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EFI - 5/4/2006
EFI Concludes Largest Ever Connect User Conference
Foster City, Calif.- May 4, 2006 - A record number of printing industry leaders from around the world attended
EFI Connect 2006 this week, the largest annual user conference in the print industry. During the conference,
held at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, EFI (Nasdaq:EFII) launched enhancements to its suite of
management systems and web-to-print solutions.
"EFI just concluded its most successful Connect users' conference to date, welcoming more than 1,300 people
to Las Vegas for four days of expert-led classes and exposure to the newest technology and trends in the industry,"
said Marc Olin, senior vice president/general manager, EFI Professional Printing Applications. "We also took the
opportunity to preview several upcoming MIS releases and launch the latest versions of our Hagen OA and
PrinterSite Fulfillment offerings."
Participants learned first-hand about product direction and the future of print technologies from EFI executives,
and attended a special "fireside chat" with Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen, who shared his vision for the company
and the industry. Attendees were able to "test drive" the latest EFI products in the lab area, go to more than 200
educational sessions, network with peers, and visit exhibits from 21 of the industry's leading companies.
Roy Grossman, president and CEO of Sandy Alexander, said: "The time we spend at EFI Connect is critical to
our business. The classes ensure that we're using our EFI solutions to their fullest, while giving us a chance to
provide input into future capabilities. And we always come away with a renewed perspective on the trends and
challenges facing the print industry."
To coincide with the start of Connect, EFI shipped a feature-packed upgrade to its industry-leading EFI
Hagen(TM) OA management system. Version 9.0 has tighter integration with EFI PrinterSite(R) products, a
more robust desktop interface, and key enhancements to estimating to handle both multi-web and grand format
printing capabilities. The system now has integration to both Manhattan Associate's Integrated Logistics
Solutions for advanced warehouse management and their Outbound Shipping solution.
Product integration was a key message at this year's conference, and the company announced integration of
its PrinterSite Exchange web-to-print solution with Hagen 9.0 and also demonstrated the existing connectivity
to Logic. This integration lets printers' customers submit jobs from the popular web application, and then enables
the printing plant to manage the planning, production, scheduling, invoicing and accounting of those jobs from
within the Hagen MIS environment.
Also at Connect, EFI released the latest version of PrinterSite(R) Fulfillment, its client-facing web-to-print solution
with integration to Hagen, Logic and PSI print management systems. With new VDP tools from XMPie, and
integration of PrinterSite Fulfillment with USADATA's List Module, users of version 3.0 can now order
sophisticated direct mail campaigns and fulfillment programs using corporate-approved collateral, mailers and
lists in minutes.
The upcoming release of Logic(TM) SQL was on display for the first time at Connect. Available in Q3, Logic 22.
05 will offer first-time JDF support, tighter integration with PrinterSite Fulfillment and Exchange, and greater
workflow and customization capabilities. EFI also previewed the next version of its PSI(TM) system, showcasing
a new "Product Master" module and many customer-requested enhancements. Version 12.0 is expected to ship
next month.
In addition, the company announced separate collaborations with Artwork Systems and Presstek. EFI's efforts
to ensure customers' success in migrating to an offset/digital hybrid environment now includes joint work with
Artwork Systems, Agfa, Screen, Rampage and Presstek, among other partners.
EFI Connect 2007 is planned for June 10-13 at the Wynn Las Vegas.
www.efi.com
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