efficiency
The workload at Enseignes & Néons was becoming critical as a result of considerable growth in the region and many new customers.
The turnaround of incoming files was too long, capacity needed to be increased and the overall production cycle required more standardization. It was time to review the overall workflow.
Consequently, Enseignes et Néons considered automation the best way to optimize operations with the tools the company already employed.
Thanks to Automation Engine the prepress department is cutting down the time to prepare and check incoming files by approximately 50%. We are saving another 50% by optimizing the files for production and validation by the customer.
Gaylor Herold, Managing Director, Enseignes & Néons, France
The solution
Increase overall efficiency
Gaylor Herold and his team decided to purchase Automation Engine from Esko, to introduce the necessary production improvements in order to save time, reduce waste and cut costs.
Automation Engine is Esko’s workflow server. It automates prepress tasks, which speeds up the production process. It reduces the need for operator intervention and therefore also reduces the error rate.
By streamlining workflows, Automation Engine increases overall efficiency.
Previously the entire process between a file entering and leaving the system as a product lasted at least one hour. With Automation Engine it is down to approximately 5 minutes.
Gaylor Herold, Managing Director, Enseignes & Néons, France
The benefits
From start to finish in 5 minutes
There is a remarkable difference between the former manual workaround and the automated workaround that will now be introduced in the overall production workflow. The number of steps required is already down to 30%, perhaps even less, of those required before Automation Engine.
“Previously the entire process between a file entering and leaving the system as a product lasted at least one hour. With Automation Engine it is down to approximately 5 minutes. Moreover, the automated process reduces the number of human errors and the need for human intervention. If the system tells us we require human intervention, we will obviously take action,” says Managing Director, Gaylor Herold.
- the time to prepare and check incoming files is cut by approximately 50%
- optimizing the files for production and validation by the customer is also 50% faster
- the number of steps required in the automated workflow is down to 30% compared to the former manual workaround
