Packaging Artwork
Management
This week was the 2024 PLMA (Private Label Manufacturers Association) show in Chicago. I spent six-hours and 11,000+ steps trekking through the first day… Whew, that’s a lot of walking! Well worth the time and effort however, as the show was bustling with companies of all sorts; food, beverage, home, health & wellness, and beauty & cosmetics.
Each company, looking to impress buyers with booths large and small showcasing their latest product offerings.
As a graphics guy, I’m more interested in how their product packaging is commercialized. Imagine the reaction when I walk up and start asking about their prepress and print? A look of disinterest combined with “oh look, a squirrel.” When I start asking about artwork approvals, version control, and brand consistency, the conversation quickly opens up and I get the “oh sure, I know what you’re talking about… Why does it take forever the get things done, and then the print still doesn’t look like the proof?”
A good analogy for artwork management is the airline industry. Think about the last time you flew on an airplane. Understanding that travel is generally only fun when it’s for a vacation, what differentiates a good flight experience from a bad one? On time, speedy check-in, no hassle with your luggage, etc. Checking a bag? Hmmm, that’s adding an additional layer of complexity.
All of these processes need to work together in harmony in order for the overall experience to be positive. When one aspect fails, the entire experience is jaded. The same is true for packaging commercialization. Getting artwork completed and ready to print can be complicated. But it doesn’t have to be!
Most companies still manage their artwork process using spreadsheets and email. Sound familiar? If that’s you, then you’ll be happy to know there is a better way. Although emailing PDFs and tracking projects with a spreadsheet can work fine functionally, you may be surprised to learn that there are more modern tools available. Like building blocks, let’s look at how these solutions stack up:
- Soft Proofing
- Online Proofing
- Project Management
- Artwork Management
- Digital Asset Management (DAM)
- Integrated Artwork & DAM
Soft Proofing
A “Soft Proofing” solution is simply a tool which enables collaborative teams to review artwork and make annotation notes to communicate any changes. The artwork is saved as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file, which is sent to each respective cross-functional team member to review via email; i.e. marketing, legal, regulatory, R&D, etc. The industry has standardized almost exclusively on Adobe Acrobat for this activity.
Online Proofing
“Online Proofing” builds on the soft proofing paradigm by providing an online web-portal where an artwork PDF can be shared centrally. This offers a notable improvement, since there is only one version of the file containing all the annotations (comments); making it easier to reconcile change requests albeit manually.
Project Management
A “Project Management” solution is just what the name suggests. Many companies have been successful implementing a general project management system to manage artwork projects. However, there’s usually substantial custom configuration required to adapt a generic solution for an artwork approval process. In addition, these solutions often do not offer online soft proofing tools. Consequently, collaborative teams must go outside the project management system to use a third-party proofing solution; making it cumbersome and inefficient.
Artwork Management
An “Artwork Management” solution combines online soft proofing with project management, but with an important twist: “Workflow”. Indeed, the ability to build workflows around project management is a powerful capability. For example, most companies will have several different types of projects:
- New Product/Innovation
- Brand Refresh
- Claim Update
- Copy Change
- Nutritional/Ingredient Change
The scope and process steps for each type of project will be different. Artwork can be routed to different cross-functional teams depending upon the project remit. The key word here is “Routed”. The workflow provides a serial order by which the teams weigh in with their respective feedback. Once a stakeholder completes their assigned task, the workflow moves the artwork along to the next stakeholder in the process. Annotations are collected and extracted from the artwork PDF, and then summarized in a report automatically.
A good artwork management solution will offer enterprise-level soft proofing tools. These include a digital interrogation of the artwork and tools to determine how it was built:
- Artwork Layers, ability to turn layers on and off
- Artwork Colors, ability to turn colors on and off
- Densitometry, ability to click anywhere to see color separation values
- Spell Check
- Fonts, ability click on text to see what font was used
- Measurement, ability to click between two points to measure
- Checklist, reminds stakeholders what to check when reviewing artwork
- Compare, checks artwork versions against one another to verify changes (hugely important)
If artwork amendments are needed, the artwork is rejected and the annotation report outlining changes is sent back to the agency for corrections. The approval cycle repeats, and amendment loops are tracked and measured using a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) reporting module. Any idea how many approval loops your company takes to complete artwork on average? What percentage of artworks are RTFT (Right The First Time)? How about the number of pack changes your team manages annually? These are important metrics that can help prepare teams with planning for the next calendar year.
Digital Asset Management (DAM)
You may have heard the term “DAM”, which stands for Digital Asset Management. A DAM solution is a central repository used to house digital graphic files. While an artwork management system is used to manage “Active” artwork projects, a DAM system is more like a warehouse used to store “Completed” artwork content. This is particularly useful when you consider companies are perpetually changing their packaging artwork every year.
Ever have difficulty finding your packaging artwork files? If you’re using your printers to manage prepress and plates on the projects they print, you’ve probably lived through some challenges finding the latest file. A DAM solution will enable quick access to the latest files, and a great starting point to pick up right where the last project left off. Graphic files typically contained in a DAM include:
- Master Dielines (packaging structure)
- Approved In-Market Packaging Artwork
- 3D Renderings of “Pack Shots”
- Master Branded Imagery
Integrated Artwork & DAM
An integrated Artwork & DAM solution combines all the benefits of online soft proofing, artwork project management, workflows, and a final digital repository for completed artwork. Once artwork is approved, it moves into the DAM automatically. All of the project metadata comes along for the ride as well; meaning the system can be searched using any keywords used on a project. Typical searchable metadata includes:
- Brand
- Category
- Product
- UPC Number
- SAP Number
- Pack Structure (cartons, labels, film, etc.)
Takeaway
Once you experience moving to a modern artwork management tool, there’s just no going back. As I hope you can see from the features and benefits outlined above, email and spreadsheets are just not as efficient. In closing, I hope you found this post informative. I’ve been in this industry a long time, and I love helping people be as successful as they can be. If you are struggling with your packaging workflow, you can IM me herein. For more information, check out the Artwork Management & DAM page on our website at:
https://www.printron.com/our-artwork-management-dam-software/
Michael Shannon
Chief Revenue Officer
michaelshannon@printron.com
