LithoTechnics, Inc., developer of Metrix(r), the intelligent, automated job planning and imposition system, announced today that Metrix 2011.1 has been released. The new software includes many remarkable features, most importantly their groundbreaking automation technology.

Metrix has always automated certain tasks, such as calculating the job plan based on the job specifications, press setup, and finishing requirements, and then delivering the finished imposition to prepress and finishing. Moreover, setup of the Metrix project has been possible via XML since Metrix version 2.0 released in 2006. However, trying alternate planning scenarios, or adding marks to non-standard work, and ultimately approving and exporting the project to prepress and finishing has always required operator intervention.

Metrix 2011.1 changes the entire paradigm. Now, with a Metrix XML job description file and either the Metrix Automation Server or the Metrix Automation Lite module, estimators, planners, prepress operators, or indeed other software systems can send XML data to Metrix and move on to other tasks, while Metrix automatically performs the work.  This can literally mean that plates drop out the other end of the process, when no error conditions have been triggered. Metrix Automation can be configured to send email for various events, including successful completion for a particular project, or when operator attention is required. An associated feature, Automation Workflows, allows similar automated processing directly from any Metrix client, dramatically reducing operator effort - even for customers with no access to Metrix XML data.

For large companies requiring high throughput, Metrix 2011.1 Automation Server delivers breakthrough performance and productivity. Metrix Automation Server allows for a virtually unlimited number of hot folders, and parallel processing of multiple concurrent projects per hot folder! For companies not requiring such high volume throughput, the Metrix 2011.1 Automation Lite module offers incredible value. Automation Lite is an optional module for Metrix and allows for a single hot folder per Metrix client, processing one project at a time per hot folder. It is an extremely affordable solution that enables printers to process work completely automatically, error-free, and at unheard of speed.

Rohan Holt, President of LithoTechnics, Inc., and inventor of Metrix, said, "End-to-end, 'lights-out' automation has always been part of the Metrix vision, and for certain markets Metrix Automation completely fulfills that dream." Holt continued, "Metrix Automation will do, totally automatically, what many companies spend hours of skilled labor doing. Many printers have a hard time believing this is possible. I invite everyone to schedule a demonstration with one of our resellers or with us, and have a look for yourself. Seeing is believing."