Arden Software Provides Impact to Mondi’s Design and Workflow.

Arden Software has rolled out its Impact 2010 CAD solution across twelve Mondi Corrugated Packaging plants as part of a project to integrate CAD and design workflow management throughout four countries.

“At Mondi we are strongly committed to innovation that benefits our customers,” says Pierrick Vincelot, Mondi’s Product Innovation Manager for Europe. “The design of the packaging we make for them is a critical part of this and last year we decided that we needed a new solution that would combine Computer Aided Design (CAD) with enterprise-wide design workflow management across our twelve plants in Germany, Austria, Poland, and Turkey. The objectives behind this decision were to improve efficiency, increase productivity, offer our customers more product possibilities, and to retain our competitive edge.”

For its solution, Mondi turned to Arden Software. “There is no better CAD system for packaging than Impact 2010 from Arden Software,” says Pierrick Vincelot.  “On top of this, Arden could offer fast, enterprise-wide CAD, a complete design workflow system with their WEBcnx system, and excellent support.”

Ambitious schedule

The initial challenge was to replace the variety of CAD systems used at the Mondi plants with Impact 2010 and to train the staff involved in its use. To minimize disruption, and to start gaining the benefits of Impact 2010 as quickly as possible, Mondi specified an ambitious roll out programme, one which challenged the supplier. “Over the final quarter of last year we installed Impact 2010 throughout the twelve plants, linked them together,  and trained forty people to use the system,” explains Chris Rogers, General Manager of Arden Software. “Given that the installation and training had to be spread across four different countries, and that production still had to continue in each plant, it needed quite an effort on our behalf to deliver this. But once we commit to a roll out schedule then we will move heaven and earth to make it happen, and this project was no exception.”

Impact 2010 includes highly automated and very powerful features for structural design, product development, and 3D virtual prototyping. The system utilises a highly integrated database design that allows users to store projects and manage associated documents (such as customer specifications and artwork), control access, search and locate legacy designs, and track revisions. Impact performs strongly in all the commonly used network environments and supports SQL Server, MySQL, SQL Express, and Oracle databases.

Recognising that designers work in different ways, Chris Rogers says that Arden Software designed Impact 2010 so that it can be tailored to suit users’ ability level s and personal preferences. “We realise that any installation will have novice users as well as very experienced ones, and that every designer works in a slightly different way. That’s why the environment can be tailored to suit each designer’s preferences. Some of the other great strengths of Impact are its massive, and customisable, template library, its intelligent Layout Creator which minimises waste in the layout, its integrated graphics feature which marries structural and graphic elements perfectly, and its 3D Truview virtual proofer.”  This latter element enables users to produce virtual packaging prototypes that are highly realistic, using virtual finishes such as foiling, embossing and de-bossing, Braille, varnish, and true board textures.

As a suite, the functions that Impact 2010 provides were key to Mondi’s decision. “The much more efficient tools that Impact offers completely superseded those of the various CAD systems that were used previously at Mondi Corrugated Packaging plants,” says Pierrick Vincelot.

Enterprise wide

The value of the data generated by Impact is greatly enhanced if it can be readily accessed by business management and ERP systems across an organisation or enterprise, and it is this that Arden Software are currently implementing as phase two of the project for Mondi.  “Harnessing the full power of the Impact database means users can maximise their investment and this allows them to make vital information accessible to anyone who needs it, whenever and wherever they need it,” explains Chris Rogers. “Put simply, our Impact Enterprise Services product means that a single, centralised Impact database can be accessed from multiple remote locations without the network performance issues that often make such a configuration impractical.” Chris Rogers says that if network connectivity is lost for some reason (which does happen, even in Europe), the service is designed to automatically resume communication once the network is available again. “This means that Impact Enterprise Services delivers the flexibility, performance, and availability of site or hub databases, together with the centralised management of a single, enterprise database. It’s something that no other system on the market can offer.”

Total workflow management

The third phase of the project, due to start in the autumn, is to implement Arden Software’s WEBcnx design workflow management system at the twelve Mondi plants. WEBcnx is a system built to integrate all of the packaging design and pre‐production processes in a business, allowing users to run at peak efficiency. “We understand that, for maximum production efficiency, design information needs to be available in real time to the many people involved in the manufacturing process,” explains Chris Rogers. “They might be on the same site, across town, or thousands of miles away. By making real time access central to its operation, WEBcnx frees businesses from the slow, unreliable, and error prone serial processing of orders, allowing estimators, designers, sample makers, tool suppliers, artwork originators, plate makers, ink mixers, and anyone else involved in the production process, to get on with their part of the job at the earliest possible moment in the order life cycle.”

