As per the terms of the deal, EFI will continue to produce and support FFPS so current customers do not experience interruptions in sales or service.

Xerox’s expertise and unique functionality from FFPS will be integrated with EFI’s Fiery product. Customers will benefit from EFI sales and technical field resources working side-by-side with their Xerox sales team.

“This next step in our strategic alliance will give customers the industry’s highest performing DFE with unparalleled imaging and color management,” said Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI. “EFI integration among the DFE, workflow software, and management information systems products deliver the higher levels of automation and productivity that are key to print businesses taking full advantage of the opportunities with digital printing.”

Andrew Copley, president, Graphic Communications Solutions, Xerox, said, “EFI is an industry leader and has a proven track record with performance, ease of use and seamless integration with industry workflow solutions.”

 “Customers will gain a powerful solution with more efficiencies, performance and quality to meet the most demanding production requirements,” he added.

The next generation DFE coming from this partnership will be integrated with EFI’s Productivity Suites, which include management information systems such as PACE, PrintSmith Vision, Monarch, and Radius ERP. Additionally, the DFE will integrate with Xerox FreeFlow Core and XMPie workflows as well as third-party pre-press solutions such as Agfa Apogee, Heidelberg Prinect, and Kodak Prinergy.

The agreement is for FFPS only and does not impact the Xerox workflow solutions that carry a FreeFlow sub-brand and will remain independent key planks for Xerox customers’ workflow strategy.