The 10-year, A$10m (£5.1m) MIS deal was inked with the Australia-headquartered chain yesterday (Thursday, 8 May).
“This deal will really put Snap ahead of the market in terms of forward thinking technology infrastructure,” said EFI chief executive Guy Gecht.
Snap is the largest quickprint, marketing and website design chain in the southern hemisphere, with 162 centres in Australia alone. It also has significant presence in China, New Zealand and Ireland, where it is the largest quick print franchise in the country with 24 centres.
The EFI PrintSmith and Productivity Software Suite tools will be rolled out to all Snap locations over the next two years.
“We started changing our strategic focus to bring technology to the fore, and not just in an operational sense but by trying to link operational with client-centric solutions together because we think that to survive and thrive in our sector then technology will be one of the things that will give us that edge,” said Snap chief executive Stephen Edwards.
According to Edwards, Snap embarked on a global tender process around 12 months ago to find a long-term partner that could offer a “next-generation product eco-system” to help it leverage its brand beyond its core markets into areas such as B2B design services and B2C.
“Today we have ended up with the partner, EFI, that made the most sense and could add the most value to where we were headed and take us to another level.”
“Project DNA [name of the project] is all about driving necessary action. Part of that is all the automation, the in-centre MIS requirement, client interaction tools like Digital StoreFront, I know that EFI has other products and solutions and we will look to plug those in too. This is a long term deal and we’re hitching our wagon to where EFI is going,” said Edwards.
While the deal is initially focused on EFI’s software solutions, Edwards said the partnership could grow to include other technologies over time.
Snap was formed 115 years ago and has 182 stores across its four countries. It operates a hub and spoke model, with each territory underpinned by a production hub to support each franchises own production facilities.
Meanwhile, EFI has appointed Marc Olin as its chief financial officer (CFO). Olin was most recently chief operating officer and interim CFO.
"Marc's business acumen, drive and utmost respect inside and outside of EFI make him the perfect candidate for such a key role in driving M&A and organic growth to the billion-dollar mark and beyond," said Gecht.
