EFI’s Advanced Digital Print Portfolio Leads with Innovation for Customer Success at FESPA Global

·        The fastest roll-to-roll superwide-format solution in its class, the 3.5-metre-wide EFI VUTEk^® Q3r LED inkjet printer, part of a VUTEk Q series that includes a 5.2-metre-wide Q5r model, featuring a new inline print quality inspection system and a new UltraClear Coat option for more design and application possibilities.
·        Powerful new software offerings for wide- and superwide-format print production, including EFI IQ™ for cloud-based print management analytics, EFI Fiery^® Prep-It™, an economical and highly efficient print-for-cut solution, and Fiery JobFlow™ for prepress workflow – delivering a complete software suite for display graphics producers.
·        The 3.2-metre-wide EFI Pro 30h LED hybrid roll/flatbed printer, an ideal solution for businesses targeting production sign and display graphics as a growth opportunity. Running at speeds up to 230 square metres per hour, it features four colours plus dual channels of white as standard, prints in resolutions up to 1,200 dots per inch (dpi), and includes an EFI Fiery proServer Core digital front end (DFE) with FAST RIP acceleration technology. 
·        A preview of EFI Reggiani ecoTERRA, an advanced integrated solution for streamlined, greener textile printing. EFI Reggiani ecoTERRA is the all-in-one solution for pigment printing that requires no ancillary equipment for pre- and post-treatment, giving customers competitive advantages by cutting energy and water consumption for a more sustainable direct-to-fabric printing experience. 

More applications, greater profit potential in roll-to-roll

The EFI VUTEk Q3r printer, with production speeds up to 558 square metres per hour, is a high-volume production workhorse suitable for everything from fleet graphics, truck side curtains and building wraps to POP signage, backlit and exhibition graphics, and window decorations with true resolutions up to 1,200 dpi, superior white ink printing performance in single- and multi-layer print modes, and the ability to print white and clear ink simultaneously. The new EFI UltraClear Coat option available for the VUTEk Q3r and other roll-to-roll printers offers better resistance to abrasion and scratching, chemicals, weather damage/air pollution, and UV fading/yellowing. UltraClear Coat prints in-line with a glossy or matte finish and selective or full flood options for protection or design enhancements. 

Running on the FESPA show floor with a powerful Fiery proServer DFE, the VUTEk Q3r printer, as well as other EFI LED roll-to-roll solutions, open new opportunities in the décor market, as they are among the very few superwide-format inkjet printers to achieve Type II certification for wallcoverings without lamination or coating, based on The Wallcovering Association W-101 and ASTM F793 standards. 

Display graphics providers can outperform competitors in high-end POP and other applications requiring superior imaging, thanks to the new InSpec inline print quality inspection option running on the VUTEk Q3r printer at FESPA. The InSpec system can identify nozzle out and media advance issues, colour variations and printer adjustment issues, helping to ensure that customers truly and consistently deliver the best-quality graphics possible. 

Along with the new InSpec offering, EFI LED roll-to-roll printers have an important and extensive range of productivity-enhancing options – including in-line slitting and cutting, roll and tape collection, ID backprint, automated backlit printing, automated blockout printing and much more. As a result, print providers can drive faster throughput, creating finished work that comes off the printer cut to size, rolled and marked for a designated display location. 

Cloud and workflow innovation in display graphics

New VUTEk Q3r and other new EFI LED printer purchases come with a one-year subscription to EFI IQ, a cloud solution that gives users more power to monitor production and printer utilisation – including exact job-level consumable tracking data – to reduce downtime and reduce costs. As the only management program to have a direct connection to EFI printer data, IQ helps business leaders better manage their day-to-day production and make better, data-driven decisions on resource allocation and capacity optimisation. 

Another new production workflow offering at FESPA – EFI Fiery Prep-it software – is a powerful and cost-saving print-for-cut preparation solution available for use with any wide- or superwide-format DFE. Fiery Prep-it reduces the time needed to nest complex objects for wide-format printing by up to 90%, plus it reduces media usage by 10% or more compared with competing true-shape nesting solutions. And, with the media savings it generates, this affordable, effective software can pay for itself in as little as two months. 

EFI is also showing its new Fiery Impress™ DFE – a solution designed for specialty inkjet equipment vendors, as well as for packaging companies and other manufacturers looking to add in-line variable or personalised print to their products. This affordable, turnkey DFE offers a flexible, complete and scalable workflow, expanding inkjet press capabilities while significantly shortening press manufacturers’ development cycle time and costs using the world’s leading DFE technology. 

The gold standard in sustainable printing

Digital textile printing is gaining steam as brands and consumers seek more sustainable solutions for textile production. The EFI Reggiani ecoTERRA printer making its debut at the exposition is the all-in-one solution for pigment printing that requires no ancillary equipment for pre- and post-treatment. 

The ecoTERRA solution gives customers competitive advantages by dramatically cutting energy and water consumption in the overall digital textile printing process for a more-sustainable direct-to-fabric production experience. This eco-friendly, water-based offering delivers excellent wet- and dry-fastness properties, remarkable sharpness in detail, and extraordinarily high durability, while also yielding longer printhead life with reduced maintenance costs. Plus, thanks to ecoTERRA’s enhanced polymerisation and finishing unit, customers can deliver a softer hand feel to their digitally printed fabrics. 

In addition, EFI Reggiani is demonstrating a new, proprietary analytics application to generate print production reports. The application measures and monitors EFI Reggiani printer and production data to increase efficiency and throughput. An advanced factory data integration version of the application will also be available for greater factory control.

EFI Reggiani is also enriching the digital manufacturing process using leading-edge Inèdit raster image processor and software technology for industrial inkjet textile printing, improving customers‘ experience through a sustainable and connected digital textile workflow that is being shown live at FESPA. Expo attendees can securely select their designs from Inèdit neoCatalog, create multiple colour variants and streamline the workflow to the EFI Reggiani ecoTERRA printer, seeing the results live in the stand. 

“EFI makes our customers’ success our top priority, and our innovative digital print solutions portfolio – especially the products at our largest European tradeshow exhibit of the year – address businesses’ critical needs to drive quality, versatility, productivity and sustainability,” said EFI VP of Worldwide Marketing Ken Hanulec. “The leading-edge innovations we brought to Berlin create valuable opportunities for display graphics and textile companies to differentiate themselves, increase their margins and grow.” 

For more information about the advanced innovations EFI is featuring at FESPA, visit www.efi.com.