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productionprint
Yoghurt is
always going to
have packaging;
it's not going to
goblank...
In this age of smartphones, tablets,
always-on internet connectivity and
the cloud, it is fashionable and, let’s
face it, a little too easy to talk about
the decline of print.
This is not something EFI CEOGuy
Gecht does. Instead, he prefers to focus on
the ever-moving ‘window of opportunity’
that exists in every industry for those
with the vision to look beyond the status
quo.Yes, office printing is in decline, but
there are also plenty of areas of growth
in the print industry, driven by digital
print’s ability to produce short-runs of
personalisedmaterial at high speed.
“I am an optimist,”Gecht said.“When
I look atmy customers, themajority by
a long shot are doing better than a year
ago and better than the year before that.
Digital printing is going to take over a
great chunk of themarket. If you are in
digital printing, you are going to getmore
andmore jobs.And it'smore efficient,
because youmanufacture on demand.”
He points out thatmany applicationswill
never be replaced by the iPad–“Yoghurt
is always going to have packaging; it’s not
going to go blank,”he said.
“There is tons of opportunity in digital
printing in the next 10 or 20 years.You
can print on almost anymaterial and the
world around us is full of imagery. In your
lifetime and your kids’ lifetime, peoplewill
carewhat’s printed on the floor,what’s on
the table,what's in decoration and signage
andwhat's on packaging. I think the
opportunity there is tremendous.”
Double-digit growth
With four consecutive years’ of double-
digit growth, EFI is profiting from these
opportunitiesmainly because about 10
years ago it spotted that its original market
of print controllers for digital copiers
was in decline and that the ‘window of
opportunity’ hadmoved to production print.
Today, its prosperity is built on three
product areas that can be used separately
or together in a complete solution:
Fiery Digital Front Ends (DFEs); business
automation andworkflow software,
such asMIS software andweb-to-print
solutions; and inkjet printers.
Last year, all three segments grew
strongly, but for Gecht, inkjet printing has
themost potential for growth.
“With inkjet there are probablymore
opportunities to grow faster, because of
the adoption of digital. Inkjet is a very
versatile technology. Because it doesn’t
touch thematerial, it lets you do a lot
more. EFI is the only company that does
LED low temperature curing (see caption),
which allows you to print on essentially any
material.And it’s greener, of course, because
it consumes a lot less energy,”he said.
Recipe for success
EFI transformed itself through a
combination of company acquisitions and
in-house product development – a recipe
that still underpins its growth strategy
today, says Gecht.
“We invest a lot internally inR&D–
close to 20% of our revenue – andwe
invest a lot in service and support for our
customers.At the same time,we generate
good profit,whichwewant to put towork.
Acquisitions help us do that.
We have three key communitieswe
try to satisfywith an acquisition:
if customers are going to benefit,
employees are going to benefit and
shareholders are going to benefit,we
like to go forward,”he said.
So,what’s next on the cards for EFI?
What canGecht see through thewindow
of opportunity today? Is 3D printing an
area of interest?
“3D printing is somethingwe have
been looking at,”he said.“We don’t
do a product just because there is some
demand and already a lot of solutions.We
Aworldof opportunity
At IPEX,
PrintITReseller
caught upwithGuyGecht,CEOof EFI
todiscussopportunities inproductionprint
try to solve problems that, in our opinion,
don’t have very good solutions to start
with. Right now, 3D seems to have too
many vendors and be too low end, so you
may see a Fiery for 3D or anMIS for 3D.
Inkjet for 3D is unlikely in the near future:
wemay change ourminds, but right now it
is unlikely.”
Powerful software
In themeantime, there is still plenty of
scope to increase turnover with EFI’s
existing products, from Fiery technology
–more powerful than ever to support
applications like variable data printing
and high speed technologies like Landa’s
nanographic press – andMIS/ERP software
that can help customers becomemore
productive and profitable.
“A lot of customers in Europe aren’t yet
familiar with how productive and efficient
they can be. If you don’t have goodMIS
software and go by gut instinct, sometimes
youwill overcharge and sometimes you
will undercharge, neither of which is good;
youwon‘t knowwho yourmost and
least profitable customers are; and then
there's the scheduling part. If someone
comes in and says ‘Can you complete this
job by Friday?’, youmight say ‘No, I am
fully booked’. But if you had scheduling
software, you could seewhether it could
be done, say, by slowing down another
job that's not due until later or by getting
someone to come in an hour earlier.There’s
lots of things that software can helpwith.”
As long as EFI products help their
customers prosper, the company’s
continuing sales growth is an encouraging
sign that windows of opportunity still exist
in today's print industry.
GuyGecht, CEO of EFI since 2000
Unveiled at FespaDigital, the
EFI H1625 LED Printer is the first printer in EFI's entry-levelWide
Format printer series to feature the company's environmentally
friendly 'cool cure' LED technology,which reduces energy
consumption andwaste and includes noVOCs.
