DES PLAINES, IL--(Marketwire - February 16, 2010) - Schawk, Inc. (
NYSE:
SGK), a leading
provider of brand point management services enabling companies of all sizes
to connect their brands with consumers to create deeper brand affinity,
announced today that it has introduced the next generation of global
workflow and collaboration technology with the launch of version 3.0 of
BLUE, its brand management technology software. The newest version of BLUE
includes numerous enhancements that help brand owners compete more
effectively in fast moving and highly regulated industries.
BLUE, Schawk's marketing-friendly, proprietary, enterprise brand management
technology software, is the only graphics lifecycle management technology
to be developed and implemented by a company that is fully immersed as an
active participant in the global processes required by brand owners to
bring new products to market. This powerfully differentiates BLUE from
other Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems that seek to manage what
they may not fully understand.
Scott Strong, senior vice president and managing director of Schawk Digital
Solutions, said, "This release of BLUE highlights how Schawk is uniquely
able to respond to the technology needs of brand owners. Our role in
helping companies create compelling and consistent brand experiences for
consumers gives us a depth of insight into their business requirements
which other technology providers simply don't have. Schawk's intimate
knowledge of these requirements, honed over the last 50 years, informs the
development of our software solutions."
Added Strong, "Not only do we know where process bottlenecks and breakdowns
occur, but Schawk understands the complexities behind the 'whys' and all
the opportunities and consequences associated with the 'what ifs'? This is
key to creating technology solutions that enable brand owners to be more
agile in a fast-changing world while ensuring compliance is achieved in an
increasingly hyper-vigilant world."
Mark Bradford, senior director, global product strategy and development for
Schawk Digital Solutions, stated, "Schawk's BLUE 3.0 offers brand owners a
workflow engine that is as flexible as it is robust. It sets a new standard
in the ability to meet the stringent requirements of the most complex
global brand workflows, while offering the same level of flexibility for
smaller, regional workflows. The new on-the-fly 'what if' reforecasting of
schedules functionality is an example of this."
Added Bradford, "All of the new features present in this release of BLUE
are designed to help companies make more informed decisions related to
bringing new products to market more quickly, efficiently, consistently and
sustainably while complying with regulations. Additionally, we've enriched
the user experience by adding features that display and interpret
information visually, allowing users to analyze results and impact more
rapidly and easily."
New features present in BLUE 3.0 include:
-- Open standards to simplify integration with complementary enterprise
applications such as SAP
-- Richer, more flexible visual process modeling that simplifies the
ability to reforecast schedules when key dates shift and to create
alternate 'What if?' scenarios
-- Data warehousing that allows access to customized Key Performance
Indicator (KPI) reports
-- A project dashboard that provides an at-a-glance visual snapshot of
project performance and a richer Gantt Chart view
-- Custom, configurable user views for quicker access to items of greatest
interest
Concluded Strong, "Marketers also appreciate BLUE's simple, 'Google-clean'
interface. It was designed to present robust technology in a manner that
would visually appeal to its key users, marketing, branding and creative
professionals who are typically more visual than technical by nature. The
visual simplicity of BLUE's graphical interface creates an environment that
invites users in instead of intimidating them. This also helps an
organization achieve a successful implementation."
Schawk supplements its brand management technology with consulting,
installation, training and maintenance, and can provide on-site manpower
when required. BLUE is comprised of five web-accessible modules that
include digital asset management, copy management, workflow management,
online proofing (which includes annotation and comparison tools) and key
performance indicator reporting. These modules integrate seamlessly with
each other and with company-wide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or PLM
systems such as SAP. They are also capable of responding to the
complexities and unique requirements that regulate packaging in ways that
broad-based ERP/PLM systems do not.
For more detailed information on Schawk's brand management technology, read
our white paper at
http://www.schawk.com/insights-and-work/insights/whitepapers/brand-management-technology and view our flash
presentation online at
http://www.schawk.com/technology
Schawk, Inc. is the leading provider of brand management services, enabling
companies of all sizes to connect their brands with consumers to create
deeper brand affinity. With a global footprint of 48 offices, Schawk helps
companies create compelling and consistent brand experiences by providing
integrated strategic, creative and executional services across brand touch
points. Founded in 1953, Schawk is trusted by many of the world's leading
organizations to help them achieve global brand consistency. For more
information about Schawk, visit
http://www.schawk.com. Follow Schawk on
http://www.brandsquare.com and
http://twitter.com/BrandSquare.
Contact Information: AT SCHAWK, INC.
Alex Sarkisian
(847) 827-9494
alex.sarkisian@schawk.com
AT SCHAWK DIGITAL SOLUTIONS
Scott Strong
(847) 296-5901
scott.strong@schawk.com