EFI Has made itself known for its UV inkjet inks and its huge, wide format 2D printers, as well as its 2D printer productivity software. In a recent interview outlining the company’s Q4 profits, EFI CEO, Guy Gecht, hinted that the company may take its success from the 2D world and apply it to the third dimension.
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While the 2D printer business may have profited from the production of its huge printers and UV inkjet inks last year, EFI will not be producing large-format 3D printers or curable AM inks. Instead, Gecht implied that the company may bring their productivity software to the 3D world. The company’s Fiery software allows for the management of multiple print jobs on multiple printers, while accounting for supply management and generating business related forms that go along with the production cycle. Gecht explained that it is in this key area that 3D printing could benefit most from EFI’s products:
We are looking at some other areas including the much talked about 3D printing where a lot of customers are telling us the same challenges that the printing industry saw in the last 10-15 years are starting to emerge. That means that they need an accurate estimate on the cost of the product and they need to be able to schedule that, they need to connect the buyer to the producer over the internet. So we are looking carefully at the opportunity with that emerging market.
As the business associated with 3D printing increases, service providers will have to better manage their workflow. If EFI is able to make the process more efficient and easier to track, the businesses themselves will become more efficient. I lack experience as a financial advisor, but my dad did give me a book to read about the stock market called One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch, of Fidelity Investments. In it, Lynch hails businesses with the most boring descriptions as being some of the biggest money makers because, while many lay investors will be too bored to bother with them, they may sell products that become staples of the marketplace. So, EFI may not be producing a large-format 3D printer anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t keep an eye on their stock.
Source: PrintWeek
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