He described the firm's customers as "our best source of information", and reminded printers to ensure they were gleaning vital insights from their own clients.

Elaborating on his window of opportunity theme from last year's conference, Gecht said he was often asked what common traits he observed among successful printing businesses. "What they do is focus on what their customers' will need in the next three-to-five years, and how to translate those customer requirements into innovation."

In a sideswipe at competitors who are hamstrung by corporate dictats, he added: "I'm pretty sure EFI has way more customer interaction than our competitors. Some seem to spend all their time in internal meetings. But the priority should be outside because the future is outside - free up time to go and meet your customers."

"We know we have no future if we don't come up with cool new technologies for our customers," Gecht stated.

Gecht also tackled the issue of trade show attendance, and while he was in favour of consolidation he also reaffirmed EFI's intentions to exhibit at Ipex 2014. "We had an internal debate about it because of all the companies that dropped out. It might actually be an opportunity for us to have more meaningful discussions with customers," he said. "At this point our plan is to go to Ipex."

Printers at the four-day conference came predominantly from North America, but the 1,200 attendees included customers from as far afield as Australia and Turkey who jetted in to hear about EFI's product roadmap, network with peers and attend expert sessions.

Alex Evans, managing director at EFI MIS user Precision Colour Printing in Telford said: "It's a very well-attended event and for MIS customers old and new it's a date in the diary they need to go to."

Newest EFI acquisition Technique also attended, and EFI senior vice president and general manager for productivity software Marc Olin announced plans to add Technique's highly-regarded CRM sysytem as a layer for the Radius and Monarch systems.

Further acquisitions remain on the cards, with Gecht stating: "I'll be shocked and you'll be shocked if there are no more EFI acquisitions in 2013."

He also tackled rumours that EFI could be taken private, saying: "We love the business we're in and we're very passionate about the industry. So yes, it could be appealing for the management team, but it would require a lot of money."