WebCenter makes data management simple
Esko WebCenter is a crucial tool in the management of incoming job data at Coveris. It has enabled the CAD Services Team to feed the business with high quality, consistent and measurable information.
Coveris is an established leader in the development and manufacture of multi-format packaging solutions for a range of sectors, primarily food and beverage but also pet food, medical, industrial and agricultural. The company operates across 25 production sites and serves more than 4,500 customers around the globe. Its cartonboard division has three sites in Cambridgeshire, UK, one in Wisbech and two in St Neots and is supported by a dedicated, in-house CAD services team.
The CAD services team at Coveris Wisbech handles a significant number of incoming CAD and tooling requests for new carton designs every year from its sales team and account managers. At anytime, dozens of individual pieces of information about customers, job requirements, materials, deadlines and costings come into the company to be processed and managed in a way that enables product sampling and manufacturing to occur quickly, efficiently and accurately.
“What became clear was that the system we were using offered very little organization and control capability,” said Steve Nicholls, Coveris CAD Services Manager. “Without an appropriate process, the amount of data we were handling was becoming too complex to manage.”
“For the CAD services team, realistic timings and availability, in terms of raw materials and production, are critical,” added Steve. “If we get it wrong, delays in the process can put deadlines out of reach and it stores up problems further along the production process.”
Coveris chose Esko WebCenter as solution to help the CAD services team manage the increasing number of incoming requests. Initially, it was only used to process CAD requests but now integrates tooling requests and bolt-ons have been added to enhance performance.
Esko WebCenter is a secure web-based packaging management and collaboration platform, capable of managing all aspects of preproduction specification and project lifecycle.
“We do not use WebCenter to manage stock or jobs; for us, it is purely an information gathering and organizational tool,” added Steve. “Currently, WebCenter involvement ends with tooling integration and when the job goes into production, but the system ensures that all the data we need to process the initial request, smoothly and efficiently, is accurate. Most importantly, WebCenter ensures all the data is captured in a single place.
“We have full visibility of all incoming requests and can align them with our production capabilities and costs. These are our biggest challenges and WebCenter puts them front of mind from the outset.”
The CAD services team has incorporated The European Carton Makers Association (ECMA) code for Folding Carton Design Styles into Esko WebCenter, which shows all production capabilities at any given moment; a great benefit for members of the sales team when visiting customers on site.
The overriding benefit delivered by Esko WebCenter is the clean data it provides to the team to process CAD and tooling requests efficiently and cost-effectively.
“The customer and job data we hold now is consistent and of a much higher quality than we have ever had before,” said Steve. “This data feeds our ERP system and WebCenter enables us to supply our business with superior quality information. There is complete visibility and traceability of any CAD or tooling request that has gone before.”
Another benefit of WebCenter is that it has enhanced shared learning among the Coveris CAD services team. Job request history stored via WebCenter allows users to see the best way to run a particular job, learn about production issues – why they occurred and how they were solved – and it has opened doors to new opportunities by allowing the team to analyze production capabilities in greater depth.
At Coveris, WebCenter connects the CAD teams based at its Wisbech, two St Neots and Leeds sites. It further integrates with the sampling and sales teams, allowing comprehensive customer data to be accessible at any point in time, from any location. “We have sites 50 miles apart but with WebCenter, we are all experiencing the same demand and have access to the same standardized information,” added Steve.
“Ultimately, as a business we are selling capacity. WebCenter has enabled us to create our capacity model; essentially, when and what we can and cannot produce efficiently. Thanks to WebCenter, we can manage our workload and ensure we are delivering right first time to our customers. The conversations in house, and with the customer, take place at an earlier stage and everything is signed off before the job runs. Tooling requirements are spotted early, and orders are placed as planning occurs. We are seven days ahead of where we used to be with a request prior to the implementation of WebCenter,” Steve concluded.