Smurfit Westrock Ensures Accuracy With EyeC
A Smurfit Westrock employee stands on the shop floor. | Credit: EyeC
Smurfit Westrock’s Raleigh, NC facility is a full‑service packaging facility recognized for producing high‑quality inserts and packaging solutions for pharmaceutical brands. Their team brings together materials scientists, packaging designers, mechanical engineers, and manufacturing specialists who apply advanced science and technology to create innovative packaging. As a trusted global partner, Smurfit Westrock focuses on delivering efficient, scalable paper and packaging solutions that help customers solve complex packaging challenges.
Initial Challenge
With the demands for printing perfection and regulatory compliance, Smurfit Westrock faced growing complications in producing multilingual pharmaceutical inserts. Complications that included challenges with version control, frequent regulatory changes, and managing accurate large-scale translations. These issues caused delays, rework, and potential compliance risks, driving them to seek a more efficient and reliable solution.
They knew they needed a partner who could help them simplify this complexity. The right solution had to support multilingual workflows, maintain strict version control, and keep regulatory updates consistent across every market. Just as importantly, whatever they chose had to integrate into their existing QMS, support ISO 9001 requirements, and make their overall process more efficient, consistent, and compliant.
Why EyeC?
“We were most convinced by EyeC’s ability to deliver highly reliable, automated inspection with exceptional accuracy,” says Senior Quality Technician Stephanie Gilmore. The software is built to integrate smoothly into existing quality workflows, and Smurfit Westrock was no different. Installation and system configuration are designed to be comprehensive and quick, to limit disruptions during that process, and allow customers to be up and running in no time.
The Solution: 2 Systems for unbeatable detection
“The EyeC Proofiler 1050 RS provided strong quality control in our Press QA office, while the EyeC ProofRunner Web 760 offers real-time, inline inspection on our Mueller Martini press. Together, they gave us consistent defect detection and stronger confidence in meeting stringent pharmaceutical and multilingual quality requirements,” says Stephanie.
The press QA team uses the offline Proofiler 1050RS to verify new jobs, manage changeovers, and perform routine quality checks defined in their QMS. During production, press operators rely on the ProofRunner Web 760s to continuously monitor output and catch any issues such as print defects, color variation, registration shifts, or missing elements. The EyeC systems are incorporated directly into the workflows, and after some updated SOPs to reflect EyeC verification points, communication is streamlined between QA and press operators.
Measurable Benefits
Internally, Smurfit Westrock has noticed a 41% decrease in waste reduction with the ProofRunner’s active monitoring, as well as a significant reduction in print deviations, thanks to the Proofiler 1050RS. That strengthens their reputation with their customers and wins new business. Their customers see fewer issues, faster turnaround times, and more consistent results – adding to long-term customer relationships.
“We’ve seen clear benefits from using the EyeC systems,” Stephanie adds. “They’ve improved our quality by catching defects earlier, increased efficiency, and helped minimize rework and waste, resulting in cost savings.” Smurfit Westrock verified their investment by tracking quality and production metrics before and after the EyeC implementation. “These measurable improvements demonstrated that the EyeC systems were performing as intended and supporting our quality and efficiency goals,” Stephanie says.
Would you recommend EyeC? “Absolutely! Our experience has been consistently positive - the systems have delivered measurable improvements at our facility, and the EyeC team has been responsive and supportive throughout, making the overall experience smooth for both our QA team and press operators. Based on performance, ease of use, and overall impact on our operations, we would confidently recommend EyeC to other manufacturers,” Stephanie says.
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Packaging Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Packaging Impressions.
