Wide-format print houses looking to improve efficiency and reporting can now turn to Caldera Nexio, a new solution designed to connect the dots between a company's various software applications. This interoperability means that businesses can connect their RIP, workflow, MIS, accounting and other software packages to benefit from improvements to file automation and production reporting.

The award-winning French software developer has engineered Nexio to cater to these two core needs by taking the Job Definition Format (JDF) protocol and extending it to the specific requirements of wide-format digital print environments. Available immediately, Nexio is the product of Caldera's Solutions Integration Department; established last year, this team is dedicated to helping companies derive as much power from their production floor as possible by linking software processes and streamlining hardware control using data.

Most significant is the ability to automate processes to save time, money and resources. With Nexio, a single job can be identified and tagged before being sent into a file workflow, delivering it to a specific printer with certain parameters regarding, for example, quantity, resolution or media. This avoids manual intervention and the need to create several hotfolders for each workflow type, thereby reducing operator time and the risk of human error. Nexio also enables bidirectional communication between the RIP and other software: an ERP, for example, or e-commerce facility, such as Caldera WebShop.

This seamless transmission of job information allows managers to introduce new elements, such as validation, log-saving or job ticketing, to improve reporting, device control and communication within their businesses. These reports are central to production performance analysis, fuelling operational development to make wide-format businesses leaner, more environmentally aware and, ultimately, more profitable.

"Caldera's roadmap focuses on software solutions that make a real difference when they're installed," explains Serge Clauss, Product Sales Manager. "JDF has developed in many ways since it was invented in 1999. We believe it's now time to give wide-format printers the chance to take full advantage of the business optimization it can offer."

Nexio effectively runs in the background, with a module configured for each software application that needs to communicate with the RIP. Each module creates an instance within the Nexio JobTracker whereby available jobs can be viewed, sorted, processed and started or stopped, and error and confirmation messages controlled. As well as operating seamlessly with all elements of the Caldera suite, it also works harmoniously with all common workflow and RIP packages.