EFI Launches Digital Print Platforms at drupa

Electronics For Imaging (EFI) is presenting its largest drupa tradeshow exhibit yet, showing the industry’s most-advanced, integrated offering of digital production printing and workflow products — technologies developed with the sole focus of helping customers fuel their success with high efficiency and quality, streamlined automation, and superior total cost of ownership (TCO). The EFI drupa exhibit in hall 9 of Messe Düsseldorf features the worldwide launch of several new platforms and products, including:

• A product based on EFI’s brand-new Nozomi one-pass inkjet platform, the EFI Nozomi C18000 – a breakthrough 1.8m-wide, single-pass, ultra-high-speed LED inkjet corrugated packaging press using technology that can forever change on-demand printing in corrugated, paper packaging and display printing and other markets;
• EFI AquaEndure — a revolutionary, highly versatile and eco-friendly aqueous inkjet technology that will be used across many EFI platforms and segments in the future;
• The new EFI Fiery XB digital front end (DFE) platform, a scalable, high-volume blade server technology for the new generation of ultra-high-speed inkjet presses;
• Fiery Navigator, a cloud-based digital print management platform for Fiery Driven digital production presses;
• The EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite and the EFI Publication Suite, the two newest, comprehensive Productivity Suites offering out-of-the-box, certified workflow systems for end-to-end production automation.

EFI’s drupa exhibit addresses customers’ key opportunity for future growth with accelerated, streamlined production workflows and valuable "Imaging of Things" opportunities focused on delivering greater customization and appeal in everything from signage and packaging to décor, apparel and industrial manufacturing.

"The focus EFI has placed in R&D to improve every part of the digital production chain results in a unique, breakthrough and innovative offering that we are very excited to present at the world’s largest printing tradeshow,” says Guy Gecht, EFI’s CEO. “The breakthrough new platforms we are showing for the first time could be game changers for customers as the world moves from long runs to customized, on-demand manufacturing.”

High-volume, Low TCO with EFI’s Revolutionary Single-pass Corrugated Press
The new Nozomi single-pass LED inkjet sheetfed direct-to-corrugated board press is EFI’s biggest inkjet product development to date and brings the company’s industry-leading production-speed, LED imaging to an important packaging market application. With this breakthrough offering, customers can execute the targeted strategies they need to address one of the biggest market opportunities in print’s ongoing analog-to-digital transformation. When commercially available in 2017, the EFI Nozomi C18000 press also will offer a lower acquisition cost compared to digital inkjet corrugated presses currently on the market, while setting a new value benchmark with its strong overall combination of print speed, imaging quality and TCO benefits.

The 1.8m wide press can reach speeds up to 75 linear meters (246 linear feet) per minute, producing up to 9,000 80cmx60cm boards per hour using a double-lane printing feature. It prints up to seven colors, including white, at a 360x720 dots per inch resolution, and can handle materials up to 1.8x3 meters — and thicknesses up to triple-wall board — at full rated speeds. Its LED imaging capabilities provide brilliant, accurate color imaging on just about any board substrate, including traditional Kemi, model, bleach and kraft materials. Packaging produced with the press is fully industry certified for repulpability and recyclability.

Groundbreaking Water-based EFI AquaEndure Inkjet Technology Platform Debuts
EFI’s other new inkjet innovation featured at drupa, the AquaEndure technology, is a water-based inkjet platform engineered with the versatility to help customers expand their application offering and lower costs. The new technology platform brings water-based inks to the next level by offering more versatility. AquaEndure inks cure using much less heat, enabling a wider range of media, all while having strong color fidelity and a very eco-friendly profile. AquaEndure inks also have no odor, and the technology is designed to help customers achieve profitable growth in a range of market applications, starting with wall coverings, wraps and flexible signage in printers launching in 2017, with expanded media types and capabilities suitable for food-contact packaging following after that.

EFI’s drupa stand includes additional technologies from the company’s inkjet portfolio of VUTEk superwide format printers, Reggiani textile printers, and EFI Wide Format entry- and mid-level production printers, including recently released roll-to-roll, hybrid and specialty printers that fuel customer success for signage and graphics, soft signage, thermoforming applications and more. The company’s applications exhibit area also showcases additional inkjet capabilities with leading digital label, décor, apparel and ceramic decoration printing technologies from EFI.

Digital Print Innovation with the World’s Most Advanced Fiery DFE
EFI is driving new competitive advantages in digital production printing with the introduction of the new Fiery XB DFE platform for ultra high-speed inkjet presses. The new platform will power the next generation of high-speed inkjet presses from Canon, EFI, Landa and Xerox. It can drive these presses to unparalleled speeds running the equivalent of roughly 173 cut-sheet toner engines printing simultaneously at 100 pages per minute.

