EFI Launches Fiery Digital Front Ends for New Konica bizhub Presses
FREMONT, CA—February 4, 2014—EFI, a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, and Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., announced the availability of two new digital front ends (DFEs)—the EFI Fiery IC-308 and IC-415—designed to drive the Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS C1060, C1070 and C1070P family of digital presses. Running on the latest, award-winning Fiery FS100 Pro platform, the EFI Fiery DFEs provide sharp performance, color management and workflow automation tools.
"The new additions to the Fiery line-up for the Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS family deliver almost 2.5 times performance improvement over their predecessors," said John Henze, vice president, Fiery marketing, EFI. "This means that print service providers can increase their capacity by shortening turnaround times for even the most challenging and complex files, including increasingly popular variable data jobs."
Kevin Kern, senior vice president, marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., also added "the ongoing relationship between EFI and Konica Minolta is represented in these market-leading solutions. We are truly excited about delivering new and continued value to our customers with the right solutions to ensure a seamless, integrated experience."
Reliable processing at blazing speeds
The two Fiery DFE models are targeted at production print operations, ranging from CRDs to commercial printing firms, and bring powerful functionality for high-margin print jobs such as photobooks or personalized communications. Users can also couple the Fiery IC-308 with Fiery Central, EFI's centralized job production solution, to drive both the new color Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS models and black-and-white bizhub PRESS 1052/1250/1250P digital printers. This unique configuration provides a centralized workflow with the common Fiery Command WorkStation job management interface to automatically balance printer fleet workloads for more efficient and lower cost production.
The Fiery FS100 Pro platform used for the new DFEs is the only production platform to achieve a 100 percent perfect pass rating from industry organization VIGC's PDF RIP Audit. This means that users can accurately and consistently reproduce even intricately designed files developed with tools like Adobe Creative Suite, avoiding costly reprints, delivery delays and dissatisfied print buyers.
Better business management with EFI MIS integration
Establishing an integrated workflow that saves time and minimizes touch points in business and production processes is critical to success in today's print market. Print organizations using EFI MIS and web-to-print solutions can seamlessly integrate with the IC-308 to increase operational efficiency. In addition, users can integrate the new DFEs with Kodak PRINERGY and other third-party prepress and workflow solutions to achieve higher-level efficiencies that streamline business operations.
Customers can also take advantage of Fiery JobMaster, an optional makeready product that includes productivity enhancers such as visual tab insertion and design, easy-to-use page editing, chapterization, and many other late-stage job editing features. This allows operators to set up and execute complex print jobs faster and more efficiently, saving time and increasing overall profitability.
"We're excited to team with Konica Minolta to bring the advanced capabilities of the Fiery DFEs and bizhub PRESS family of digital color presses to market," EFI's Henze noted. "We look forward to ongoing collaboration to meet the demands of production print customers well into the future."
About Konica Minolta Business Solutions
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., is a leader in advanced document management technologies and IT Services. The company focuses on complete business solutions including production print systems, digital presses, multifunctional products (MFPs), managed print services, vertical application solutions and related services and supplies. Konica Minolta has won numerous awards and recognition including being recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for seven consecutive years, and "A3 MFP Line of the Year" award winner from Buyers Laboratory LLC for an unprecedented four consecutive years. In 2012, Konica Minolta received "Document Imaging Solutions Line of the Year" recognition from BLI. Konica Minolta, Inc. has also been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for two years in a row.
About EFI
EFI is a worldwide provider of products, technology and services leading the transformation of analog to digital imaging. Based in Silicon Valley, CA, with offices around the globe, the company's powerful integrated product portfolio includes digital front-end servers; superwide, wide-format, label and ceramic inkjet presses and inks; production workflow, Web-to-print, and business automation software; and office, enterprise and mobile cloud solutions. These products allow users to produce, communicate and share information in an easy and effective way, and enable businesses to increase their profits, productivity, and efficiency.
Source: EFI.
