EFI is to market Cretaprint ceramic tile inkjet printing machines to its existing large-format customer base to allow them to diversify into ceramic time printing as well as targeting industrial scale operations according to its VP marketing, inkjet solutions, Ken Hanulec.
“A huge value lever we intend to unlock is to bring Cretaprint immediately into the EFI ecosystem. This will allow us to leverage supply chain, R&D, technology, ink, and of course our go to market expertise,” he said. “At this time (when the acquisition is only hours old) we will be evaluating all technology and go to market areas leveraging them for the maximum return to the shareholders. We will certainly maximise them including leveraging our existing customers and prospects.”
EFI acquired privately-held, Spanish-based Cretaprint, a developer of inkjet printers for ceramic tile printing, on 11 January. Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI said: "We have been tracking the swift transformation from analogue to digital technology in tile imaging for quite some time, and have been deeply impressed with the fast growth and global leadership position of Cretaprint."
"We are extremely excited to join EFI and look forward to leveraging EFI's Silicon Valley high-tech DNA, inkjet expertise, workflow, and colour management," said Victor Blasco, CEO of Cretaprint. "EFI's global presence will accelerate the adoption of our digital technology across the globe and especially in emerging markets." Industry analysts continue to project rapid growth in ceramic tile inkjet printing, as noted by Dr Ray Work, Work Associates.
"The tile industry is moving towards inkjet," said Work. "The financial incentives are so great that the entire industry is converting rapidly to inkjet. The ceramic tile manufacturer can pay back their investment in an inkjet digital press for ceramic tiles in as little as six months."
The Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) conducts annual membership surveys. Its 2011 Industrial Printing Survey Report indicated that over 75% of its members utilise digital printing and also consider ceramic tile printing to be a strong market opportunity.
EFI will use its knowledge of inkjet technology to enhance Cretaprint's quality of output, software control, colour management and plans to strengthen Cretaprint's operations in Spain.
Current Cretaprint products are:
• Cretaprinter: for large-format inkjet printing
• Cretacompact: for high performance ink injection
• Cretaplotter: a Cretaprint inkjet plotter
• Double Tile Printing: for two different designs and two different formats with just one printer
• Cretavision: artificial vision system that recognises reliefs for digital ceramic printing