ePS Pace

The short version

Pace is a print MIS that grew into a vertical ERP. Estimating, order management, production scheduling, inventory, accounting, and CRM all sit in one browser-based database, which is why a print business can run its books and its plant in the same system. It ranks among the more widely installed print MIS platforms in the US commercial print market, and it spent well over a decade in the field under the name EFI Pace. The target buyer is a midsize printer.

Vendor, history, ownership

The system started life as ePace at Pace Systems Group, one of the first print MIS platforms built fully for the browser. Electronics For Imaging bought Pace Systems in 2008 and sold the product as EFI Pace, positioning it as the mid-market successor to the older MIS lines EFI had absorbed with its 2003 purchase of Printcafe.

Two ownership changes followed in quick succession. In 2022 EFI carved out its productivity software business as eProductivity Software (ePS) under private equity firm Symphony Technology Group, with the print side operating as Print ePS. In October 2025 Print ePS announced a merger of equals with CAI Software, a Rhode Island vertical software company that STG has majority-owned since late 2021. The print business is now the Graphic Communications division of CAI Software, based in Pittsburgh, and the product carries the ePS Pace name.

What it covers

Estimating and quoting, order entry, production scheduling, real-time job tracking, and inventory management for raw materials as well as finished goods. Accounting is built in rather than bolted on: receivables, payables, and general ledger live inside the system, next to CRM and reporting tools. A companion capability called POGO lets managers watch orders and job progress remotely. Pace also connects to web-to-print storefronts and to JDF-enabled prepress and press equipment, so an online order can flow through to the floor without rekeying. Integrated financials are what make it a vertical ERP for a print business rather than a front-office-only MIS.

Who buys it

Typically a midsize US commercial printer that has diversified across offset, digital, and wide-format or display graphics work. Specialty printers land here too, as do shops that have outgrown an entry-level estimating package. The installed base sits mostly in North America, and that is worth something practical: reference visits and user-group contacts are easy to arrange.

Licensing, hosting, cost

New business is cloud-hosted and browser-based. Self-hosted installations from the on-premises era are still running in the field. No price list is published; quotes are assembled from modules, user counts, and hosting choices, and implementation, data conversion, and training sit on top of the subscription. Budget the total rather than the license fee, the way our ERP cost guide frames it.

Where it wins, where it loses

Pace belongs on the shortlist of most midsize US printers replacing a legacy MIS, because few competitors combine this installed base with decades of print-specific development. The reservation is corporate, not functional. The product has moved from EFI to eProductivity Software to CAI Software inside a few years, and the Graphic Communications portfolio holds several overlapping MIS brands plus the newer cloud-native Nubium platform, so ask where the development money goes and get the answer in writing.

Do not buy Pace if a meaningful share of your revenue comes from non-print manufacturing or distribution. It is a print-vertical system by design, and a horizontal ERP will serve a mixed operation better. Run a structured selection process and secure roadmap commitments before signing.

What the ePS Pace website looks like

Current view of the vendor homepage, captured by our editorial team.

Comparable products

• Avanti Slingshot
• CERM
• ePS Monarch
• ePS PrintSmith Vision
• ePS Radius: ERP for Packaging Converters
• Kiwiplan (Advantive)

Related Topics

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