In The Industry
EFI Connect Highlights
Industry Trends M eredith, New Hampshire— The nineteenth annual EFI Connect conference took place at the Wynn in Las Vegas January 23-26. One of the print industry’s longest-running events, the user conference provided attendees with the latest training and technology details to help them profit from the analog to digital transition. The conference included a number of breakout sessions, keynotes, and a customer success panel where EFI users talked about the realworld implications and applications of their machines. Connect also featured the debut of several new EFI products. Some highlights include the EFI VUTEk® HS125 8
Sign Builder Illustrated
March 2018
Pro and HS100 Pro Fast-4™ hybrid flatbed/roll inkjet presses; the entry-level EFI VUTEk FabriVU® 340i soft signage printer; and EFI MarketDirect, a nextgeneration cross media customer engagement platform. The conference also shed light on a number of trends in today’s digital printing market, and as EFI CEO Guy Gecht said in his keynote presentation—print is far from over. Fourth Industrial Revolution. Gecht’s keynote session focused on what he called the “fourth industrial revolution,” which is characterized by developments in computing and in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR). How will this affect the print industry?
It already has. “Print is going to get a lot stronger because of the fourth industrial revolution,” says Gecht. “It’s changed how we manufacture things.” VR technology is being used by companies like EFI to give virtual demos of printers in action—without the need for the printer to be physically present. Gecht also predicts VR will be used on the service and support side to troubleshoot printer problems. Progress is being made in AI thanks to big data, cloud computation, and faster device processing—all factors that are currently affecting digital printing. Automation. In fact, automation is one way digital printing devices are getting faster and more efficient. This is besignshop.com