Textile Printing

EFI Propels Print Business Competitiveness With Inkjet and Workflow Innovations at the International Sign Expo

Thursday 24. April 2014 - EFI Expands Its Range of "Green" LED Offerings as it Approaches 250 LED Printer Installs

EFI (Nasdaq:EFII), a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, will showcase new products and enhancements to its portfolio of advanced inkjet and graphic arts production workflow products at the ISA International Sign Expo, April 24-26 in Orlando. EFI’s exhibit in booth 1812 includes the first LED printer in the entry-level EFI Wide Format line, the new EFI H1625 LED printer, as well as the EFI VUTEk HS100 Pro UV inkjet press, an industry-leading, high-volume production solution offering near-offset quality for display graphics, corrugated packaging and other applications.
The 65-inch wide H1625 LED entry-level production printer drives greater profits with a low total cost of ownership, giving users the ability to print fast-turn, high-margin wide-format graphics on roll and rigid media. The H1625 offers four-color plus white and single-pass, multilayer printing, as well as eight-level variable drop grayscale heads for superior quality imaging. Its LED technology gives users the ability to print on a broader range of substrates, including high-value, specialty substrates, opening the door to unique, creative opportunities.
The printer is also a greener solution for graphics production operations. The H1625 LED printer’s ink emits lower VOC levels than solvent inks, and the cooler curing on the printer translates into lower energy costs compared to latex printers.
LED for greener operations, with more versatility and productivity
EFI is launching the printer amid significant industry momentum in LED, a green technology that expands print professionals’ ability to develop new applications.
“EFI is on pace to have more than 250 EFI VUTEk LED printers operating at customer sites across the globe by mid year, and these customers are successfully using the printers’ cool cure technology to achieve dynamic growth,” said Scott Schinlever, senior vice president and general manager, EFI Inkjet Solutions. “Given the results that LED has had in the market so far, bringing this green technology to the EFI Wide Format product line is an important next step in helping print businesses generate new, profitable opportunities.”
EFI has the industry’s largest portfolio of production-class LED printers. In addition to the new EFI H1625 LED printer, EFI’s booth at the International Sign Expo will feature the 2-meter EFI VUTEk GS2000LX Pro printer and the 3.2-meter EFI VUTEk GS3250LXr Pro, a dedicated roll-to-roll LED printer available with highly flexible inks, co-developed with 3M, that meet specific quality and warranty requirements for the production and installation of fleet and vehicle graphics.
One EFI customer, Dallas-based Blanks Printing, recently installed both the roll-to-roll VUTEk GS3250LXr Pro LED printer and the hybrid roll/flatbed VUTEk GS3250LX Pro LED printer and quickly captured new businesses opportunities.
“We have offered large-format printing for the past five years, but in our first full month with the new LED VUTEk printers, we set a company record for large-format revenues,” said Blanks Printing Owner and President Leron Blanks.
Driving the offset-to-digital transformation with the VUTEk HS100 Pro press
The 3.2-meter VUTEk HS100 Pro UV inkjet press EFI is also featuring at the ISA trade show represents a high point in UV inkjet productivity and flexibility. EFI customer Interstate Graphics Inc. replaced one of its existing UV inkjet printers with the VUTEk HS100 Pro press because of the speeds it offers – up 100 boards per hour in production mode. As an IDEAlliance G7 Master-certified firm, Interstate also made its decision based on the press’s accurate, consistent and repeatable imaging, an essential capability that allows the company to move more of its analog screen printing work to digital production.
“We were getting requests for longer runs and big sheets, and it was taking up too much time,” said Interstate Graphics President John Norwood Jr. Depending on the production mode used, “The VUTEk HS100 Pro UV inkjet press can output at nearly triple the speed” of the high-end production printer it replaced, according to Norwood. As a result, the Rockford, Ill.-based company has saved costs by consolidating two digital production shifts into one.
In addition to the LED printers and the VUTEk HS100 Pro press, EFI’s International Sign Expo exhibit also includes:
The EFI VUTEk QS2 Pro, a 2-meter, UV hybrid printer that combines variable-drop grayscale printing and white ink print capabilities with VUTEk production speeds.
The EFI FieryproServer, a high-performance digital front end and color management workflow offering for VUTEk printers.
Industry-leading workflow products, including EFI Pace print MIS software and EFI Digital StoreFront web-to-print software showcased in an integrated workflow for seamless production from job submission through printing on an EFI VUTEk printer.
EFI’s booth will also feature a demonstration highlighting two significant signage technology innovations: the EFI SmartSign Analytics signage viewership data analysis product, and the EFI VUTEk GS Pro-TF thermoforming system for high-quality digital printing of 3D, thermoformed displays.
Two EFI channel partners exhibiting are also displaying advanced EFI printers at the International Sign Expo. In booth 2187, Latin American distributor Cigraph Corporation will feature the EFI H652 wide format printer, an entry-level hybrid printer that gives printing companies a low operating cost advantage for high-quality color printing with standard white ink and true, eight-level variable-drop grayscale imaging. In addition, distributor Nazdar SourceOne’s exhibit in booth 827 will include the EFI VUTEk QS2 Pro UV hybrid printer.
“The range of EFI technologies at the International Sign Expo really represents the choices signage and graphics professionals have to create their own path to business success using the best, most-efficient production and workflow tools available,” said EFI’s Schinlever.