Gecht Focuses on 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' in EFI Connect Opening Keynote

By Bob Neubauer

We are deep in the middle of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, emphasized EFI CEO Guy Gecht during his opening keynote last night at EFI Connect; new technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds.

Gecht spoke before a crowd of more than 1,000 industry representatives at the Wynn Las Vegas to open the Connect 2018 users' conference. Nearly 1,500 users, partners and media have registered for the event.

Taking a cue from his 2017 keynote, Gecht talked about how artificial intelligence is changing the world, enabled by both the tremendous computation power in the cloud and the fast processing power of devices. He noted how business model disruptors like Napster and Netflix did not destroy their industries but created more opportunities. Similarly, he said, robots are not taking jobs but are creating additional jobs that didn't exist previously.

Guy Gecht says the 4th Industrial Revolution has bro@ught a new definition of Print: everything that needs an image #efi Connect pic.twitter.com/EaPhITepX2

— In-plant Impressions (@IP_Impressions) January 23, 2018

His talk covered everything from reading habits of men and women (women read more, he said), to cameras on vacuum cleaners, but he brought it back to the printing industry when he proclaimed, "Print is far from over." The Fourth Industrial Revolution will bring more opportunities in print due to the demand for personalization, he said.

"We believe there's a new definition of print," he said: everything that needs an image is print. This includes apparel, rigid surfaces, packaging and more. In this light, demand for print will increase, he said, enabled by inkjet and smart automation.

“The new print is all about putting spectacular images on essentially any material," he said. "With digital inkjet technology and automation, the new print brings immense opportunity in the era of the fourth industrial revolution.”

At #efiConnect @EFIPrint CFO Mark Olin giving state of the products keynote to a packed auditorium pic.twitter.com/slsjQc2ZJQ

— In-plant Impressions (@IP_Impressions) January 24, 2018

The conference continued with a "fireside chat" between Gecht and two users of the EFI Nozomi C18000 single-pass LED inkjet corrugated board press: Eric Bacourt, CEO of Hinojosa Packaging Solutions, and Mal McGowan, CEO of McGowans Print.

“It’s a game changer," McGowan said of the Nozomi digital press. "The print on the corrugated board, it jumps.”

A few scenes from the #efiConnect reception pic.twitter.com/jk90Qr3qhC

— In-plant Impressions (@IP_Impressions) January 24, 2018

EFI Connect will continue all week, with numerous educational sessions, including a new track for in-plants. So far IPG has spoken with managers from The World Bank, Arizona State University and Omaha Public Schools, with many other in-plants expected.

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 170 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.