Turning pressure into progress – BOBST and Co-ëfficiënt partner to redefine process optimization

In 2025, the packaging and printing sectors are contending with sweeping structural challenges. Run lengths are shrinking as brands move toward mass personalization and localized packaging to remain agile and relevant to consumers. Sustainability expectations also continue to rise, with pressure to reduce carbon footprints, adopt circular materials, and eliminate waste at every stage.

At the same time, global labor shortages have deepened the strain on production, creating a critical need for standardization, automation, and data‑driven monitoring to offset the reliance on individual skills and experience.

Against this backdrop, printers are having to find ways to balance higher throughput, increased number of job changes and exacting color accuracy demands under increasingly tight margins. However, achieving this can be easier said than done. Modern production processes are often full of uncontrolled variables that can affect print and color consistency, and identifying and eliminating these areas represents a significant challenge.

Introducing Co‑ëfficiënt
It is precisely these pressures that Co-ëfficiënt helps to transform into long‑term performance gains. The consultancy brings more than 150 years of combined experience across packaging, printing, and lean manufacturing disciplines, offering converters and packaging printers practical expertise to streamline end‑to‑end operations. Its experts focus on singling out inefficiencies in the print production process in order to streamline the whole process from prepress to print. They help in stabilizing their processes, reducing setup times and increasing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), while at the same time providing business with data analytics and insights they need in their day-to-day operations and early problem detection.

Crucially, this is accomplished with all BOBST printing technologies, including in line flexo, CI flexo, and rotogravure, meaning printers and converters can benefit from Co‑ëfficiënt’s services regardless of application.

Structured optimization
At the core of the company’s approach is a structured five‑step methodology: assessment, data collection, analysis, hands‑on optimization, and validation of results. The process typically begins with a rigorous on‑site audit, mapping the entire production chain to establish objective performance baselines. Next, Co‑ëfficiënt conducts an in‑depth evaluation of process variability, focusing on color control, job setup, prepress integration, and other areas where inconsistency can often lead to waste. The subsequent onsite optimization phase sees consultants work directly alongside operators to embed best practices, train teams, and integrate process‑control tools that work in perfect harmony with BOBST’s high‑end converting and printing technologies.

Example of color quality deviations during a typical production week, each dot represents a print job

Tools for transformation
Digitalization is a vital part of this transformation. By leveraging advanced performance dashboards and BOBST’s connected solutions, customers gain real‑time visibility into performance data, enabling them to monitor stability, manage deviations, and track progress. This data‑centric culture encourages continuous improvement rather than isolated interventions. For example, with sustained visibility over their processes, clients such as Korozo Group and Vitrapack have achieved lasting efficiency gains with faster setup times, enhanced color consistency, and significant increases to OEE – all while cutting waste, costs, and CO2 emissions.

Built for change that lasts
However, the true strength of this partnership lies in its focus on people and capability building. Beyond identifying technical levers for improvement, Co‑ëfficiënt enables internal teams to drive and sustain them independently. Transparent metrics and clear visual reporting make progress tangible, transforming continuous improvement into a quantifiable, self‑reinforcing discipline. Over time, these insights empower managers to reinvest savings strategically, enhancing profitability while advancing sustainability goals.

The partnership between BOBST and Co‑ëfficiënt represents the perfect equation for progress. By combining BOBST’s advanced technologies with Co‑ëfficiënt’s proven approach to process optimisation, printers can remove uncertainty, unlock measurable improvements, and achieve consistency with confidence. Together, they are proving that even amid industry-wide disruption, the right guidance can help turn pressure into real, lasting progress.

For more information about Co‑ëfficiënt’s consultancy work, go to www.co-efficient.eu

 

BOBST