EFI Connect Conference highlights new digital print innovations

Display graphics inkjet offerings at EFI Connect from the company’s leading-edge product portfolio included the new EFI Pro 30h production printer. Plus, Connect featured the first-ever live demonstration of the new EFI Fiery FS500 Pro digital front end (DFE) – the most-advanced print server in EFI’s 30+ year history – and the debut of the EFI Fiery ImpressDFE, a scalable, flexible server and color management solution for inkjet label and packaging applications as well as for inline manufacturing lines that need variable print.

Sessions…

EFI Connect had more than 130 break-out sessions presenting the latest tips and trends across all the industry segments EFI supports. This included sessions addressing the growing analogue-to-digital transformation opportunities using EFI’s industrial Corrugated & Packaging, Textile, and Building Materials/Décor solutions.

The new launches…

EFI Connect also marked the debut of an innovative prepress product for display graphics businesses, EFI Fiery Prep-it software for the preparation, layout, and automated production of print-for-cut jobs. Designed to address productivity needs amid continued labour shortages, this powerful and cost-saving true-shape nesting solution reduces the time needed to nest complex objects for wide-format printing by up to 90%. Compared with competing products, Fiery Prep-it software also reduces media usage by 10% or more, helping to alleviate media supply constraints. With the media savings it generates, this affordable, effective software can pay for itself in four months or less, helping print shops become more competitive.

An early user of the software, Hossein Rasoulian, technical specialist at Irvine, California-based Super Color Digital, found that it reduced the time spent nesting jobs by 50%. “Fiery Prep-it is a very powerful and easy-to-use solution,” said Rasoulian. “It can nest irregular-shaped jobs very quickly and uses media extremely efficiently. We can also fully automate our print-and-cut process using Prep-it’s integration capabilities to get a high quantity of jobs produced accurately, without errors.”

The EFI Pro 30h: Versatility drives improved profit potential

The newly launched, 126-inch-wide EFI Pro 30h UV LED printer at Connect prints up to 2,477 square feet per hour, offering a combination of speed and efficiency that makes it an ideal hybrid flatbed/roll-to-roll superwide-format solution for businesses targeting production display graphics as a growth opportunity.

Designed to provide broader application capability, versatility, and profit potential, the printer maximizes productivity by printing large boards or multiple small boards continuously. Switching from rigid to flexible media with the printer is easy, and the Pro 30h can print on dual rolls, giving users high throughput and the ability to run multiple jobs simultaneously.

Catch up to super high speed productivity

Connect attendees also learnt about the accelerating signage production opportunities empowered by EFI’s advanced Super High Speed class of superwide-format inkjet printers. Conference sessions exploring the faster, better, state-of-art possibilities in high-quality display graphics showed how these solutions can drive digital production to new, higher levels.

This power trio of printers includes:

• The EFI VUTEk XT, a robust, 126-inch-wide hybrid solution with available media handling automation that prints at speeds above 375 boards per hour.
• The EFI VUTEk Q5r, a 208-inch-wide UV LED inkjet production workhorse that is the fastest roll-to-roll printer in its class, thanks to throughput speeds that reach 7,233 square feet per hour. Users can establish a complete print-to-finished-graphic workflow on the VUTEk Q5r with in-line slitting, trimming and other value-enhancing options, including a new in-line visual inspection system available this year.
• The EFI Nozomi 18000+ LED single-pass printer for display graphics, a groundbreaking 71-inch-wide signage solution. Available with up to six colors, plus white ink, it prints on synthetic and paper-based media at up to 1,000 sheets or boards per hour – a speed that is three or four times faster than the most productive shuttle-based/multi-pass display graphics printers.

Faster printing – and faster printer development – with Fiery innovation

The print professionals also witnessed, for the first time, the FS500 Pro platform scheduled for release this quarter with new office and cut-sheet production systems from many of the world’s leading digital printer manufacturers.

The advanced, new DFE platform for commercial and cut-sheet digital printing RIPs graphics-intensive jobs up to 50% faster than previous EFI Fiery DFEs. And, a Fiery JobExpert feature for the DFE can streamline job prep tasks, saving valuable time by automatically choosing correct color and imaging settings. Fiery FS500 Pro also provides an extensive collection of additional, innovative new features that address top challenges print businesses face, such as shorter runs, faster turnaround times, less experienced staff, increased security standards and the need to reduce costs.

EFI is also expanding its leading DFE technology offerings at Connect with the worldwide debut of the Fiery Impress DFE, a scalable, flexible off-the-shelf server and color management solution. The Fiery Impress DFE helps equipment manufacturers achieve outstanding productivity and image quality. Specialty inkjet equipment vendors with low unit volumes, as well as single manufacturing lines that want to add in variable or personalized print with a print bar, can expand their digital offerings with this innovative new technology.

Technology, training and remarkable guest speakers

Conference offerings included a two-day, accelerated Expert/Professional training for certification on Idealliance G7 print specifications. Connect 2022 also featured top executive presentations and breakout sessions on printing, packaging, business management, marketing and more. In addition, the conference featured special keynotes from UPS Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Warren and Hall of Fame Pitcher and MLB All-Time Saves Leader Mariano Rivera.

Along with the latest EFI and eProductivity Software offerings on display, this year’s conference also featured exhibits and technologies from many participating partners, including: Aberdeen Fabrics; the Cal Poly Graphic Communication Department; the Clemson University Department of Graphic Communications; Duplo; Esko; ISCorp; LoyaltyLoop; the Mariano Rivera Foundation; Plan Prophet; the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation; Print Speak; PRINTING United Alliance; Progress Software Corp.; Ricoh USA; and Zünd.