Structural Designers Focus More Energy on Innovation
Esko-Graphics' Design Life-Cycle Management solution helps structural designers quickly and efficiently create innovative folding carton packaging for consumer products companies (CPCs).
Design Life-Cycle Management is a comprehensive software and hardware solution that manages the collaboration, communication, and execution of packaging from ideation through delivery. It features design tools that remove workflow inefficiencies, enabling structural designers to devote more time to develop compelling packaging concepts.
"Our Design Life-Cycle Management solution addresses every part of the package design development process for CPCs," says Esko-Graphics executive vice president and general manager Simon James. "The primary component of Design Life-Cycle Management is our Scope packaging workflow offering. Scope comprises a set of modular software tools, among which is ArtiosCAD, the most powerful structural package design application available today."
Complete 3-D Integration
ArtiosCAD offers complete 3-D integration, which enables prototypes of designs and presentations to be made in minutes without having to generate samples, thus shortening design review cycles. Users can even create 3D models that demonstrate how the packaging is folded or assembled. A wide variety of industry-standard 3D formats can be imported, including IGES, STEP, CATIA, Pro/Engineer, and VRML.
"ArtiosCAD's 3D capabilities give designers, brand owners, and all other stakeholders in the package design process the ability to quickly assess a particular package design treatment to speed the design process," adds James.
Seamless Consistency Speeds the Process
ArtiosCAD also works seamlessly with Adobe Illustrator, the industry staple software application for package design. Data can be preserved and shared between these two programs, enabling creative and structural designers to maintain a smooth and efficient workflow between one another.
In the past, structural and creative designers did not have such consistency when sharing files with each other. As a result, modifications often would be made to a layout that should not have been made, which slowed the workflow altogether. "This seamless integration alone dramatically speeds the design process," James asserts.
The integration between ArtiosCAD and Illustrator also helps structural designers create CAD files that follow graphic outlines - a particularly important element for designers of displays and folding cartons, where the final package die cut must often follow specific graphic features.
Two Illustrator plug-ins - which are available free of charge at www.esko-graphics.com - enhance productivity and communication between structural and graphic designers. The first plug-in imports native ArtiosCAD files into Illustrator, maintains ArtiosCAD layers and information, and provides dedicated tools to preserve CAD data within Illustrator. Conversely, designers using Illustrator can utilize the second plug-in to export graphic information directly into ArtiosCAD.
Other Key Features of ArtiosCAD Include
- tool alignment and snapping - provides extensive graphical feedback to users, making ArtiosCAD easy to learn and use.
- robust drafting tools - help designers gain more productivity via automation. For example, ArtiosCAD's Automatic Dimensioning tool can be used to automatically add dimensions either to an entire drawing or just a selected area.
- Smart Standards - allow users to create designs and maintain design consistency in a matter of seconds via a library of standard templates. Here, a single Smart Standard can be automatically resized to create thousands of basic parametric designs.
- efficient sheet layouts - enable users to examine the estimated production cost at each machine within a packaging plant. ArtiosCAD's Intelligent Layout function automatically suggests optimum layouts with lowest cost.
- layout and tooling design features - can be used to create plate layouts and die tooling that later will be used in the manufacturing process.
- integrated database and reporting - enhance communication within a CPC and with its external suppliers. Database Reports can be saved in XML, HTML, and Excel formats.
