Industry-Wide Adoption of ISO 12647 Standards

From ESKO: The graphic industry’s body of international standardization experts, KEE consultants, has convened in Paris to explore ways of encouraging national federations and the graphic industry as a whole to adopt ISO 12647 standards. Members agreed that there is growing awareness concerning the need for standardization in the market, and that’s this belief is shared by OEMs, operators and production companies. Standardization is today considered the best way to optimize production quality and company profitability, particularly since the economic downturn hit the industry. As a result of this awareness, there has been increased demand for standardization and related products and solutions – software, measuring devices, inks, papers, lights and monitors etc – plus standards implementation consultancy.

Implementing standards
The difficulty in achieving standards implementation varies according to the activity and size of the company. It often requires technical and scientific knowledge, as well as strong project management skills. KEE Consultants’ experts have been providing companies with consultancy, training, implementation and audit services, helping them achieve PSO/ISO 12647 compliancy and certification.

Since 2008, more than 20 KEE Consultants projects in Europe and Asia were certified by Ugra or Fogra. Many other projects are currently being prepared for PSO certification. Apart from providing the above services, KEE Consultants have devoted considerable resources to collating information, and organize annual symposiums on standardization all over Europe. This not-for-profit activity is greatly appreciated by industry professionals, who use these meetings to address any issues they are facing and also to learn about the latest standardization developments.

Finally, as standardization has become increasingly popular and given rise to many vocations, KEE Consultants reaffirmed the importance of remaining an impartial organization. It will co-operate with national federations that wish to develop standards-related services or ISO 12647 certification.

Menno Mooij, KEE Consultant for Benelux was heartened by the meeting: “The discussion has given all members a lot of food for thought, and we all agreed that we can continue learning from each other and work towards a common goal. The expertise of twelve international standardization experts benefits not only the network itself but also our clients, who will enjoy the best possible consultancy and support in their standards implementation.”

Elie Khoury, founder and chair of KEE Consultants, says: “The presence in Paris of all the KEE Consultants, who travelled from across Europe and Asia, underlines their sign support for KEE Consultants’ mission. Currently our membership represents more than ten countries, and our aim is to grow the KEE Consultants network so that more territories are represented and more local markets benefit from the organization. We’re optimistic that we will expand globally and will be able to help an industry in dire need of optimized performance, quality and profitability.”

‘Yours truly’ was lucky enough to attend a similar presentation regarding the adoption of ISO 12647 by Menno Mooi at the ESKO Artwork Systems HQ in Ghent a few weeks ago. Of course I asked Menno if I could share his presentation with you guys. It will show up on this website a.s.a.p.