Electronics For Imaging, Inc. continues to revolutionise the future of printing by introducing new technologies at this year's FESPA Global Expo in Berlin.
At hall 2.2, stand B30, EFI will unveil its next-generation hybrid flatbed/roll platform technology - the EFI VUTEk h series printers built from the ground up to offer higher quality, more capabilities and better productivity up to 109 boards per hour.
EFI's exhibit also features the launch of a breakthrough industrial textile pigment ink technology for direct-to-textile production. The new EFI Reggiani pigment ink technology gives users a faster, environmentally friendly production process with inline polymerisation that requires less water, less energy and less processing time, with no washing or steaming needed. In addition, the ink's excellent fastness properties and high printability sharpness will allow printing on a wide range of fabrics with the fine-detail designs. The new pigment textile technology completes the outstanding range of innovations EFI Reggiani has presented over the past year, with unparalleled new products including the FLEXY digital printer launched at last year's FESPA tradeshow and the brand-new EFI Reggiani COLORS printer launched last month.
Other new innovations at the 15-18 May tradeshow include the EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340i, an aqueous soft signage printer that combines superior-quality imaging with efficient, in-line fixation for fast, all-in-one fabric soft signage production. FESPA attendees can also witness the next generation in digital print job management with version 7 of EFI's Fiery wide- and superwide-format production digital front ends (DFEs) and updated Fiery Command WorkStation software. Together, these two products help unify production operations by giving users the ability to manage cut-sheet, continuous-feed, wide-format, and superwide-format digital print devices from a single user interface (UI).
EFI's technologies, including the products the company is presenting in Berlin, create streamlined digital production operations that help customers drive greater throughput with less waste and faster turnaround times. For example, Bremen, Germany-based printing company Medienhaven GmbHis getting more throughput from its digital production equipment using the new EFI Fiery XF 7 DFE and Fiery Command WorkStation.
"It's great to have the same UI at different workstations to drive both our cut-sheet and wide-format printers," said Medienhaven Managing Director Peer Rüdiger. "We estimate we'll save around 10% in downtime by not having to switch applications to administer different printer technologies and Fiery servers."
Designed for high-volume production of premium signage and graphics
The new VUTEk h series of 3.2-metre wide hybrid LED printers launching at FESPA is the culmination of EFI's decades of experience in signage and graphics production technologies as the world's leading manufacturer and developer of UV and LED inkjet superwide-format printers and inks. The printers' new, high-velocity 7-picolitre UltraDrop Technology greyscale printhead imaging delivers precision dot placement and consistency from print to print at high production speeds. The printers offer four- and eight-colour printing modes plus white, as well as five-layer print capability in a single pass.
The new VUTEk h3 model on display at FESPA offers maximum throughput of up to 74 boards per hour. The h5 model, which is available direct from EFI or as field upgrade to the h3 model, can produce up to 109 boards per hour.
The EFI Ecosystem for complete industrial textile production
The new EFI Reggiani pigment inks are based on an innovative new binder technology. The inks react to EFI Reggiani printers' on-board dryers, which set off a unique in-line polymerisation process for faster, greener printing that requires fewer steps than other digital industrial inkjet textile systems.
The new pigment textile solution extends the outstanding range of EFI Reggiani innovations presented during the last 12 months, including the EFI Reggiani FLEXY launched at last year's FESPA, and most recently, the EFI Reggiani COLORS - a breakthrough printer offering up to 12 colours that brings new creativity to the industry with unmatched printing quality and uniformity, an extended colour gamut, superior colour depth and increased penetration into fabric.
EFI Reggiani printers are part of a complete EFI Ecosystem mini-factory application shown at FESPA. The design process of the EFI Ecosystem starts with EFI Optitex, a technology innovator in the field of 2D/3D software. The cutting-edge digital solutions offered by EFI Optitex allow brands to optimise their workflow and create patterns in the digital sphere, ultimately saving time, money and textile, which places EFI Optitex's clients at the forefront of the textile industry.
Once a virtual product pattern is complete, EFI's Fiery DesignPro software - a series of plug-in applications for Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop - combines technologies for efficient textile design and file preparation with the Fiery proServer DFE for professional colour management and high-quality RIP output on EFI Reggiani digital printers. Efficient, high-quality production in the EFI Ecosystem for textile at FESPA takes place on the EFI Reggiani FLEXY, a versatile printer that handles a wide variety of fabrics, from knitted and woven to low- and high-stretch materials. The tightly integrated mini-factory gives textile producers a smoother, coherent, production-aware workflow by connecting EFI technologies as well as key workflow and cut-and-sew solutions from other leading vendors for true end-to-end productivity.
Experience digital corrugated printing like never before
Show attendees visiting EFI also can experience EFI's 360-degree, interactive virtual reality (VR) demonstrations of the EFI VUTEk HS125 Pro hybrid inkjet press and EFI's game-changing, single-pass corrugated packaging press, the EFI Nozomi C18000. The ultra-high-speed (75-linear metres per minute) Nozomi press has multiple installations worldwide and is used to drive digital efficiencies in digital packaging production at some of the world's leading corrugated board converters. EFI Nozomi - the winner of the 2018 EDP Award for best corrugated solution - also is one of the key highlights of the FESPA multi-vendor Digital Corrugated Experience in hall 5.2. High-quality Nozomi-printed packages and displays and a showcase of EFI's unique and comprehensive EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite workflow offering are part of the exhibit.
In addition to the new products being launched at FESPA, attendees can also see where productivity meets quality and versatility with the VUTEk 3r, the most technically advanced three-metre LED high-volume roll-to-roll printer in its class. EFI's exhibit also features the EFI Midmarket Suite for end-to-end signage and graphics production printing management and MarketDirect, EFI's new customer communication platform software.
