Built through strategic acquisitions, ESKO boasts a key role in the print packaging sector. It is owned by Danaher (NYSE: DHR), a $29 billion corporate giant. As a software solution provider, ESKO recently acquired Tilia Labs, an intelligent imposition technology developer. 

The ESKO software eco-system is a complete approach from design (ArtiosCAD) to palletization (Cape). So why was Tilia Labs regarded as a vital component in this extensive array of software solutions?

INKISH spoke with Jan De Roeck, Marketing Director - Industry Relations & Strategy for ESKO. Jan provided insights into the decision-making process that determined Tilia as a best of breed choice. The Buy vs. Build discussions, the customer benefits and the future think from this acquisition are discussed in this article.

From acquisition to integration to automation to artificial intelligence, the wide-ranging conversation provides a peek into the future of graphic communications and print’s role and responsibility in a global economy.

INKISH: Jan, thank you for carving out the time to spend with us today. 

 JAN: Sure, glad to be here. 

 INKISH: Let’s learn a little about your background. How did you get into graphic communications and print?

JAN: Well, I have been in the in the print industry my entire life. My parents had a small print shop in the village where I was born. As a kid I was fascinated with my dad in his shop. I went to graphic arts school and trained as a designer. Barco was my first company and had several roles as they transitioned into the graphic arts industry. Product management became my main responsibility. 

 And now with ESKO, I am teamed in the marketing department concentrating on industry relations.

“Information now will be able to ripple through all the way to the sheet layout applications.”

INKISH: From a purely business standpoint, regarding Tilia Labs, what was driving the decision to acquire imposition technology? 

 JAN: Specific to Tilia, there's a couple of things. For one, their core competency, and the technology they developed. We considered that it was a strategic bolt-on to things we're already doing. I'm talking here about their sheet layout capabilities, the smart algorithms behind optimizing the organization of products, whether it is an individual package or label on a sheet layout. There is even a bit of artificial intelligence in there. So that is technology that we want to further integrate in our entire portfolio.

Jan De Roeck

That is one thing. The second thing is their estimating and planning tools, which is for us quite important because that now enables us to move vital data further upstream towards the role of the CSR, the person that typically has the primary working relationship with the brand owner, who is the buyer of packaging. For the CSR, the move upstream with critical data helps them reply to an RFP on RFQ or to provide an estimate or quote much faster to that buyer.

INKISH: It sounds like you are gathering forecasting data from the last stages of manufacturing, in this case imposition, to inform the front-end design and engineering decisions and make the resulting cost more transparent to a buyer. And that is where you see Tilia providing that data?

JAN: That is a story that we are already playing out, so we, with the combination of ArtiosCAD (structural design) and Cape (palletizing, shipping intent module) and with, now, Tilia, we basically have the tools to enable a folding carton converter. The way you package product, the way you try to lighten packaging is heavily influenced indeed by the ArtiosCAD designer, and that information now will be able to ripple through all the way to the sheet layout applications. 

 One of the first things we will obviously do is to enable Tilia Phoenix to read the ArtiosCAD native structural format. That is for us an uncomplicated way to optimize the communication between the two so that the slightest change that happens on the structural design side, for instance, to optimize the logistics chain. 

 That will ripple immediately through Tilia Phoenix so that we can decide if that does not create more waste, in sheet layout, or perhaps less waste. I mean all these things need to be kept in balance and I believe now with Tilia Phoenix and with their technology we have all the components in place to allow and to enable our converter customer to do an excellent job in both forecasting cost and creating production efficiencies.

“The only way for label and packaging converters to thrive is to find operational efficiencies.”

INKISH: The automation ESKO offers is designed to be comprehensive. But it is the intelligent interchange, the back and forth of design and production changes in both planning and manufacturing real-time that will reduce costs regarding waste and time. These are the things, in a holistic sense, which help increase profitability, correct?

JAN: By all means! And this thinking is not new to ESKO in the sense that…with the market trends and with the given challenges that label converters are faced with now. The only way for label and packaging converters to thrive is to find operational efficiencies. And that is clearly one of the things we want to help our converter customers with; to find those efficiencies and to implement workflows. 

 Identifying areas of opportunity, areas where they can reduce waste, and whether if that is by making use of our tools directly, as in, say, have an operator working with the software; or whether if that is integrating our technology in the existing processes. For instance, I can imagine that certain converters already have quite extensive planning and shopfloor management systems in place. We will integrate with those solutions and make sure that whatever the requirement is, our technology can deliver. 

 So, the answer is yes. We are thinking in that more holistic space. The times are long gone that ESKO was only the prepress part. You know, we have extended our reach from the Prepress department, into the plate making department the acquisition of AVT (print inspection)  we are moving further upstream with the Tilia acquisition. 

 And let's not forget the that we also have a brand solutions business where we sell packaging management software to the brand. So, we really have this strategy of focusing on the entire value chain with the possibility of integrated solutions at every stage.

INKISH: Where do you see the impact on Flexo with Tilia, if any? 

