Fremont, CA (Jan. 24, 2018) — New Home Media, a Lorton, VA-based signage printing business, will reach a new level of efficiency, productivity and quality following its significant investment in new technology from Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (Nasdaq: EFII). New Home Media purchased EFI VUTEk LX3 Pro hybrid roll/flatbed and VUTEk 5r roll-to-roll LED inkjet superwide-format printers, along with a complete EFI Midmarket Print Suite developed specifically for superwide-format inkjet business and production workflow management.
EFI announced the purchase today during its Connect users’ conference in Las Vegas, which features an exhibit of EFI’s integrated portfolio including the Midmarket Print Suite and VUTEk LED hybrid and roll-to-roll LED inkjet printers.
A technology advantage for efficient, high-end signage production
New Home Media has come a long way since owner and lead salesperson Chuck Smith transitioned from selling residential real estate to printing real estate signage with an old screen print press. The 28-year old business has a strong market presence and a growing digital production operation, serving Northern Virginia homebuilders. Smith and his team have a New Year’s resolution to become more efficient to better service existing customers and attract new ones. The technology partnership, where EFI is supporting the company with end-to-end production and workflow capabilities, is a big part of New Home Media’s 2018 initiative to expand and improve.
The energy-efficient VUTEk LED printers New Home Media is installing this month create many new opportunities because of their size and throughput. “They’re faster and we expect them to be more reliable, too,” said New Home Media’s Chief Operating Officer, Fred Cowell, of the company’s decision to upgrade from smaller UV inkjet printers to the 10-foot wide hybrid and 16-foot wide roll-to-roll LED printers from EFI.
According to Cowell, EFI’s strong position in the marketplace and solid reputation played a big role in the decision to buy the printers.
Versatility yields productivity, less overtime and faster delivery
Cowell believes that one of the most immediate benefits of the new printers will be a drastic reduction in setup time between media. But, with the new VUTEk printers, switching media is almost an afterthought. “Our set-up time will go from 15-20 minutes to a matter of seconds with the new printers,” Cowell said, referring to the printers’ ability to automatically calculate media thickness, recalibrate, and then draw the material through.
The purchase is New Home Media’s first transaction working with EFI. The company is pleasantly surprised at EFI’s approach to ensuring high-quality service for superior uptime, including comprehensive training EFI is providing to New Home Media’s staff.
A workflow that gives New Home Media clients a marketing advantage
In addition, New Home Media is installing EFI’s Midmarket Print Suite workflow this year. It will feature EFI Pace as its core MIS/ERP technology and will allow New Home Media to integrate its entire business and production process, from job submission to delivery. It also will include EFI’s unique Superwide Format component technology for better, more accurate signage and graphics estimating, scheduling, and production management. EFI Fiery proServer digital front ends (DFEs) used to run the new printers will feed production data into the Suite, ensuring New Home Media’s staff have real-time, up-to-the-minute information on their production operation.
The most important advantage of the workflow, according to Cowell, is the ability to create and quickly access databases to revise past jobs. New Home Media primarily serves homebuilders, clients that may have up to 80 signs printed in different sizes on various media in each of their new communities. Those customers often need to update their signs with new price information. The new EFI workflow will simplify the process of recalling the specs and production data for all of those signs each time an update is required.
The company also is excited about a web-to-print component being installed with the Suite, which will enable New Home Media to create customized storefronts with templates for clients to create and track orders online.
EFI’s complete portfolio of business and production management workflow software, DFEs, and inkjet products help customers reduce costs, drive efficiencies, and win new work.
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About EFI
EFI is a global technology company, based in Silicon Valley, and is leading the worldwide transformation from analog to digital imaging. We are passionate about fueling customer success with products that increase competitiveness and boost productivity. To do that, we develop breakthrough technologies for the manufacturing of signage, packaging, textiles, ceramic tiles, and personalized documents, with a wide range of printers, inks, digital front ends, and a comprehensive business and production workflow suite that transforms and streamlines the entire production process.
