EFI Connect at 20: Perpetual Change

EFI is turning 30 this year, and the EFI Connect user conference turns 20. It’s been a rollercoaster of changes in technology, in printing, and in the culture at large. Cary Sherburne and Richard Romano recap this year’s event.

20190129EFI Connect Fireside Hires
CEO Bill Muir (right) has a “fireside chat” with Joe Popolo, CEO of The Freeman Companies.

It was a much different world in 1999, when EFI held its first Connect. Back then, EFI was a software company, wide-format printing was still a small niche (in both print size and market size), Google had just been founded, the economy was experiencing the massive dot-com-fueled boom, and the printing industry had just experienced its best year ever. The only downside was the looming “Y2K” glitch—and we know how that turned out. 

What a long, strange, trip it’s been. 

Connect’s—and EFI’s—long history (the company itself was founded a decade earlier in 1989) was highlighted by new CEO Bill Muir, who gave the event keynote on Tuesday, noting that it was his 99th day on the job. Despite all the changes wrought in the past 10, 20, even 30 years, the rate of change is not likely to slow down. In fact, it is likely to accelerate. And we all have to keep up with it. “Technology changes exponentially,” said Muir, “but business changes logarithmically.” Which is to say, businesses are not always able to keep up with the rate of technology change. As a result, tech companies like EFI have to help their customers surf the wave of change. “My responsibility as CEO is to keep the innovation machine going to allow your business to thrive.” That innovation machine is what drew him to EFI in the first place. “[EFI] demonstrated incredible managerial courage and foresight.” After all, the company that started simply as a Fiery business has grown to become a leading hardware vendor, as well. Muir said he was ushering in a new era known as “EFI 4.0”—combining innovation as well as the ability to execute and take advantage of those innovations. 

Another example of change that did not go unremarked amongst the industry cognoscenti was that this was the first Connect since longtime CEO Guy Gecht stepped down last summer. Gecht loomed large, in both EFI and the industry, so comparisons are inevitable, even if unfair. We look forward to seeing how Muir makes his mark on the company. (Gecht still serves on EFI’s board and was at the event for the first couple of days. For a look back at Guy Gecht, see Frank Romano’s accompanying feature.)

Not everything has to change, though. The Connect tradition of the “Fireside Chat” continues, with Muir having a sit-down with Joe Popolo, CEO of The Freeman Companies, a 92-year-old family-owned business that has grown from decidedly humble beginnings (it started decorating sorority parties at the University of Iowa) to become one of the most prominent event decorating businesses in the world, managing the “live brand experiences” at events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the Republican National Convention, SXSW, NFL games, and so on. This includes all manner of print and electronic display graphics as well as other aspects of live shows and events. Freeman is a company that navigated the rate of change by growing largely by strategic acquisitions. “If you have the balance sheet and the willpower, you can make a step-change in the business through acquisitions,” said Popolo. 

It’s tempting—given what we have been experiencing in our own industry—to think that live events and especially trade shows are on a downward trend, but that’s not necessarily true, said Popolo. “Trade shows follow the industries they’re in,” he said, and the stereotype to the contrary, “Millennials do like live events.” How they engage with those events may be different than how their forebears did—they favor more immersive kinds of experiences and of course social media—but they still like to attend them. And print is still an important part of event graphics—“Fabric printing is the biggest growth area,” said Popolo—and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) are also becoming important elements in the overall event experience. “There are some things you can’t bring to a live event.” As an example, Connect featured a virtual reality tour of its digital direct-to-corrugated Nozomi C18000.

20190129EFI Connect Fireside HiresCEO Bill Muir (right) has a “fireside chat” with Joe Popolo, CEO of The Freeman Companies.

On Thursday, our own Cary Sherburne conducted a sit-down interview with Ariel Swedroe, a 15-year-old fashion designer who already has her own line of custom-made garments and her own business Swedroe by Ariel (see Cary’s recent profile of Swedroe here.) At the age of eight, Swedroe learned how to sew, and since then she has been a whirlwind, learning all the techniques and technologies involved in fashion design and manufacturing. The interview culminated in a fashion show, as models (and EFI executives) showed off a sampling of Swedroe’s digitally printed designs for both women and men. “Digital printing is critical to my business,” said Swedroe. “I loved learning about the Reggiani machines. I definitely want one!” Well, maybe as a graduation present: she’s still only a sophomore in high school, hoping to head to FIT or some other distinguished fashion university following graduation. One of the things she especially loves about the Reggiani technology is its low waste. “Sustainability is very important,” she said.

20190129EFI Connect Fashion HiresFifteen-year-old fashion designer and entrepreneur Ariel Swedroe (seated, right) talks to WhatTheyThink’s Cary Sherburne. The morning session also included a fashion show highlighting Swedroe’s digitally printed designs.

