EFI

WHO SAYS nothing good is free? A number of industry suppliers offer excellent educational materials for printers at no cost. IPG asked around and collected a list of these complimentary publications, along with information on how you can order them. Among the leaders in producing free educational materials has been EFI. Its “ABC’s” series of books are a treasure for knowledge-starved in-plant managers. Among its titles: • “ABC’s of Proofing” • “ABC’s of Print MIS” • “ABC’s of VDP” • “ABC’s of Workflow” The latest, “ABC’s of Design for Digital Printing Guide,” is a 46-page, full-color book, which, like all EFI titles, is available for free download at

FOSTER CITY, CA—Jan. 23, 2007—EFI (Nasdaq: EFII), the world leader in color digital print servers, superwide format printers and inks, and print management solutions, today announced several recent developments supporting the company’s intent to drive the ubiquity of variable data printing (VDP), which represents a significant new revenue stream opportunity for its customers. EFI will have a major presence at the PODi (Print On Demand Initiative) Applications Forum, which will be held Feb.12-14, 2007 in Anaheim, CA, where the company will launch the Fiery® FreeForm Kit, a new tool to help customers implement personalized, one-to-one marketing campaigns. And in an industry first, EFI recently

A partial, temporary shutdown allowed the Print Shop at Burlington County College to expand its digital color printing capabilities. Last June, the six-employee operation in Pemberton, N.J., was forced to crate its presses and move its remaining equipment across the hall into temporary quarters so the college could complete a heating/air conditioning replacement project in its area. To continue serving the color printing needs of customers during this disruption, Manager Stephen Amitrano arranged a three-month loan of a Konica Minolta bizhubPRO C500. The 50-ppm machine performed so well that Amitrano decided to keep it once the shop returned to its digs. “It’s a life saver,” he

Ted Bailey didn’t need a crystal ball to know that changes were coming. “We saw the trend moving not just to more color, but to more sophisticated variable data campaigns,” says Bailey, manager of Printing and Graphics Services at Boise State University. The 15-employee western Idaho in-plant had done some simple black-and-white variable printing jobs, and its 32-ppm Canon printer was doing its best to meet color demands. But clearly the busy shop needed a faster, more variable-data-friendly color printer. So this past summer, after a lengthy bidding process, the in-plant installed a Xerox iGen3 digital production press with an EFI Fiery server. “I

EFI has signed an agreement to acquire privately held Jetrion LLC, a subsidiary of Flint Group Inc., for approximately $40 million in cash. Jetrion is a provider of ink-jet printers, inks and custom printing systems for the label and packaging industries. EFI expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2006, subject to certain closing conditions.

DESPITE ALL the talk in the industry of virtual proofing, Ken Johnson still thinks customers prefer a proof they can hold in their hands. “Their eyes gloss over [when proofing] on the computer screen,” says Johnson, director of Printing Services at Ball State University, in Muncie, Ind. His in-plant uses Kodak’s MatchPrint ProofPro software along with Screen USA’s Trueflow workflow. Proofs are printed on a MatchPrint ProofPro 2610 ink-jet printer. But out at Western Growers, in Irvine, Calif., Robert Delgado feels much differently. His in-plant e-mails PDF proofs to customers, and he says they have been satisfied with the arrangement. Proofs always match the

WHEN BRIGGS & Stratton Graphic Services moved into its new 26,505-square-foot facility in June, life got a whole lot better for the shop’s 34 employees. Workflow improved, shipping and receiving became a snap and the shop’s image soared thanks to an inviting reception area. But perhaps most marvelous—the dream of in-plants everywhere—is this: the new shop has windows. “Some of the pressmen have even commented to me how nice it is to have the windows,” remarks Debbie Pavletich, manager of the Milwaukee-based in-plant. All of the offices and parts of the shop floor have them, and the natural sunlight has made a difference in

IN-PLANTS DEPEND heavily upon the skills of a few key individuals to remain productive: production managers, bindery operators, prepress technicians, computer systems managers, or any number of other specialized personnel that are a part of the print production workflow. When one or more of these people are absent, the whole workflow may suffer. Many in-plants are turning to workflow systems to help mitigate this problem. Workflow systems help to standardize how we process jobs. When we rely on key individuals, we are depending on them to remember what they did last time to solve a problem, or how to most efficiently move a job

FOSTER CITY, CA—August 30, 2006 – EFI (Nasdaq: EFII) is proud to announce that many top performing Sir Speedy and PIP Printing & Document Services printing centers use EFI PrintSmith to manage their businesses. EFI’s Sir Speedy and PIP customers recently received sales performance awards at the Annual Sir Speedy and PIP International Convention and Vendor Show. EFI, a major exhibitor at the vendor show, was pleased to see their customers receive awards in the following five categories: Top 25, Volume Increase Percentage, Million Dollar Club, Century Club and Franchisee of the Year. EFI PrintSmith is a flexible, feature rich print management information system and the

DESPITE THE tough competitive environment of the past few years, there are still many printers who haven’t seized on new ways to increase their profitability and profits. Studies have shown that print service providers who offer value-added services such as fulfillment, design/creative, digital asset management and/or full color personalized mailing are still in the minority. Change is afoot, however, and for good reason. According to Ralf Schlozer, associate director at Info­Trends/CAP Ventures, a digital print and document technology analyst, 23.6 percent of all digital print jobs currently contain variable data. He predicts that the growth of variable data printing (VDP) will be driven