Day3_52

GraphExpo_ShowDaily_September_27_2016

EFI Displays Innovative Growth Drivers for Print at GRAPH EXPO 16 Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (Booth 1349) has come to GRAPH EXPO 16 with a broad range of innovations that fuel customer success, including numerous products earning the coveted 2016 MUST SEE ’EMS Awards. New technology includes the EFI Quick Print Suite, an MIS and eCommerce cloud platform; the EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite featuring an advanced core Manufacturing Execution System for board production management; the cloud-based EFI Optitex Collaborate App for designers, patternmakers, and print teams; the versatile EFI Fiery NX print server; the award-winning EFI FieryColor Profi ler Suite color management platform for higher-quality output to Idealliance G7 specifi cations; and the newest-version Fiery Navigator digital print business intelligence tool. “Last year at GRAPH EXPO, the industry was patiently awaiting the innovations to come from drupa,” says EFI’s CEO, Guy Gecht. “Now, printing companies have seen how the landscape is changing. Online alternatives are placing increased pressure on some areas of print, but at the same time, new opportunities are emerging for digital, on-demand, personalized manufacturing— and imaging. The paradigm is changing from print-and-distribute to distribute-and-print.” Gecht explains that manufacturing jobs have drastically decreased over the past 55 years. In the 1960s, 28% of jobs were found in manufacturing; today, that number is only 8.7%. This is not due to bad business or a failing economy, however. For example, Gecht shared that while on a tour of Budweiser’s manufacturing plant, he learned their workforce declined from 900 to 300. This is not a statement to their production workload. Production is increasing, but so too is automation. Print is headed in that same direction. EFI has a number of products that help with this automation effort. Create New Revenue Longtime EFI Fiery digital front end and workfl ow software user Dan Foster, President of Fort Wayne, IN-based digital printing company DataPrintInitiatives, moved into wide-format inkjet graphics in 2015 with the installation of an EFIH1625 LED printer—a hybrid roll/ fl atbed product. The 65"-wide printer, which is a past MUST SEE ’EMS Award winner, generates a signifi cant volume of new business at DataPrintInitiatives. According to Foster, the 10-employee company went from having no wide-format EFI CEO Guy Gecht says the paradigm is changing. revenue to generating 25% of its business on the device within a year of its installation. “The gamble we took investing in the EFI H1625 has paid off for us big time,” Foster said. “Wide-format will be responsible for a growing share of our revenues as we move into the future. There are so many unique applications you can produce, and the sky is really the limit.” Dr. Joe Webb Charts In-Plants “Road to Relevance” Increasing value to the parent organization. Getting approval to buy needed equipment or hire new personnel. Optimizing productivity. These are the top challenges that inplant printing departments face. On the other hand, top opportunities cited by in-plants are wide format printing, new capabilities enabled by new equipment, and taking in more work from outside the parent organization. These and other highlights of the In- Plant and Mailing Association’s (IPMA) just-published State of the In-Plant Industry report were presented Monday afternoon by Dr. Joseph Webb, Co-Author of the report. Canon USA (Booth 1500) sponsored the report and presentation. Titled, “The Road to Relevance,” the presentation and report seek to answer the key question: What should IPMA members do to not only get more volume in their department, but also increase the department’s relevance to their parent organization or company? “Getting more print volume isn’t necessarily what the focus should be,” said Dr. Webb. “Instead, it should be why are people using print and how are people using print, which can be unique to each parent organization. You need to look at how people are using information and then help them to do it more effectively.” That doesn’t mean necessarily being a better copy center or printing and mailing department, but exploring new kinds of print, or even non-print work, like website design or social media management. “A lot of mainstream print is disappearing,” said Dr. Webb. “It’s specialty printing that’s really important now.” This is not to say that the department should run out and buy a UV or dye-sublimation printer, Dr. Webb was quick to add. Rather, the department can outsource that kind of work—at least at fi rst. One challenge to adding these kinds of new products and services is overcoming the perception that the department only does copying and/or mailing. “You don’t want to be typecast,” said Dr. Webb. One way of overcoming this is to, as Dr. Webb put it, “eat your own cooking,” or demonstrate your skills by using these kinds of services or technologies to market and promote the department itself. Ultimately, the in-plant of the future will need to do a better job of marketing itself—which can be another challenge. “Most in-plant managers have never been trained in marketing,” he said, “because it wasn’t something they had to do.” One key recommendation was to prepare an annual report outlining the services the department provides, how much money you have saved the organization versus outsourcing, and other benefi ts, such as looser turnaround times. Hosting regular “lunch and learns” is also a good idea. “Not just ‘Here’s a piece of equipment, have a cookie,’” said Dr. Webb. “Make sure it shows how people do things.” Xerox and SpencerMETRICS Connect for Productivity The SpencerMetrics (Booth 2185) Connect system automatically captures digital pressroom data augmented with shop fl oor knowledge in order to reduce downtime and maximize productivity with actionable information. The system supports the fl agship Xerox (Booth 1625) iGen5 Press as well as other printing devices in the Xerox Production Printing portfolio, both cut sheet and continuous feed, monochrome and full color, toner and inkjet, and more—with either Xerox FreeFlow print servers or Xerox print servers powered by Fiery. The Connect solution helps Xerox customers achieve the high productivity these presses are designed to deliver. By identifying root causes of bottlenecks and wasted time with real metrics, users report cost savings through reduced waste, overtime, and downtime, as well as improved asset utilization—all leading to increased profi ts. Connect job cost data can improve job estimating, scheduling, and throughput time. The cloud-based system is designed for today’s security and IT environments, and can be installed and operational in days, not weeks. Through the teaming of Xerox technology and SpencerMetrics Connect, users can harness the power of on-demand analysis and automatic calculation of Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) metrics to realize the productivity and profi tability goals of Lean Best Practices and Six Sigma process improvement. Production targets can be monitored in real-time with up-to-the minute analysis available anywhere, anytime from any browser. With these actionable insights, users can expect opportunities for increased productivity and utilization, increased cost savings, and higher returns-on-investment. “This SpencerMetrics partnership provides Xerox customers with outstanding value by leveraging technology to increase productivity. With this cost-effective solution, users can realize cost reductions in waste, overtime and downtime within a few months of use,” says David R. Spencer, SpencerMetrics President/CEO. 52 | September 27, 2016 | GRAPH EXPO 16 Offi cial Show Daily | PrintingNews.com


GraphExpo_ShowDaily_September_27_2016
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