Fortis Streamlines Prepress Quality Control by Embedding Verify Checks in Automation Engine
How Fortis eliminated workflow bottlenecks and accelerated barcode verification and proofing processes across high-volume label production.
About Fortis
Fortis Solutions Group specializes in commercial printing for labels and packaging, helping brands bring products to market with high-quality printed materials. With hundreds of prepress files moving through their workflows daily, Fortis relies on automated quality checks to ensure accuracy, reduce errors, and keep production moving efficiently.
As part of their prepress operations, Fortis uses GlobalVision’s Verify for barcode verification and automated quality control capabilities. This helps them validate customer files, review proofs, and ensure jobs are production-ready before reaching the press.
The Challenge: Manual Processes Created Bottlenecks in a High-Volume Workflow
Before implementing Verify, Fortis relied on manual processes and server-based workflows to generate barcode reports and complete inspections.
As file volumes increased, the existing workflow created significant bottlenecks:
- Barcode report requests would queue behind other users, sometimes leaving up to 50 people waiting for their turn
- Inspections could take an hour or more during peak periods
- Workflows could become unstable or crash when demand exceeded capacity
- Teams relied on manual intervention and annotations, creating additional communication steps between prepress, customer service, and production
For Charlene Mundel, Prepress Technician Specialist at Fortis, the goal was clear: create a faster, more seamless workflow that removed unnecessary manual steps.
The Solution: Automated Quality Checks Built Directly into Prepress Workflows
Fortis implemented Verify checks directly into Esko’s Automation Engine, creating a seamless automated inspection process.
Instead of manually generating reports, prepress operators can submit files and receive inspection results automatically as part of their existing workflow.
Fortis selected GlobalVision’s Verify because it was already a trusted standard across their organization and industry.
“A lot of plants are using GlobalVision, we’ve been seeing a lot of good results with it.”
The team now uses Verify checks at two critical stages:
- Automated Barcode Verification During Preflight: During the preflight stage, Fortis automatically checks customer files for barcode readability and potential issues before production begins. This allows teams to identify problems earlier and prevent production delays.
- Compare Checks During Proofing: Before files move into step-and-repeat and production, Fortis uses Verify's automated comparison capabilities to verify that proofs match the original one-up files.
The team checks:
- Barcode accuracy
- Text differences
- File alignment
- Layers and separations, including white and varnish layers
This provides a final quality checkpoint before files reach the press.
The New Reality: Faster Inspections, Fewer Manual Steps, and More Reliable Production
With automated Verify checks embedded into their workflow, Fortis transformed prepress quality control from a manual process into a streamlined, automated operation. They have achieved:
- Faster turnaround: Compare inspections typically complete within 1–3 minutes depending on file complexity - 83% faster than before.
- Reduced manual intervention: Operators no longer need to manually generate barcode reports or rely on others to complete inspection steps.
“They don’t have to do anything. [The results] just show up… this process is really seamless.”
- Improved scalability during peak production periods: Fortis experiences seasonal increases where inspection volumes can reach hundreds of files simultaneously. Automated checks allow the team to handle these peaks without creating workflow bottlenecks.
- Greater confidence before production: Automated verification helps ensure that files are accurate before reaching customers and the press, reducing the risk of errors moving further downstream.
The Impact on Quality Control Review
Integrating Verify transformed quality control from a separate, manual step into a faster, more automated part of the artwork workflow.
Looking Ahead
For Fortis, automation is an ongoing journey. As production requirements continue to evolve, the team is exploring additional ways to expand their use of Verify capabilities and further optimize their workflows.
The biggest difference has been the ability to move faster without adding complexity.
“It saves a lot of time and a lot of headaches too.”