 JAN: I mean, I think that all we have discussed about before this question is agnostic of the print process. Whatever print process the customer is using, they will be able to benefit from all the things you talked about the integration about the logistics optimization, about the sheet layout optimization, the return, and the ROI. A little bit different, but also in Flexography. I strongly believe that Flexo is not only for the long runs. We've seen so many innovations also in in in the world of Flexography. So those have enabled the run lengths really to go down. I'm talking about is an efficient job changeover is key here, right? 

 And there are so many other things that are happening in this process that job changeovers are becoming increasingly efficient so that even the typical ganging of multiple jobs on a single sheet can now also be done in Flexo. If you print with extended gamut, for instance, the optimization on the sheet layout is absolutely crucial, and this is where the technology of Tilia Labs will also kick in very, very nicely.

“It was yet another reason to not waste time thinking too long about this acquisition. It was a natural fit for our business.”

INKISH: ESKO has a history and a culture that that brings in expertise through acquisition. But at some point, you also have some development strengths, pretty hefty strengths. There must have been discussion at some point like, “Isn't this something that we could make and make it exactly fit into our ecosystem?” And then the other side of the table is saying, “Let's buy it from somebody who's already proven it and figured out all the things and bridged those technology challenges.” What were the buy versus build discussions?

JAN: Yes, sure. I think the price for the in-house development is time and time-to-market. The ability to offer our customers the estimating and the fast response to RFQ's. That part it was an area where we had no developments going on or limited development so far, so that will accelerate our go-to-market. In terms of sheet layout, we are at a par there. But certain technology components that Tilia has already in the portfolio, already in the product, such as a headless tool which we can easily integrate into stuff that we are doing, as well as an interactive tool, made the decision easy for us. 

INKISH: Tilia already has ESKO listed as a technology partner. Why couldn’t the relationship just continue just as is, rather than an outright acquisition? 

 JAN: Having the team on board and being able to integrate much deeper into technologies is always more beneficial than operating as two companies that at certain point may even start to compete with each other. You never know how things will evolve. 

 You referred to customers that are both customers of ESKO  and with Tilia. We have already been integrating. It was yet another reason to not waste time thinking too long about this acquisition. It was a natural fit for our business. 

INKISH: Regarding the natural fit, the digestion into the ESKO eco-system, how is that cultural fit going to take place and what is some of the fallout anticipated from that? 

JAN: Yeah, I, I think from a corporate culture perspective there could not have been a better fit. As a matter of fact, a number of the employees of Tilia have been former ESKO employees, which means that it is kind of coming home for them. 

 And for a startup and small company like Tilia Labs, at some point in time, you must make choices also to sustain your growth, and to grow the business you need to invest in certain more operational things. And what we are offering them is a home where they will be able to grow as part of a bigger organization. 

 As you know, ESKO is owned by Danaher and acquisition is a core competency. We acquire businesses and grow them into even more successful units. This is what we are going to do with Tilia. The management expertise in transitioning is excellent.

INKISH: You talk a lot about growth and the opportunities that come with that growth. Print has evolved into a mature industry, one that is stable after 20 some years of turmoil and downsizing. As a result, one of the challenges for moving forward is making young people interested in this industry. Among the benefits that that ESKO has is that it is a pureplay technology company. As we know, software is never finished. So, there should be interest in being part of evolving the technology.   

For someone who has just graduated from one of the schools that still offers graphics studies, or even from a computer science program; what does the next 7-10 years look like for ESKO?   

What would you say to somebody who is going to graduate considering their career? Is ESKO a good place with a future?

"The chances we offer youngsters is to grow in our company and to take on roles of diverse responsibility."

JAN: That is a really good question! If I go a couple of levels higher up here, it is totally crucial that we offer young people a bigger purpose when they choose which employer they want to work for. 

 First off, the ability to contribute to something big and something good for society is an extremely vital component of their choice. 

 And I think that if you really look at what we are doing, and it is in our mission statement, we want to accelerate the go-to-market process of packaged goods. And it only takes a couple of minutes of talking to young people about packaging and how they are confronted with packaging every single minute of the day, of their lives. Over lunch to dinner to snacks before a television…packaging is omnipresent in their lives. Suddenly it clicks! How exciting it can be to contribute to technology that supports the world. 

 Let’s not forget the environmental sustainability challenge, which is prominently linked to packaging. I strongly believe that this challenge provides a great purpose looking to start their careers. It becomes an exciting challenge for young people to come to work for a company that has these initiatives in place. 

 Secondly, would be the number of opportunities that, as a youngster, you have in a business to grow your career. In our own right as ESKO, we are not a small player. ESKO is 1,600 people. We are a global player, and we are part of a $29 billion public company. Danaher is a technology innovator with over 80,000 people on staff. The opportunities we offer youngsters is to grow in our company and to take on roles of diverse responsibility. There are clear career paths. And this is a unique value we can offer. 

This interview was conducted on August 19, 2022, by Robert Godwin