WEBcnx integrates totally with Impact 2010, and allows packaging manufacturers to automate a variety of design and administrative tasks from quotation requests to client approvals. “WEBcnx is highly customisable and task-driven,” says Chris Rogers. “It not only bridges the gap between sales and design, but goes on to all the people involved in the production process, giving designers more time to design and reducing the order processing errors that can creep in if you use separate systems for  sales, design, and production.” As an example he cites a manufacturer who delivered an order for 700,000 sheets to a customer, only to discover it should have been 70,000. “A transcription error crept in between sales and design. That sort of thing would not have happened if they were using WEBcnx.”

The WEBcnx system is independent of both browser and operating systems, and its intuitive dashboard can also be run on devices such as BlackBerry’s, iPhones, iPads, and other hand held devices. “Users can also give their customers access to the system for file uploads, comparison quotes, and approvals,” explains Chris Rogers. “Because it is so customisable, you can almost do what you want with it. Mondi plan to use the powerful plug-in architecture of WEBcnx to interface it with their own custom in-house systems.”

A partner to rely on

Chris Rogers says that Mondi Corrugated Packaging sees Arden Software as a highly reliable business partner, at a time when continuity of supply is a key issue for packaging manufacturers and their customers. “We are a good fit for Mondi.  We’re a stable supplier, having been under the same ownership since we were established nearly 25 years ago. Add to this our philosophy of working with and constantly talking to our customers, our excellent support, our local offices and our commitment to innovation, and you can see that we work very much like Mondi.  It makes us unique in the marketplace as a software systems supplier.”

The support that Arden Software will give Mondi Corrugated Packaging has been further strengthened by the establishment late last year of subsidiaries in Germany and Austria. This initiative followed on from the success of Arden Software North America which had been established in 2009(??). Operating from offices in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany and Fredericia, Denmark respectively, Arden Software Germany and Arden Software Scandinavia offer a full and comprehensive range of sales and services for Impact and the other products in Arden Software’s rapidly expanding portfolio, including WEBcnx and Enterprise.

“The key thing for us,” says Pierrick Vincelot, “is that we can rely on Arden. We know that Impact 2010, Impact Enterprise Services and WEBcnx will streamline our processes, cut lead times, and make a larger range of products available to our customers. It will be good for us and good for our customers.”

 March 2011

The workflow experts.

“When it comes to designing for packaging manufacture, these days it’s less about CAD and more about how your CAD is able to integrate design with all the other workflows in your business,” says Jim Silianoff, a veteran of the US packaging industry, and President of Arden Software North America. “Companies often have people spread out over many sites who need to collaborate on projects. With lead times being so short these days, it is essential that information is available to everyone who needs it, anywhere it’s needed. You have to be able to work projects in parallel, and in real time. The challenge for us was to develop a robust and flexible system that could do just that and would be able to pump the data created by the design process into systems like Kiwiplan, SAP, or any system, allowing the customer to take advantage of it across their entire enterprise.”

Jim says that organisations want to retain the ability to differentiate their businesses from their competition and Arden Software’s response, WEBcnx, allows them to do just that. The versatility of the product means that no two installations are ever the same. When coupled with the Impact Enterprise Database, WEBcnx is the only system on the market that allows users to spread their design processes across an entire company in real time, and which can be easily integrated with virtually any company ERP or scheduling system. “With WEBcnx and Impact, people throughout the business, and across multiple locations, can access the information they need to do their part of the project, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, wherever they are located.”

As well as completely integrating with Impact, Arden Software’s powerful, market leading CAD suite, WEBcnx is also a hugely powerful project management tool, handling projects from the first point of customer contact, through design, virtual 3-D proofing, design approval and graphic design, to tooling manufacture. ”Just as an example of how it can improve workflow, triggers can be set so that email notifications go to particular individuals or groups, reminding them of the tasks they have due,” explains Jim. “Something like that means that projects never get stuck with any one person for longer than is absolutely necessary.”

By managing every element of every project, WEBcnx significantly reduces the amount of repeated procedures packaging producers have to go through, while also eliminating errors, and maintaining a secure, auditable record of every request, amendment and document. With a dashboard style interface the system includes advanced, customisable reporting and analysis tools that allow managers to track performance, identify the most profitable accounts or market sector, and assess the performance of suppliers.

