EFI and Konica Minolta Extend Partnership to Include Cloud-Based MIS Solutions

FREMONT, Calif. — October 26, 2016 — Electronics For Imaging (Nasdaq:EFII) has entered into an extended partnership arrangement with Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. for Konica Minolta to re-sell cloud-based EFI workflow packages to its broad base of customers. Konica Minolta currently re-sells EFI Fiery digital front ends for Konica Minolta bizhub digital printers and presses, along with EFI Digital StoreFront Web-to-print software and EFI Wide-Format printers. With the new arrangement, Konica Minolta will help customers automate their business operations using one of three print workflow offerings featuring either EFI PrintSmith Vision MIS and Digital StoreFront software or EFI Pace MIS/ERP software.

PrintSmith Vision (click to enlarge)

The offerings — sold as the PrintSmith Bundle, Premium Pace Bundle and Enterprise Pace Bundle for Konica Minolta — give customers significant benefits with streamlined, integrated job submission, estimating, accounting, scheduling and more, including integration with EFI Fiery color management capabilities for digital printing. The bundles are delivered as an out-of-the-box solution that can be up and running quickly. In addition to these new MIS offerings, Konica Minolta will resell Digital StoreFront in new Digital StoreFront Entry Level, Core and Digital Marketing Bundles.

“Our commitment to our customers goes beyond providing print engines. They stand to gain important benefits by improving their business processes with seamless, integrated business management tools,” shares Kevin Kern, senior VP, Business Intelligence Services and Product Development, Konica Minolta. “Using proven EFI Fiery digital production technology to connect a Konica Minolta bizhub press or an EFI Wide-Format printer to a plant-wide business production workflow will reduce errors and drive automation, which ultimately helps our customers achieve greater productivity and profitability.”

Notes Frank Mallozzi, senior VP, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, EFI, “Using a cloud-based MIS solution has many benefits, especially for companies that do not have a strong IT staff or those that are looking to minimize IT hassles. Konica Minolta customers stand to benefit from the opportunity to connect their Fiery Driven printing engines with an EFI MIS technology to establish worry-free, certified end-to-end production workflows. We’re pleased to be able to extend these additional solutions to Konica Minolta customers as an integrated offering.”

Printing, packaging and display graphics professionals around the globe rely on EFI’s portfolio of workflow products to manage their businesses and become more streamlined, efficient, informed and profitable. The new EFI MIS workflow bundles are available now from Konica Minolta and authorized Konica Minolta resellers.

About EFI
EFI is a global technology company, based in Silicon Valley, and is leading the worldwide transformation from analog to digital imaging. EFI is passionate about fueling customer success with products that increase competitiveness and boost productivity. To do that, EFI develops breakthrough technologies for the manufacturing of signage, packaging, textiles, ceramic tiles, and personalized documents, with a wide range of printers, inks and digital front ends, and a comprehensive business and production workflow suite that transforms and streamlines the entire production process.

About Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. is a leader in information management focused on enterprise content, technology optimization and cloud services. Konica Minolta is reshaping the Workplace of the Future. its portfolio of offerings deliver solutions to improve our customers’ speed to market, manage technology costs, and facilitate the sharing of information to increase productivity. The All Covered IT Services division offers a range of IT strategy, support, project and cloud computing solutions across all verticals. Konica Minolta has won numerous awards, including placement in the Leaders Quadrant on the Gartner 2014 Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services (MPS) and Managed Content Services (MCS). Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for nine consecutive years. Konica Minolta has also been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for five years in a row.

Source: EFI.