The on demand nature of the printing industry, coupled with pressures from customers to become a one-stop shop and an effortless experience of anytime, anywhere is creating an evolution in what buyers are expecting, according to EFI senior vice-president and general manager of productivity software Gaby Matsliach. 

Matsliach was speaking at the day two keynote of the EFI Connect conference in Las Vegas, outlining the company’s key priorities for 2020 – meeting customer demands by evolving partnerships, helping printers find ways to unlock revenue, providing future ready technology, and empowering print people with a comprehensive ecosystem value.

“These days, we have three generations of business leaders working under one roof and looking after a business. You have the baby boomers leaders who probably started the print business, the Gen X leaders and the millennials who are stepping up to those roles now,” he said.

“The skillsets that they bring to the organisation is diverse, with the millennials being the most tech savvy. The dynamic of having three generations in a business is interesting as combined with changing customer needs, it creates a requirement for an evolving business model.”

Dealing with that evolving business model requires technological change.

“Technology is the key foundation to deal with that change, offer a point of differentiation, and change the mode of operations to meet the needs of the marketplace,” Matsliach said.

This also means that printers will now be able to work smarter, not necessarily harder.

Matsliach identified four dimensions where EFI aims to help its customers unlock value:

• Brainstorming with customers about their future, vision and current needs to merge industry expertise with subject matter expertise from EFI
• Taking that vision and making smart selections of technology for a business driven approach to craft and having an end-to-end view
• Execution through partnership and change management
• Empowering the printer to evolve the business, collaborate better, and do what they do the best that they can

“The empowerment part is the most important to us at EFI. We aim to do that by defining user experience, adapting workflows, evolving your operations, driving automation, business intelligence and improving your customer interactions,” he said.

“With this in mind, we will be working on a multi-year, multi-step approach to do that. There will be an emphasis on underlying technology and a vision around a holistic and extensible ecosystem.

“Over the last few years, we have provided you with a suite of tools and we’ve come a long way since then in shaping the way that you’re using technology. 2019 was a good year of major inventions in our productivity suites and this year, you can expect more enhanced support.

“A key area of focus for us this year is business intelligence and we’re aiming to provide you with better insights into your business using data to make the best decisions for your business.”

Sprinter travelled to Connect in Las Vegas as a guest of EFI. 

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