The importance of connecting people and processes throughout the entire packaging supply chain was the key theme at this year’s EskoWorld, which saw hundreds of packaging professionals come together to discuss the challenges they face today and plan for those they might face in the future.
“From the opening keynote speech through to the closing day comments, this was an incredibly successful EskoWorld,” said Melissa Plemen, Esko Sr. Director of Inside Sales and Marketing. “We welcomed more than 450 packaging and label businesses and brand representatives who joined us to discover and discuss the latest integrated innovations that are making it easier for them to connect both their people and processes, automate operations, reduce waste and maximize their operational efficiency,” said Melissa.
Held this year at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida, EskoWorld is the annual premier technology-focused event for packaging professionals. Boasting a packed agenda of more than 150 individual sessions, the 2023 event brought packaging supplier and brand representatives together with Esko experts and packaging supply chain partners to learn, share and discuss how the latest hardware and software technologies can help their businesses navigate current issues affecting the industry.
“With more demonstrations, discussions and workshops across the three days than ever before, this year’s EskoWorld delivered on our promise of helping companies review their operations and identify areas where they could make meaningful improvements and drive operational efficiencies in the face of so many challenges affecting businesses around the world,” said Melissa. “Our President, John Edison, opened the event by setting out the Esko vision to automate, connect and accelerate businesses, and establish a clear roadmap for future business growth. This served to set the tone for a hugely positive event in which packaging supply chain partners from across the globe collaborated, shared information and worked together to solve each other’s problems.
“From the many discussions it is clear that business growth is no longer just viewed as a nice to have, but is now absolutely essential in order to survive into the future,” said Melissa. “Visitors to EskoWorld were not just attending, but were actively engaging in lively discussion on how their own businesses can and must evolve – and how advances in technology can make that happen.”
Melissa said highlights of EskoWorld 2023 included lively expert Q&A sessions, trends analysis discussions, new product familiarization sessions, and the always popular “Interaction Room”, where visitors could try out the latest software innovations and see hardware in action for themselves.
“We scaled up the interaction room this year and it proved a huge draw, presenting a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase how the new Phoenix solution has been integrated into the latest Esko software version,” said Melissa. “We also took the opportunity to spotlight some of the features from our most recent software version release – and tease some of those that will be revealed in our latest release in July.”
With today’s brands and packaging suppliers facing a range of challenges, the EskoWorld 2023 agenda was specifically designed to highlight how new technological developments will help businesses form a foundation to identify waste, mitigate risk and optimize opportunities.
The closing day speech was delivered by Louie Gravance, who spent a distinguished 25-year career at the Walt Disney Company, designing everything from live entertainment experiences to customer service training programs through the Disney Institute in Orlando, Florida.
“Louie gave a humorous and heartfelt presentation to close out EskoWorld, underlining the importance of customer service as part of a connected packaging supply chain,” said Melissa. “His keynote was a fitting note to end on. He was able to reinforce the theme of the entire three days – that being connected is the key to success, both now and into the future.”
EskoWorld will return in 2024, with details to be announced soon.
