Installations News
Netpak adopts EFI’s Packaging Suite for folding carton production

Quebec manufacturer of printed folding cartons Netpak has advanced its integrated workflow for business and production management. Netpak says it is the first North American company to adopt the complete Packaging Suite for folding carton production by EFI.

“This comprehensive workflow solution not only supports the company’s ambitious growth plans but also underpins our culture of innovation, technology and unparalleled customer focus that has served as the foundation of our success for over 15 years,” says Carlo Cammalleri, Netpak Co-founder. With the goal of delivering “fast lead times and exceptional quality,” the Montreal-based packaging manufacturer relies on EFI’s packaging ERP software, Radius, as the cornerstone of its automated workflow.

“Using advanced traceability procedures that integrate job creation capability and automated, robotized connectivity, Netpak is able to maintain its competitive advantage in automation and plant-wide efficiencies, offering greater flexibility and allowing Netpak to align with its clients’ speed-to-market needs,” according to an EFI press release.

Over time, Netpak has enhanced its workflow with additional components from EFI’s Packaging Suite that allow for a full integration with Radius. Most notably, Netpak is said to be the first folding carton company to launch iQuote, EFI’s intelligent estimation and planning solution.

To further advance its operations, Netpak conducted a business review with EFI to identify areas where Netpak could gain greater value in its business model.

“We’ve seen great results from the first phase of updates in our software infrastructure,” said Salvatore Novello, Netpak Co-Founder. “Ultimately, we reached a point in our company’s growth where we believed we could further optimize procedures in order to support our business objectives. In partnership with EFI, we evaluated our roadmap and focused on areas where performance could be improved, such as shop floor data collection and scheduling.”

Netpak says it transitioned from Radius shop floor data collection to EFI Auto-Count 4D (AC4D), a production intelligence platform that collects live data including counts, press statuses, speeds and other information directly from production equipment, all in real time. The launch also includes scheduling engine EFI PrintFlow, which changes schedules as conditions change, thus helping to minimize operational bottlenecks. Moreover, Netpak also implemented a QMS Module with advanced requirements that is based on stop and fix procedures.

“We are linking shop floor data collection with AC4D and automated scheduling with PrintFlow to add more value and productivity gains. It allows Netpak to be more efficient and uniquely positions us against our competitors,” says Georges Berbari, Netpak Chief Operating Officer. “With these recent workflow enhancements, we expect to make massive improvements to our overall order-to-cash process and push jobs through the plant faster, which will be a big win for us and for our customers.”

Along with these updates, Netpak has invested in a Business Intelligence (BI) module to gain valuable business insights and further support the management team in making key decisions. “This innovative BI module, offering real time data and management reports, allows us to plan more effectively, measure Key Performance Indicators, and closely monitor the strategic deployment of resources,” added Berbari.