When first previewed to delegates at its user conference Connect in June chief executive Guy Gecht said: "In some cases there is too much information to make the right decision. The future is about getting the right information to the right people at the right time it's about making the right decisions."

EIS, which provides a visual representation of the information requested and allows users to ask further questions based on initial findings, works with the firm's Hagen and Logic MIS.

"Think of it as an executive dashboard not a report writer, it's a real time data analysis tool," said EFI general manager of commercial print systems Marc Olin. "I think of it as a pivot or data table from Excel on steroids."

A free upgrade for all customers with a service contract it will be launched at Print 05 in Chicago next month.

"We feel it's important enough for everyone to have to help run their businesses better," said Olin. "It's about making you a high IQ print shop."

Story by Barney Cox