EFI Connect was also a showcase of the latest EFI technologies. It is indicative of how the portfolio is differentiating itself; where once industrial, textile, and wide-format technologies were grouped together under Display Graphics, the various application types are now broken out separately. The Industrial Printing portfolio comprises the Cretaprint and Cubik printing machine lines designed for, respectively, ceramics and flooring. The Cubik line is also designed for other kinds of building materials. Digital ceramic printing has been around for a while, such that EFI considers it to be a “mature” market. “Digital conversion for ceramics is greater than 52%,” said José Luis Ramón Moreno, VP and GM, Industrial Printing. The drivers are, course, the litany of factors that are driving just about every part of the printing industry today: shorter runs, personalization/customization, on-demand printing, and a shorter-distance supply chain. On the other hand, the emerging digital applications are printing on wood, concrete, and other building materials, which is where Cubik plays. In terms of relevance for printers at the more commercial end, ceramic printing is still very much an industrial process, where printing is done at (or very close to) the point of manufacture (that is to say, anyone looking to get into ceramics printing will need to install a kiln and make their own tiles), although Cubik applications may have more commercial applications. Stay tuned; we’ll be following up on Cubik in the not-too-distant future.

Included in Industrial Printing is the Nozomi platform, which has been increasing its global installs over the past two years. “We’re getting our first repeat orders,” said Moreno. Nozomi is also getting some enhancements and add-ons, such as additional printing modes for users who don’t need top-notch image quality or 97% Pantone matching; white ink for printing on brown boxes; a top feeder; and more. An emerging corrugated application is “micro flute,” such as shoeboxes, for printers who want to get a foot in the door of Foot Locker. 

If digital ceramics is a mature market, then display and wide-format must be heading for retirement. Well, you would think so, but EFI is still selling $3.4 billion of hardware and ink per year, despite all the increased competition in both roll-to-roll and flatbed equipment. Still, print service providers see more and more opportunities in all those high-value print applications that today’s inkjet devices enable, and new ones are emerging seemingly every week. Ken Hanulec, VP Marketing, Inkjet Solutions, cited one example of a customer printing direct to leather. “They spend €40 on printed leather and sell it as €1200 leather shoes.” (Can direct-to-cow printing be far off?) 

Hanulec summed up EFI’s mission as “Inspiring the world with spectacular imagery on any material.” 

Textiles and apparel also played an increasing role at Connect. This is another industry where the analog-to-digital transformation is in its early stages. Industry analysts report that only 5% to 6% of printed textiles worldwide are printed digitally, with a projected 20%+ growth rate, surely providing significant opportunity for EFI and other manufacturers of digital textile printing. Connect featured 14 break-out sessions dedicated to textiles ranging from business-oriented sessions to product-focused, including a session on the new EFI BOLT digital direct-to-fabric printer which can print at up to 90 meters per minute. For more information on BOLT, check out Cary’s article following the BOLT launch in Bergamo, Italy.

EFI’s ecosystem approach to its various businesses was also on display at Connect. Its microfactory concept was front and center in many of the sessions, covering design, print preparation, printing, pre/post treatment and cut-and-sew. EFI now has offerings in all of these areas (“cut” through a partnership with Zund and “sew” is still in the works, likely through partnering).

Experts from both Optitex (2D/3D software for textile and apparel design) and Fiery DesignPro (color, design, and fashion toolsets, highly integrated Adobe plug-ins) were touting new capabilities under development that will make these solutions even more powerful and capable than they are today, especially as it relates to the ability to use 3D rendering to streamline design, minimize the need for costly physical samples, and even allow brands to use 3D imaging for ecommerce and promotional images in lieu of expensive photo shoots. The pricing structure for Fiery DesignPro has also been revised to address the needs of its various users—with modular availability of its 15 tools and the most expensive being $4,000 for an annual license of all modules. Fiery DesignPro is also following in the footsteps of its Fiery big brother, with the development of a range of elearning courses that will be available soon.

The exhibit hall featured a range of textile printers as well, both Reggiani and FabriVU, including the new FabriVU i340, a 3.4-meter dye-sublimation printer that offers production level speeds, outstanding image quality, and inline fixation capability, an ideal solution for businesses entering the textile fray, whether for apparel and home goods or signs and display graphics. Its compact footprint incorporates both ink deposition and heat fixation for an all-in-one dye sub printing solution. EFI was printing some of Ariel’s designs during the show.

EFI also gave attendees a peek behind the curtain at a new ink system: Dyrect Dye Sub for direct printing on polyester and polyester + Elastan for fashion and sportswear. EFI also offers pigment inks with a binder that can print directly on all substrates and blends for fashion and home décor.

Another great even highlight was the keynote by members of the Cirque d’Soleil Costume Workshop: “Juggling with Creativity and Technology.” Presenters shared great stories and images, and talked about how digital design and print strategies, including 3D printing, have revolutionized their business. The Costume Workshop, located in Montreal, is an EFI Optitex user.

Cary had the opportunity to sit in many of these sessions and experience the demos with Ariel—it was exciting to watch her learn about all of the technologies that will play an increasingly important role for her as her business continues to grow. Cary also accompanied Ariel to a Cirque d’Soleil performance so Ariel could see the costume designs in action!

After 30 years of EFI and 20 years of EFI Connect, the company does not seem to be losing any momentum. EFI Connect 2019 was chock-a-block with new product announcements, enthusiastic attendees, and EFI experts and partners ready and willing to share their knowledge. More than 100 members of the press and analyst community also attended, one of the largest press contingents—if not the largest—to attend a vendor event. EFI Connect 2020 promises to be even better!