Record numbers connect with EFI in Las Vegas
The 12th EFI Connect users’ conference drew record attendances in Las Vegas last week. Print21 editor, Simon Enticknap went along as well.
Up to 1,000 customers filled the meeting rooms of the palatial Wynn hotel in Las Vegas for the four-day EFI Connect users’ group conference last week.
Attendees could chose from up to 150 different training sessions on offer covering EFI software products such as its PrintSmith, Pace and Monarch MIS solutions, the Fiery suite of print control products, and ancillary systems such Digital Storefront for web-to-print solutions and PrintFlow for scheduling.
This year also saw the addition of two new user groups acquired by EFI over the past year - Radius MIS in the label sector and PrintStream in the direct mail and fulfillment sector.
Marc Olin (pictured), EFI senior vice-president and general manager for EFI APPS (Advanced Professional Print Systems), said the wide range of software products was reflected in the diversity of people attending Connect 2011, spanning everything from copy shops up to large web offset plants.
“That’s the beauty of Connect. It’s everyone from everywhere in the printing industry. We really touch all segments of the industry because we have products now that address each specific niche in the industry. There’s no type of printing company for which we don’t have a product.”
Olin signaled that EFI would seek to continue its MIS acquisition strategy with three or four additional product acquisitions lined up over the coming year, including possibly Australia. While it is the dominant MIS supplier in the US, EFI has a much smaller market share in Australia where it competes against a number of home-grown solutions.
“There are too many MIS providers. The size of the industry has gone down by about 40 per cent but there are 20 per cent more MIS providers than there were 10 years ago. There are too many for it to be efficient for the industry,” he commented.
“We’re looking to do a significant consolidation of the industry. It’s very US-dominated today. We’re probably the third largest provider in Europe, even though people don’t always think of us that way, and my goal is to be the largest by the end of next year in Europe.”
Olin added that if EFI bought into the Australian market, it would aim to enter the market as a top five player. Any MIS products acquired as part of the roll-up strategy would be placed in maintenance mode while EFI focused on converting customers over to its existing portfolio.
More VUTEk too
On the hardware side, EFI demonstrated a new VUTEk 3.2 metre-wide digital printer, the GS3250LX, which uses LED lamps for UV curing. This enables the printer to handle much lighter substrates that conventional UV printers, saving on consumable costs, as well as offering a much longer lamp life of 10,000 hours compared to an average of 1,000 hours for conventional lamps. The LED lamps also use less electricity, thereby reducing running costs.
The first GS3250Lx is in beta testing with roll-out expected in Q3/4.
A full report on Connect 11 will be in the next issue of Print21 magazine due out next month.
Marc Olin (pictured), EFI senior vice-president and general manager for EFI APPS (Advanced Professional Print Systems), said the wide range of software products was reflected in the diversity of people attending Connect 2011, spanning everything from copy shops up to large web offset plants.