eProductivity Software (EPS) used Fespa to provide an update on its first year of operations as an independent business since being spun out of EFI at the beginning of 2022.
Positioning the company as serving both the print and packaging markets, David Bentley, general manager for SBM print, revealed that the company had added around 100 staff in the period, made US $170 million in sales and had more than 4500 customers. A key expansion of the business had been into sector it had not previously served, including the provision of modules of its software for use in conjunction with non-print focused ERP systems.
Under the theme of adding value for customers he said that the eFlow Automator for production planning was one such offering and cited the Pogo (print on the go) mobile app, designed to track installations of large format work, which ties into the various EPS offerings’ core functionality. Pogo is being trialled now, with a broader roll-out expected from July 2023. As an example of the increased freedom to collaborate with other vendors, Mr Bentley also spoke of the integration with HP’s Print OS via JMF and JDF.
A key aspect of growth was the recently-announced acquisition of UK-based MIS developer Tharstern. Mr Bentley said Tharstern was ‘a great fit’ for EPS, for its customer base but also because of the Cloud-based technology it has in development. He told Digital Printer that the Tharstern brand would be kept, becoming EPS Tharstern, and that the acquisition would provide greater opportunities for the company’s staff.
The Cloud development theme was also picked up by Charlotte Tueckmantel, general manager/vice president for global e-commerce, publication and enterprise print, who commented that the ‘cloudification’ process had been accelerated by the covid pandemic and as a result EPS was now able to add key elements to customers’ existing or bespoke workflows.
Forthcoming EPS events include the Europrint 2023 user conference in Manchester on 21 and 22 June 2023. The company confirmed that it would be attending drupa 2024 and that its Connect conference and exhibition would be moved from its previous January slot to August 2024, still in Las Vegas, USA, with the aim of being a carbon-neutral event.