The ultra-powerful, scalable DFE platform uses efficient Fiery software for blazing RIP performance and maximum use of hardware resources, driving everything from “RIP once, print many” books to versioned B1 packaging output at engine-rated speeds.

The new, cloud-based Fiery Navigator product launching at drupa gives customers more insight into their production data to optimize resource allocation, ensure compliance with operating procedures, and make smart equipment decisions. It is the first release in a new cloud platform for EFI technologies, and it improves users’ capabilities by capturing key operational data points and displays production analytics for Fiery Driven printers in a comprehensive, customizable dashboard. As a result, users can identify opportunities to improve productivity, find potential cost reductions, and ensure the highest output quality in their digital print operations.

Fiery is the industry’s leading digital print production workflow technology, and customers across the globe use Fiery DFEs to get maximum productivity and efficiency from their digital presses. Fiery products are also featured in EFI partner stands throughout drupa, including the Canon, Epson, Landa, Konica Minolta, OKI, Ricoh, RISO and Xerox exhibits at Messe Düsseldorf.

Expanding the World’s Leading Print and Packaging Workflow Products
drupa is the launch point for two additional EFI Productivity Suites in the company’s portfolio of segment-specific certified workflow solutions. EFI Productivity Suites are designed, built and validated for customer workflows, featuring a core EFI MIS/ERP system combined with multiple integrated components for new revenue generation and increased efficiencies. The new EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite is a fully featured solution that has the EFI MIS/ERP manufacturing execution system software at its core, with a full set of components from the EFI CTI software portfolio to deliver end-to-end corrugated board manufacturing solutions for box plants, sheet feeders, and sheet plant printing workflows. Additionally, the new Publication Print Suite is an end-to-end Suite specifically developed for publication printers producing books, newspapers, magazines, periodicals, catalogs, and high-volume direct mail with options for core ERP capabilities using EFI’s Monarch or Technique ERP software platforms.

EFI also is showcasing the newest version of the company’s Enterprise Commercial Print, Packaging and Midmarket Print Suites. The new version of the Enterprise Commercial Print Suite, built around EFI’s award-winning Monarch ERP software, includes improvements in inventory and purchasing, support for EFI Digital StoreFront Web-to-print services, stronger CRM tools including the ability to add attachments to RFQ forms and expanded reporting capabilities.

The latest EFI Packaging Suite release has been expanded to include 22 certified workflows, providing unprecedented levels of business and production automation geared toward real-world label and package converting environments. Each certified workflow combines the core EFI Radius ERP solution with modular, integrated components from EFI’s industry-leading portfolio, as well as with key third-party technologies, such as Esko’s Automation Engine.

EFI’s drupa exhibit also features a new, unified production ecosystem for packaging production featuring the Esko Automation Engine, the EFI Packaging Suite and EFI Fiery DFEs. It is the first of several integrations to be developed between EFI and Esko to automate analog and digital operations into a single, seamless workflow.

The newest-version EFI Print Suite presented at drupa is centered around EFI Pace MIS/ERP software and offers new tools for easier access to quotes, improved estimating, and an improved characteristics filtering tool to drive efficiency in job estimating and production. In addition to handling general commercial printing operations, the Midmarket Print Suite also addresses product-specific applications unique to the superwide-format print space.

Certified workflows in EFI’s Productivity Suites include the only scalable, completely integrated offering in the industry for automated business intelligence, inventory management, estimating, planning, scheduling, shop-floor data analytics, fulfillment and more. Integration with EFI Fiery DFEs and third-party pre-press connectivity drive even more value in comprehensive, streamlined print management.

EFI also is presenting additional advanced MIS platforms, eCommerce and marketing management products used by customers worldwide for successful, efficient day-to-day production operations, including EFI Lector, GamSys and Metrics MIS software. And, the company is highlighting its latest web-to-print/eCommerce offerings, including EFI Digital StoreFront with new, integrated EFI DirectSmile™ Cross Media marketing campaign capabilities.

A new eCommerce platform developed specifically for fabric soft signage production operations is making its debut at drupa as well. The soft signage online ordering technology offers a new level of turnkey flexibility for increasingly popular fabric graphics applications, including outdoor, tradeshow and point-of-purchase displays.

In addition to the integrated MIS/ERP and web-to-print products shown in the company’s stand, EFI workflow technologies are featured at several partner exhibits at drupa, including the Canon, Landa, Komori, Konica Minolta and Ricoh stands.

EFI’s drupa exhibit at drupa is in hall 9, stand A40. To see many of the extensive, imaginative applications possible with EFI print technology, visit www.ImagingofThings.com.

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

Source: EFI.