EFI Debuts Industrial Textile, Soft Signage Printers, Workflow Offering at SGIA Expo

LAS VEGAS — September 16, 2016 — Printing professionals can drive profitable growth with the extensive portfolio of technologies Electronics For Imaging (EFI) presented at the 2016 SGIA Expo, that included several new offerings shown for the first time in North America. The company’s exhibit at the trade show reflected how EFI helps customers harness new capabilities and opportunities, and drive efficiency with the industry’s broadest portfolio of LED, UV and aqueous digital textile inkjet printers; digital front ends (DFEs); and production workflow software for digital print signage, display graphics and industrial textile production.

EFI was the only exhibitor at the show that offered a complete, integrated solution with workflow, DFE processing and high-end production inkjet printer technologies. The company’s newest products reflect the integrated advantage EFI customers gain, and at SGIA Expo that included:

• The 1.8-meter EFI Reggiani ReNOIR ONE-600, a new, green printing solution on display in booth 4617 — the SGIA Expo Garment Zone — for superior-quality industrial apparel and décor applications;
• EFI eCommerce for Soft Signage, a bundled offering on display at booth 1515 that features leading-edge Web-to-print, Fiery DFE and EFI VUTEk FabriVU printers;
• The newest version 6.3 of EFI’s Fiery and Fiery proServer DFE technologies for inkjet graphics production;
• The 2-meter EFI VUTEk GS2000LX Pro with UltraDrop Technology hybrid LED printer, including the world premiere of new, LED clear ink, a high-end print enhancement for customers producing premium-quality graphics;
• The fast, 5.2-meter EFI Quantum LXr 5, a roll-to-roll LED printer that is a more cost-effective alternative to latex inkjet;
• The 1.65m EFI H1625-SD printer with EFI SuperDraw UV Inks for specialty and custom thermoforming applications;
• The 3.4-meter EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340 digital fabric printer for soft signage;
• EFI Armor Erase UV, a new, award-winning protective inkjet graphics clear coat for anti-graffiti protection and dry erase applications.

Attendees also experienced the end-to-end integrated MIS workflow advantages for superwide-format graphics production that are possible with the newest version of EFI’s Midmarket Print Suite, which includes EFI Pace software as its core MIS technology, and includes specific tools for streamlined inkjet graphics business and production workflow automation and management.

One EFI customer benefitting from the broad range of technologies EFI offers, Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Gilson Graphics, recently installed the Suite’s superwide-format production workflow and a 3.2-meter VUTEk LED hybrid printer using the newest Fiery proServer Premium DFE.

“The relationship between Fiery and Pace is quite important to us,” said Gilson Graphics Vice President of Operations Dave Oswald. “Fiery captures key data such as ink and material consumption and employee time. That information is transferred to Pace automatically, significantly reducing the amount of employee ‘touches’ required. It also increases the accuracy of that data collection and improves inventory management.”

Driving customer success in the analog-to-digital transformation
EFI products at SGIA addressed requirements in the high-speed and demanding point-of-purchase signage markets, as well as for packaging and corrugated, where the journey from analog to digital printing is well underway. The 3.2 meter VUTEk HS125 Pro hybrid roll/flatbed inkjet high-speed press, and the fast, energy-efficient VUTEk LX3 Pro hybrid printer that was on display are both ideal for high-volume, high-quality signage and graphics as well as for lower-volume packaging production and prototyping.

In addition, authorized distributor Nazdar SourceOne is featured the 2-meter EFI VUTEk H2000 Pro hybrid UV printer, which features 7-picoliter UltraDrop Technology.

Digital textile printing: A growth opportunity
Textile applications — both soft signage and industrial apparel and décor printing — have become an especially promising opportunity for EFI’s customers. According to InfoTrends, the total textile market is estimated at $165 billion per year. Smithers Pira reports that the market for digitally printed textiles is valued at $1.3 billion.

Décor and apparel applications produced on the new EFI Reggiani ReNOIR ONE-600 printer at the show include an “All-In Green” printing process that provides superior definition, color intensity, and dry and wet rub-fastness. This new 1.8-meter printer also offers improved operational efficiency and quality with new ink feeding and recovery systems, and EFI Reggiani’s high-end 2,400 dpi imaging resolution for efficient, premium results.

The new EFI-certified eCommerce for Soft Signage workflow shown at the SGIA Expo enables customers to quickly get up and running in order to profitably capture new opportunities. It includes three components – the new version 6.3 of EFI’s Fiery proServer SE DFE, the multi-award-winning Digital StoreFront Web-to-print and eCommerce software, and the EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340, a 3.4-meter dispersed dye-sublimation ink printer. The FabriVU product line, which is also available in a 1.8-meter size, uses environmentally friendly, water-based inks and produces stunning soft signage and banner applications.

The Digital StoreFront software included in the new eCommerce for Soft Signage bundle helps customers move orders through the process quickly with little intervention and fewer errors. It also provides an easy-to-use Web interface ideal for both professional and novice print buyers. In particular, the software’s design tools allow for high-quality customization on a broad range of popular soft signage display flags, banners and other products.

New Fiery Wide-format DFEs
The latest version 6.3 Fiery Wide Format DFEs was also on display at SGIA, including the new Fiery proServer SE, which delivers premium-quality results for traditional sign and display applications as well as for soft signage. This release includes more than 40 new printer drivers for EFI printers and other major manufacturers, including Durst, Epson, HP, Mimaki, OKI and Seiko. A new spot color swatch book printing feature, support for six new PANTONE spot color libraries, a new multi-channel color profiling engine, and improved stochastic screening are all designed to deliver improved color results for EFI printer users.

“This year’s SGIA Expo comes at a critical juncture for the industry, when sign and display graphics professionals are redefining the markets and applications that create profitable growth for printing companies now and into the future,” explains Scott Schinlever, senior VP and GM, EFI Inkjet. “Our customers continue to discover new ways to drive higher-margin, higher-productivity work. The portfolio of products EFI offered at SGIA will spur ideas for even more new opportunities using a truly advanced and complete offering of high-end production inkjet graphics printers, DFE technology and workflow software that is unmatched in the industry.”

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.

Source: EFI.