EFI Expands Print MIS Presence Again

Leading Print MIS provider EFI, which has grown its market share substantially over the years by acquiring other Print MIS companies, has done it again. On Wednesday, the Foster City, Calif.-based company announced it has acquired the assets of privately held management information systems provider printLEADER, headquartered in Palm City, Fla.

According to EFI's own data (from a 2012 presentation for Kodak's Graphic Users' Association), it controls 68 percent of the Print MIS market, followed by Avanti with 7 percent, then PrintLeader with 3 percent. In November, EFI acquired Technique, a provider of MIS and enterprise resource planning software products.

“We are very pleased to have printLEADER join the EFI family and our expanding portfolio of business automation technologies,” said Marc Olin, senior vice president and general manager of EFI Productivity Software, adding that printLEADER’s customers will see additional opportunities through the combination of the companies' technical innovations.

printLEADER will integrate its MIS products into EFI’s PrintSmith Vision product line, part of EFI’s EPS group. EFI will also continue to support the existing printLEADER client base of more than 800 commercial and in-plant printing operations across North America.

“Our customers need to remain extremely competitive in today’s 24x7 world," says John Fleming, founder/president of printLEADER. "After 25 years the timing is right to join EFI, a leader in our market that produces outstanding software solutions, so we can offer our loyal customers a more robust and feature rich-suite of software products and high-value, web to print storefront solutions.”