Prepress

Global life sciences company slashes packaging approval time by 94% with Esko WebCenter

Wednesday 16. July 2025 - Esko, the provider of integrated software and hardware solutions that accelerate the go-to-market process of packaged goods, revealed the news just weeks after the publication of a TEI study that detailed how WebCenter delivers a three-year 240% return on investment for brands.

Digital transformation enables international expansion while maintaining regulatory compliance
A leading global life sciences company has reduced its packaging artwork proofing time from eight hours to just 20-30 minutes through its implementation of the Esko WebCenter platform.
“The life sciences sector faces unique challenges in packaging development, with strict regulatory requirements and the critical need for perfect accuracy,” said Jan De Roeck, CMO at Esko. “This hugely successful implementation demonstrates how WebCenter can transform operations while maintaining the highest compliance standards, enabling companies to scale globally without compromising control.”
In an industry where accuracy and compliance are paramount, many life sciences companies still rely on manual, paper-based processes for packaging artwork management – a practice that creates significant challenges when scaling operations globally. Esko WebCenter is specifically designed to help regulated industries digitize these critical workflows while maintaining complete traceability.
Allison Masters, Senior Manager of Labeling Operations, explained how WebCenter had helped transform a packaging design process. “When we were a small company, we could simply walk a piece of paper across an office,” she said. “But once we became more of a global presence and expanded our product line – and the Coronavirus pandemic hit – paper-based was not a feasible option for growth.”
Following the introduction of WebCenter, the company saw an incredible 94% reduction in proofing time for new components, down from eight hours to just 20-30 minutes. Digital comparison capabilities replaced manual character-by-character reviews, and consolidated digital approval workflows completely eliminated paper-based routing. With enhanced audit trail and traceability, real-time project status tracking and efficiency monitoring and improved ‘Right First Time’ metrics tracking, WebCenter has transformed the company’s packaging approval process.
“We are now able to see a real audit history of where things are at,” added Alison. “Everything was handled via Microsoft Teams or through emails before and there wasn’t a good way to track things down. Now we are able to go into a project, easily identify what needs to be done and by which member of the team, and we report on that. By tracking Right First Time metrics we can measure how long tasks take to better plan and identify where we can improve efficiencies,” she said.
The successful implementation showcases how the digital transformation capabilities of WebCenter can help life sciences companies overcome traditional barriers to efficient artwork management, while crucially maintaining strict regulatory compliance. The platform’s combination of automated workflows, digital proofing tools and comprehensive audit trails makes it particularly valuable for regulated industries looking to scale operations globally.
In September 2024, a TEI study found that using Esko WebCenter delivers a significant three-year 240% return on investment for brands according, with the research highlighting productivity gains, cost savings and revenue gains among the quantifiable benefits.