At drupa 2024, Electronics For Imaging (EFI) highlighted its expertise in proven single-pass printing solutions for the packaging, display graphics, and textile markets. EFI’s stand saw some of the company’s latest single-pass innovations live. These included the breakthrough Packsize EFI X5 Nozomi, described as the world’s first full-color, on-demand, right-sized box system that prints, cuts, creases, glues, and erects customized boxes at the rate of up to one box every six seconds, and the EFI Nozomi 14000 SD single-pass printer for sign and display.

Additionally, the company showcased a vast array of applications produced on the brand-new Nozomi 14000 AQ true water-based, single-pass printer for corrugated packaging and displays, and the Nozomi 12000 MP single-pass technology for direct-to-metal package printing, as well as the next-generation EFI Reggiani BOLT XS single-pass textile printer.

Evandro Matteucci, vice president and general manager of EFI’s Inkjet Packaging and Building Materials, said, “Since 2012, when we acquired Cretaprint for single-pass inkjet printing of ceramics, and drupa 2016, where we first unveiled Nozomi, we have not only been focused on leveraging single-pass technology across multiple markets but also continuing to improve the speed, quality, efficiency, and more for this disruptive printing technology. The entire global EFI team continues to participate in these developments, pulling technologies and expertise together in a way no other company can. The initial proof case of this capability was bringing the original Nozomi to market in less than two years, an incredible achievement that has resulted in the installation of more than 60 units around the world.”

EFI Nozomi printers were noted for representing the industry’s best single-pass inkjet corrugated technology in terms of power consumption efficiency, certified by the Fogra Research Institute for Media Technologies against the ISO 20690 energy standard. Moreover, EFI Nozomi printers are the only single-pass inkjet offerings in the industry to have their output certified for OCC recyclability and repulpability by the Western Michigan University Recycling, Paper and Coating Pilot Plant, a leading certification organization for corrugated recycling.

Matteucci added, “We see single-pass printing as the future of production printing in the markets we serve. With an increased focus on sustainability around the globe, this technology stands to accelerate the migration of an increasing volume from less sustainable analog printing technologies while at the same time opening up new business opportunities for the print providers that adopt this technology. With quality no longer being an issue, and the speed at which these single-pass printers can operate, print providers also have the opportunity to distinguish themselves in the marketplace with both the speed to market they can deliver for their customers and the ability to eliminate minimum order quantities, which reduces waste and inventory risk.”

In addition to showcasing single-pass inkjet printing at the show, EFI introduced two new software solutions enhancing the value of this technology – EFInsight and the EFI Life Cycle Assessment Tool for Nozomi Printers. EFInsight is a cloud-based intelligence tool that optimizes operational efficiency and total cost of ownership (TCO) for EFI packaging, display graphics, or textile digital inkjet printing systems through data collection, analytics, reporting, proactive maintenance, and process control tools. It provides insights into production economics and tools to maximize inkjet printer investments, currently available for EFI Nozomi single-pass printers for packaging. The EFI Life Cycle Assessment Tool, developed with Clean Agency, documents Nozomi’s environmental footprint, enabling users to analyze CO2 emissions as part of their packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). It has demonstrated that printing corrugated materials on the EFI Nozomi digital press reduces Global Warming Potential (GWP) by over 50% compared to analogue printing technologies.

“Across the entire spectrum of our inkjet printers, EFI offers the widest array of solutions, using Genuine EFI inks and many of them powered by Fiery technology,” said Matteucci. “Experts are available during drupa to explain the differences between multi- and single-pass technologies, where each fits, and the benefits of single pass, especially in high-volume environments. We believe single pass is the future of high-volume production inkjet printing across the markets we serve today and new markets in the future.”