Foster City, Calif. – March 21, 2005 – EFI, the world leader in digital imaging and print management solutions for commercial and enterprise printing, has released the most significant upgrade to EFI Auto-Count in three years, adding multi-language support, a simpler user interface, and enhanced integration with its Hagen, Logic and PSI print management systems. EFI Auto-Count is a real-time production counting and machine monitoring tool that reduces waste and improves productivity. Auto-Count version 21, shipping now, allows users to view information in English, French, German and Spanish and to easily switch between languages on the fly. With minimal set-up, screen wording can be customized by the plant to fit its own terminology. In addition, the “look and feel” of the product has been simplified, making it easier to navigate with new pull-down menus and fewer buttons. The new changes improve integration with EFI's print MIS systems, letting operators display run lists, production logs, job tickets, and other critical production data right on the Auto-Count monitor. As always, Auto-Count provides a patented Direct Machine Interface (DMI) for capturing waste data from analog equipment and features the familiar, easy to use Windows interface. “The product has seen many improvements since its development in 1983, but we're most proud of the recent enhancements to its features and user interface,” said Udi Arieli, director of product management, EFI CIM products. “We're confident our customers, particularly those in non-English speaking countries, will be impressed with the changes. Auto-Count is a key component in the workflow of a true Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) shop, providing the most accurate counts available from any system today.” Dartmouth Printing, a Sheridan Group company based in Hanover, NH, specializes in short run publication printing. Said President Dave Hewitt: “Dartmouth Printing has been a dedicated user of the Auto-Count system since installing our first web press. As a printer using full size web presses with a primary market focus on short runs – often under 10,000 copies and sometimes under 5,000 – accurate counts are not only critical to our profitability but to our survival. Auto-Count has consistently allowed us to be confident that we are running enough signatures to complete a binding, but not so many that there are significant ‘overs' or differences between signature counts. They are a critical part of our web printing process, and we could not survive in our market without them. Auto-Counts have been one of the ingredients to our growth and success over the last 27 years.” The new release also better supports existing customers who have come to rely on specific hardware features of previous versions, including support for the Auto-Count 2 Channelizer in multiple delivery installations and support for the Auto-Count 500/ Delivery Monitor. New functionality has been added to support tandem press configurations and to send counts from combined presses to a single Auto-Count, as well as to support multiple Paper Monitors for these tandem configurations. In addition, Auto-Count is now integrated with the EFI PrintFlow dynamic scheduling application. Auto-Count supplies information to PrintFlow so it can schedule, optimize and synchronize the plant in real time for customers with Logic and PSI, and soon Hagen OA. This represents a huge shift from previous DMI offerings, which were only focused on waste counting.