______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ESKA
“ Recently we have also opened a new cutting facility in Suffolk , Virginia ,” Brian continues . “ We moved out of a rather aged building in Chesapeake where we have been for at least 40 years and into a state-of-theart facility in which our order flow is fully optimized . As with the European plants , this will increase our efficiency , but it ’ s also about the people and creating a light and spacious environment to work in .” For Eska , this is not only a move but also a commitment to longterm strategic growth in the United States
and Western Hemisphere .
The business has also been investing in smart factory technologies for some time , and Robert highlights some key uses : “ We have a lot of data at our disposal already . We have been using this for some time to help optimize efficiency and quality control . We are also automating any areas that we can . The next major development will be in
Proud to supply recovered paper to the leaders of our industry
www . wpt-nl . com implementing artificial intelligence ( AI ) which we are currently exploring . I think we are just at the beginning of what will be possible , so we are researching all these avenues .”
“ We are in a great position to capitalize on this ,” Bert adds . “ Because we invested in a digital processing platform 25 years ago , we have enormous databases with our historical data which AI will use to inform its decisionmaking processes . A lot of our competitors are only just beginning to think about working with AI and don ’ t have this reserve of data that you need .”
Robert responds , highlighting a further interesting use case for smart technology : “ We are also looking at implementing some of this technology into the product itself . It can be used in a multitude of ways ; an obvious example is in the packaging of high-end luxury goods . We could integrate a sensor that will tell you if a package has been opened or if its weight has changed . It could also be used to help discern genuine products from counterfeit . Also , in puzzle games which is one of our biggest markets , you could have a device that would connect people that aren ’ t in the same physical space to play together . There are many directions this could go in and we are exploring some very innovative solutions .” ■
eska . com manufacturing-today . com 107