Under the agreement, Heidelberg Canada will distribute EFI’s VUTEk GS2000, GS3200 and GS5000r printers, as well as the inks (under the Saphira brand name), parts, consumables, accessories and upgrades related to these printers. Heidelberg will also provide customer and technical support for the VUTEk GS series of printers, including installation and training.

EFI is a world leader in digital imaging and print management solutions for commercial, screen, packaging, in-plant and specialty printers worldwide. Heidelberg is the world's leading solutions provider for the print media industry. The company manufactures sheetfed press systems, as well as prepress and postpress components, software and consumables for all printing applications.

Heidelberg is the most widely recognized brand in the Canadian printing industry, and a market leader providing the industry with the finest and most technologically advanced prepress, printing and bindery/finishing equipment in the world. Heidelberg Canada employs 160 people working across the country. The company maintains extensive customer support staff in parts, service and consumables. They serve the marketplace with more than 25 equipment and consumables sales representatives and three regional sales vice presidents.

Heidelberg has a full-spectrum solution for multi-process color management including Prinect Color Toolbox, a suite of tools for device calibration, ICC profile generation, and proof/print analysis. The company will use these tools to integrate and color-manage VUTEk output for optimal results. EFI will train and support the Heidelberg Canada team enabling Heidelberg to sell, train and service customers independently.

“Wide and superwide format printing are of considerable interest to the Canadian print market, and Heidelberg has the right workflow, color management, service and consumables expertise needed to integrate these technologies into a print production environment,” said Ken Freek, vice president product management, Heidelberg Canada. “Both EFI and Heidelberg are leaders in their respective markets. Together we can bring a best-in-class portfolio to our customers.”

The VUTEk GS series of high-end printers can be integrated into a complete Prinect workflow and can be color managed by Heidelberg’s Prinect Color Toolbox, which was recently awarded the IDEAlliance G7 System Certification. Customers will benefit from a single workflow that drives a digital device and an offset press, resulting in superior color matching output from both devices.

“Few companies are better respected in the industry than Heidelberg. Adding Heidelberg Canada as a reseller for EFI fits with our mission to offer customers the best combination of products to achieve diversity and profitability,” said Frank Mallozzi, senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, EFI. “With Heidelberg, customers benefit from having a single point of contact for all their printing needs.”

“Commercial printers are looking for ways to distinguish themselves and offer their clients more diversified products and services. Now, the Heidelberg network of customers will benefit from having access to EFI’s industry-leading VUTEk superwide format printers,” added Mallozzi.

VUTEk digital superwide printers range from 2- to 5-meters wide in roll-to-roll and flatbed formats. These versatile printers and inks deliver High-Definition Print (HDP) quality and exceptional production level speeds. They enable greater profitability with localized messaging, direct-to-substrate printing, increased capacity, and reduced labor, waste and make-ready costs. They allow businesses to enter new high-margin markets.