Former Xerox head Jeff Jacobson has been appointed the new EFI chief executive officer, effective immediately. Jacobson will retain his position as executive chairman and succeeds Bill Muir, who is stepping down for personal reasons.
Apart from serving as the chief executive officer of Xerox, Jacobson also served as both president of Xerox’s technology business as well as its global graphic communications operations. Prior to joining Xerox in 2012, Jacobson was the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Presstek, a leading manufacturer of digital offset printing solutions.
“I am thrilled to be expanding my role on EFI’s leadership team to identify unique opportunities for innovation across the company. EFI’s portfolio of best-in-class solutions presents an exciting opportunity to drive further growth in high-quality inkjet and integrated, digital workflows. Together with my experienced and talented colleagues on the EFI team, we will provide the leadership needed to help EFI accelerate the transformation of industries where colorful images matter,” Jacobson said.
Before his time at Xerox and Presstek, Jacobson served as chief operating officer of Eastman Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, where he was responsible for managing operations in Eastman Kodak’s Global Graphics operations, which included manufacturing locations throughout North America, Europe, Japan, China, Israel and South Africa. Jacobson also served for five years as chief executive officer of Kodak Polychrome Graphics, a joint venture between Sun Chemical and Eastman Kodak.
“It has been a privilege to lead EFI through an important chapter in the company’s history, and I look forward to seeing EFI thrive as it continues to collaborate with customers and partners worldwide,” said Muir.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
