Page 17 - Print21 Jan-Feb 2020

Cover Story
that, and I think it will be key to a lot of our customers’ future success.”
Never one to rest on its laurels EFI has always been driving forward,
and Jacobson says he fully intends to pursue that strategy. He says, “For us it is never enough to put something new out there and just say it works. You have to have a commitment to delivering what your customers need, and I think what sets us apart in a lot of cases is the personal commitment so many EFI people have personally to making sure customers are taken care of, and that our products do what they are supposed to do.”
Centre-stage at drupa
June this year will see the global print community descend on drupa, where EFI will be centre-stage. Jacobson says, “Printers will see
how technology is really driving digital to the point where it is a main factor in business growth and profit opportunities. And they will be able to gain an even better understanding of how a whole integrated offering from EFI works. We want to be able to show customers how we deliver end-to-end with services, ink, and
of course our leading workflow and printers. It is the EFI ecosystem on the whole that really attracted me to the company.”
EFI will be in Hall 9 on Stand A40- 1 and A40-2 for the giant show.
“We are trying to remove the
limits in terms of what you can print on, and each time you improve the capabilities of a digital production system, it opens the doors for our customers to create their own more profitable applications.”
Jacobson says there is an advantage to becoming more of an “expert generalist” where printers look to provide whatever their customers need. He says, “Businesses can get
a bigger share of their customers’
marketing spend, and we can see how, for example, a business that
has expertise in digital print across different technologies and platforms might print collateral, packaging and signage for a single customer. For many of those businesses, companies that do different types of print,
wide- and superwide-format display graphics has become a key area of strength. We offer a strong portfolio of printers and inks – both for LED and textile soft signage printing – but we also develop workflows where, for example, a customer can use a Fiery platform to manage all of a shop’s cut- sheet and wide-format digital assets.”
The Asia-Pacific, which encompasses Australia and New Zealand, is a key and important region for EFI. Jacobson says, “We have built a strong team led by Rodd Harrison, VP of Sales, Asia-Pacific. Our top priorities are to grow significantly in the region in the next few years by focusing on solidifying our channel partnerships, supporting our customers, and by being ever-responsive to changing local market conditions. We have recently hired some new talent in management, sales and marketing
in APAC and specifically in ANZ.
We have also brought talent, service and support in from other regions
to bolster an already strong team.
This is to resource our commitment
to become not only the supplier of choice for customers, but the partner of choice for our distribution network, and the employer of choice for talent in the industry in general.”
And the approach seems to be reaping dividends, Jacobson says, “We have seen regional growth in the last several months since I joined EFI with customer engagements – not just prospects asking us for a price quote for some technology, but coming to our people and asking them for advice and solution design consulting. I see that as a validation that we are on the right path. We listen, we react, and we are designing and commercialising products with the right fit for our markets and our family of users.”
With sales of around US$1bn, a large portfolio of solutions across multiple applications, operating in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment, the CEO at EFI has a big job on his hands, however
in Jacobson the new owners have found the person who is well placed to deliver, for the company and its many customers. 21
EFI Superwide Printer Highlights
EFI has a huge range of print solutions, with more than
40 wide format print systems. Three that are generating high interest in ANZ are the VUTEk h5, the VUTEk 32H
and the Pro 32r+.
EFI VUTEk h5
Representing a new new generation of superwide-format hybrid inkjet printers the VUTEk h5 is 3.2m wide LED inkjet printer. With a resolution up to 1200dpi, in four or eight colour mode, capable of printing 109 boards an hour, with automated handling, its energy usage is reduced by up to 82 per cent compared to mercury arc UV printers.
EFI VUTEk 32H
The LED hybrid inkjet printer with UltraDrop Technology is positioned for high-volume, high-quality production level printing, with versatility, ease of use, and environmentally friendly benefits. The 3.2-metre hybrid flatbed/roll-fed will print on materials up to 5.08 cm thick at 600 or 1000dpi at 60 boards per hour.
EFI Pro 32r+
Designed to be competitive and profitable as an economical, all-in-one, production-level printer, the 3.2m roll-to-roll LED 32r+ will produce up to 265sqm an hour, in resolution up to 847dpi. It comes in four colour, plus optional white ink or optional clear ink, and cool cure LED technology. LED means much lower power consumption, together with the ability to print on thinner substrates.
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