EFI Will Benefit from Radius Acquisition

Electronics For Imaging (EFI), the parent company of industrial inkjet systems suppliers Jetrion and VUTEk, announced on April 29 that it has reached an agreement to buy Radius Solutions, a top maker of MIS/ERP software for package printing. The purchase is subject to conditions but EFI managers said in a conference call that they expect the deal to close in the second or third quarter and to be slightly accretive to full year 2010 results. The deal is to be a cash transaction, for an undisclosed amount.

The news indicates a growing commitment by EFI (Foster City, CA) to the packaging industry, which it targets already with its Jetrion inkjet printers. Assuming the Radius deal goes forward, the EFI companies collectively will offer products in two areas of importance to packaging converters—digital presses and software to manage print. Meanwhile, in buying Radius, EFI will be buying access to that company’s base of customers, which include some of the biggest converters of packaging and labels, such as Alcan, Malnove, Multicolor Corporation, and Sonoco.

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No Heidelberg at Graph Expo 2010

WhatTheyThink reported last week that neither Heidelberg nor Komori would exhibit at Graph Expo this year. This news represents the culmination of a trend that has been brewing over the past ten years at the Graph Expo and Print shows. Since 2004, InfoTrends has compared the Graph Expo show floor maps to provide an indication of market changes. These rankings are compiled by measuring the published show floor map. Initially InfoTrends began conducting this exercise to show the impact of the digital vendors on a trade show that had been dominated by traditional printing press vendors. This point has long since been made. For all practical purposes, as one looks at the list of top vendors, Graph Expo has become dominated by digital exhibitors.

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EFI Fiery VUE: Re-inventing the Print Driver?

This Tuesday, EFI announced the release of its latest software creation, called Fiery VUE. Fiery VUE is geared toward the office environment, delivered as an add-on to the Microsoft Office Suite. Its main purpose is to make the composition, printing, and finishing of office documents more user-friendly, specifically to business users that own MFPs with Fiery controllers. Users install the add-on, open a document, find the tab for Fiery VUE on any Microsoft Office application “ribbon”, and then load the VUE application where users have access to a number of features. Within Fiery VUE, users can view a 3D preview of how the finished document, re-arrange pages, insert blank pages, insert additional documents of multiple file types, choose various types of finishing options, use various imposition settings, and save templates for re-use. All of these features are under the guise of an interface design that provides an easy-to-use experience when preparing and printing documents.

EFI’s main goal, it seems, is to add value for MFP owners that have a Fiery controller or front-end, and help users utilize the full range of features available in their MFP devices. It is also aiming to get users to switch from using their print drivers for preparing and sending jobs to a printer to using VUE. According to Fiery VUE’s website, MFPs from Canon, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Toshiba, and Xerox can currently support connectivity to Fiery VUE, which is available for free download on that same website.

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Fuji Xerox Announces New High-Speed Cut-Sheet Color Products Using Chemical Toners

Fuji Xerox announced two new production color digital print models today: the 100-ppm Color 1000 Press and the 80-ppm Color 800 Press. (See the Fuji Xerox press release.) Several things stand out in this news:

• The products use Xerox’s EA chemical toner – This is Xerox’s first high-end production color product using chemical toners (Nuvera EA already does so), which has important implications for lower running cost. Fuji Xerox referred to the toner as “Emulsion Aggregation-Eco Toner, or EA-Eco Toner.”
• Clear toner is an option for the Color Press 1000 – Though it is not specifically stated in the release, the availability of a clear toner for a glossy finish or watermark printing implies that there is room for more than four color stations in the 1000. This would be a first for Xerox’s production color products.
• The Fuji Xerox products will have a staggered launch – Fuji Xerox says that the Color 1000 Press will launch on January 29, 2010 and the Color 800 Press will launch sometime in the spring of 2010. Xerox Corporation has not yet announced these products and provided the following statement when approached by InfoTrends: “Fuji Xerox’s announcement of its launch plans for the Xerox Color 1000 Press and the Xerox Color 800 Press is the first phase of a global plan to bring this new product to market. Launch plans for these new presses are being finalized for the rest of the world. We will have more information to share in the first half of 2010. Xerox’s current high-end digital color portfolio remains intact throughout North America, Europe and other geographies.”

Fuji Xerox Color 1000/800 Press

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EFI bests L&P in court

Today EFI issued a press release http://www.ir.efi.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=117454&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1308513&highlight= about its win in court over Leggett & Platt.  Leggett & Platt had alleged that EFI-VUTEk was in violation of U.S. patent number 7,290,874, applied for in 2004 and  awarded in 2007. EFI won the case after the court ruled that what Leggett & Platt had patented was obvious. EFI noted that this is the third time it has beaten Leggett & Platt over this patent in court.

While I am no patent expert, after reviewing the patent here (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,290,874.PN.&OS=PN/7,290,874&RS=PN/7,290,874) it appears that Leggett & Platt was able to get a patent on a technology that was well established by the time the patent was applied for in 2004, and very well established by the time it was awarded in 2007.

It should also be noted that the division of Leggett & Platt that was likely pursuing this lawsuit, known as L&P Digital Technologies, was sold by Leggett & Platt in 2008 to WIFAG group of Switzerland, and is now known as WP Digital. The company still sells high-end wide format UV-curable inkjet printers under the Virtu brand. WIFAG is a manufacturer of newspaper presses, package decoration equipment and graphic arts supplies. As such, WIFAG/WP Digital will continue to be an active competitor, especially in Europe, to the leading manufacturers like HP-Scitex, EFI, and Sericol, that are all targeting the commercial and screen print market with high-end wide format UV-curable inkjet printers.

Print 09 Media Days: Day 1

If you are wondering why there has been a flurry of Print 09 announcements over the past day or so, there’s a reason. Today was the first day of a two-day Print 09 pre-briefing event called Media Days. Forty-nine press and journalists from all over the world are gathered in downtown Chicago to listen to fourteen organizations talk about their Print 09 plans. Eight companies presented their plans today and another six will present tomorrow. The organizations that are participating are DiMS!, EFI, GASC (the Graphic Arts Show Company), Henkel, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Lake Image Systems, manroland, MGI, Presstek, the Print Council, Ricoh, RISO, and Xerox. Read more »