McCallum Print Group Eliminates Prepress Imposition Burden with Metrix

SEATTLE—Oct. 29, 2012—Metrix Software, developer of Metrix, the intelligent, automated job planning and imposition system, announced that McCallum Print Group, a Seattle powerhouse serving diverse markets across the United States, has successfully streamlined and automated its planning and imposition workflow with Metrix. According to Leah Graham, prepress manager at McCallum, “Thanks to Metrix, imposition is no longer half of what we do in prepress—it’s about 5 percent of what we do.”

Prior to Metrix, McCallum’s planning and imposition workflow consisted of hand-drawn project plans and PREPS. Explained Graham, “We wanted a solution that would allow us to automate not only on the output side, but also on the input side, and one that would eliminate the pencils, paper, and calculators.”

Metrix filled the bill on all counts, with its ability to import both XML and CSV job description data and export JDF to prepress systems and finishing equipment.

Incorporating Metrix into the workflow at McCallum was “fast and easy.” Live work was produced on day one of its training from Fujifilm. Within a few days, “every single job” was being produced with Metrix. Sending JDF to Rampage from Metrix was “dead simple” and was implemented “right from the start.”

McCallum’s prepress team was thrilled that Metrix made book work “much, much faster,” and that they were able to handle complex book projects with ease.

Prepress operator Kai Yamada said, “Metrix excels in book work. Whether it’s a 32-page magazine or a 300-page catalog, the ease with which we are able to adjust the page count or make adjustments for bindery specs is one of the finer features of Metrix.” Graham added, “At the last minute we can decide that we want the 4-pager to be first and not last, and all we have to do is drag-and-drop.”

Metrix ganging also earned high praise from the team at McCallum. “Now, ganging multiple product sizes is so much faster and easier,” said Graham. The fact that Metrix “does the math” adds value in other ways too: “Our job engineers had calculated a particular job at 10-up, but Metrix found a way to do it 12-up. Metrix shows you what’s possible,” she explained.

Leah Graham concluded by saying, “We absolutely love Metrix and are glad to have the opportunity to tell our story.”

About Metrix
Metrix Software is a privately held company founded in 2003 by Rohan Holt. Holt invented the first production planning software for the sheetfed market in 1995, and Metrix®, Metrix Software’s flagship product, is the culmination of Holt’s years of print production experience and accumulated software design expertise. Metrix, launched in 2004, received the prestigious 2005 PIA/GATF InterTech™ Technology Award, recognized industry-wide as a symbol of technological innovation and excellence. With offices in Edmonds, Washington, Turnhout, Belgium, and south of Sydney, Australia, Metrix Software is a software company focused on providing key tools and technologies to enable print workflow automation. Metrix Software is a full member of the CIP4 Organization.

Source: Metrix.