Medium-sized printers are an increasingly important destination for the EFI software team in ANZ as the company focuses on lifting its profile and presence with the vast majority of middle-size printing companies.
Following its success at both the top end of the industry with the largest printing companies almost universally using systems such as EFI Technique as well as in the franchise sectors where its PrintSmith Vision is the preferred software with brands such as Snap and Kwik Kopy, Daniel Aloi, Senior SDM at EFI, is now sharpening his focus on medium-sized enterprises, the heartland of printing. “Workflow is the key differentiator in commercial printing. It’s what enables one printer to stand out from the others,” he said.
He admits that while it’s often difficult for owner operators to see the value of software investment, he’s convinced that a company such as EFI, which has the scale and the stability, can deliver serious ROI for commercial printers. “Many printers don’t take the time to research the advantages of different software. There’s a lot of ‘me too’ products out there, but we are the only supplier with a complete system for printers. We deliver it all,” he said. “And you know when you invest in EFI software we’re not going to fall apart and go away.”
Faced with almost market saturation at the top and bottom Aloi is looking for new fields to conquer. He is addressing the many mid-size printing companies where he believes the benefits of a good software system can make all the difference.
"It's a more difficult market to reach because there are so many stand alone companies. But these are the printers who can gain the most from EFI's R&D in software," he said.
The message he and US-based Jeff White, GM small & medium business software who flew into Sydney last week, are getting out to commercial printers is that the right software is actually a business development system. As printing hardware becomes ever more standardised software has become the most important investment for a commercial printer.