Once again, EFI (Electronics for Imaging, Inc.) hosted a successful Connect users conference at the Wynn Hotel and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The event, which took place Jan. 23-28, provided EFI technology users with the latest training on the company’s digital inkjet and software technologies. More than 150 members of the international trade media were also present, with fellow Rodman Media Corp. publication Label & Narrow Web represented among them. 

In addition to more than 200 sessions covering technical, business management, marketing for the commercial print, signage and graphics and packaging segments of the print industry, keynote speaker presentations took place as well as the “fireside chat” conversations – now a staple at EFI connect – where EFI CEO Guy Gecht sits down with printing company leaders. And the chats this year were with the first two users of EFI’s Nozomi press for corrugated applications: Eric Bacourt, CEO of Hinojosa Packaging Solutions and Mal McGowan, CEO of McGowans Print. The selections served as an indicator of where EFI’s sees the most growth potential for its technology.

EFI Connect 2018 marked the unveiling of several new EFI products for use in the packaging and corrugated industries, including version 6 of EFI’s Enterprise Commercial, Midmarket Print, Publication, Quick Print, Packaging and Corrugated Packaging Productivity Suites for advanced, end-to-end business and production MIS/ERP workflows, EFI MarketDirect, a next-generation cross media customer engagement platform, Escada software, EFI’s recently acquired, robust corrugated process control product as well as EFI iQuote technology for enhanced estimating of versioned and variable-data digital print work.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution
Gecht, during his keynote speech, emphasized that the “fourth industrial revolution is now upon us.” Aspects of this new era, he said, include a demand for personalization and frequent changes in design. He noted that in order to transform the end user and consumer experience, customers must be thought as individuals and be connected with on a personal level. With regard to inkjet, Gecht added, “Print today is all about putting spectacular images on essentially any material. With digital inkjet technology and automation, the new print brings immense opportunity in the era of the fourth industrial revolution.”

He also stressed that companies that have been around for decades have a few things in common: “They embrace digital print and print beyond paper, they define markets and excel at them, and they cut costs without cutting quality,” Gecht said.

Jetrion: In the hands of Xeikon
EFI has made a change in strategic direction, and it affects its role in the label market. Late last year, and echoed by Gecht during Connect 2018, the company indicated it will not be looking to major acquisitions to get into new markets, but will be focusing on developing its existing markets. However, the industrial label press market is one that it is not-so-much leaving behind, but is shifting is sales and service to Flint Group-owned digital press manufacturer Xeikon, who had representatives on hand at the event’s Solutions Showcase. Interestingly, Xeikon has recently launched its own Panther inkjet label printing technology.

At the time of the announcement, Gecht said, “EFI Jetrion printing systems have helped to establish the market for industrial digital inkjet label production, and the numerous innovations developed for high-resolution Jetrion technology – including high-end, production-class LED imaging, superior opaque white ink and true all-in-one integrated print, varnish, cut and slit systems – have given EFI Jetrion the largest installed base of UV inkjet label presses in the world. As we expand our portfolio of industrial inkjet products, we prioritized our go to market investment and resources. It was a clear choice for us to pick Xeikon, one of the undisputed leaders in digital label printing, as the ideal partner to continue a trustworthy sales and service operation for the Jetrion product line.

“Knowing that our label customers will be in excellent hands in this partnership, we are looking forward to working closely with Xeikon to continue to provide ink for our current and future customers,” Gecht continued, “as we look for opportunities to expand this partnership to Productivity Software and future innovation.”

During Connect 2018, Gecht concluded: “In the past we made big acquisitions to get into an area. We are not planning to do that now. What we want to do is get deeper in the areas we are currently in.”

And it’s clear that these areas include wide format commercial, textile and corrugated printing.

Clickable Paper, PrintReleaf
Several of EFI’s technology partners exhibited at EFI Connect 2018’s Solutions Center, and some – such as Ricoh – utilized the venue to unveil new products.