American success story

The advantages of WEBcnx have not been lost on the North American market, where the company has met with considerable success since opening its subsidiary a year ago. The North American division has already signed up several large corporations and independents, all of whom cite the benefits that WEBcnx, Impact, Arden Software, and its partners, bring to the table. “For example, our strategic alliance with Kodak means that brand owners and packaging manufacturers can bring new or redesigned products to market more quickly,” explains Chris Rogers, General Manager of Arden Software. “Kodak was excited to tie Arden’s Impact structural design applications in with their CTP, proofing products, and consumables, so that together we can offer customers a complete, seamless workflow from product design through to print production. The two ranges of products complement each other perfectly.”

The alliance between Arden Software and Kodak involves the use of special implementation teams, pulled from both companies, who deliver the specific requirements of each customer.

As well as partnering Kodak, Arden Software is also part of Oracle’s Partner Network, membership of which ensures that integrations between Oracle Applications and applications written by Arden Software have been tested and work together as designed. This reduces risk, improves system implementation cycles, and provides for smoother upgrades and simpler maintenance. “It’s gratifying that big brands like Kodak and Oracle have identified Arden Software as a company they want to have as a long term partner,” says Chris. “They’re working strategically with us because they see the value in our products and services, and they know that we will still be growing and developing tomorrow.”

The opening of Arden Software North America heralded a shift in the company’s distribution model, one which clearly has paid dividends. “Traditionally we have worked through a network of distributors around the world,” explains Chris. “This is the first direct subsidiary we have established, and its success is largely down to potential customers liking the strengthened support available in their home country.”

Arden Software was established in England twenty one years ago, and now employs twenty two staff at its head office in Marple, on the outskirts of Greater Manchester. Another six staff are to be found at the new North America office in Park City, Utah.

“We’re first and foremost a software house,” says Chris. “But alongside this we have specialist teams of software engineers, support engineers, training personnel, and technical consultants who combine their talents to create and implement workable solutions for every sector of the packaging industry. Over the lifetime of the company we have developed a strong ethos of producing best in class products and achieving high levels of customer satisfaction, whether those customers are small sheet plants or large corporate carton makers.”

Impact in 3-D

Until the development of WEBcnx, the company had concentrated solely on its Impact CAD product, which has become the market leading solution for structural design and die manufacture. Using Impact’s design components, users can quickly and easily create drawings from scratch, while libraries of standard designs maximise productivity without compromising customisation. These standard designs include literally thousands of design styles for corrugated, folding carton, point of purchase and plastic packaging.

A key feature of Impact is its range of design and manufacture tools for die-cutting. These extend from tools for designing cutting layouts, rubber laydowns, matrix, strippers and blankers, to drivers for a host of manufacturing machines such as plotters, lasers and water jet cutters.

With a worldwide install base of over 7500 users for Impact, the importance of a web-based support system has become clear, which has led to Arden Software establishing the Impactcad.net support and download web site. Here Impact users can ask questions, make suggestions and get access to troubleshooting articles, frequently asked questions, product tutorials and downloads. The site also supports RSS feeds, which allow users to be automatically notified about new content via an RSS newsfeed reader on their office or home computer, PDA, or even on their cell phone.

With Impact currently on version 5, September’s Print 09 exhibition in Chicago will see the launch of Impact 2010, which will offer a significant upgrade for existing users and will include a key new feature, 3-D TruView. “There’s a move in the industry towards ultra realistic 3-D virtual models,” says Chris. “We’ve been modelling packages with graphics on them for many years, but now the move is to make these models much more realistic in the way they display characteristics such as board textures, embossing & debossing, foils, varnish areas, rule types, and even Braille. It’s as close to a perfect representation of the finished product as possible with today’s technologies.”

With the move towards collaborative web-based solutions such as WEBcnx, brand owners and designers also want to see their products at much earlier stages in the approval process. Chris says that top flight 3-D images produced by Impact’s 3-D TruView technology meet this need and can allow users to proof, mark up, and approve designs virtually. “I think we have got the jump on others in the field by integrating 3-D TruView in the standard version of Impact 2010.

Impact and WEBcnx are products built from the ground up, and with powerful databases at their core and a comprehensive set of programming interfaces, both are highly scalable and highly customisable.

“It means we can mould both products to whatever the customer requires,” says Jim. “Whether they are a large corporate or a small independent, whatever ERP or scheduling systems they have, and whatever hardware they are using in design and pre-press, we can pull it all together for them. It’s not just about design anymore; it’s about the enterprise.”