EFI has snapped up home-grown Metrix Software, as Australian design and innovation continues to take the world by storm.
EFI welcomed Rohan Holt, Metrix Software founder, designer and CEO, on board as director of the new division, and almost the entire support, sales and product team will make the move with him.
- Rohan Holt, director, EFI Metrix
Marc Olin, EFI’s interim CFO and senior vice president, said, “Adding the Metrix team’s exceptional talent and technical know-how helps us drive innovation even further, ensuring EFI customers can continue to reduce the cost and improve the profitability of their printing operations.”
Founded by Rohan Holt in 2003, Metrix's groundbreaking imposition software is widely used for ganging print jobs, and debuted its latest version at Chicago Print13. This release will be the first to go out under the new EFI Metrix name.
Holt praised the level of support from EFI through the transition: “I believe this is a key strategic move for them. It opens up the ability for EFI to offer end-to-end integration right from the consumer, from web-to-print, management of material, inventory all the way through to output, RIPs and digital devices.”
EFI plans to continue using Metrix’s existing reseller and channel arrangements, as well as continuing development and customer support activities for all brand products. EFI Metrix will continue to be made available as a single product, but will also expand to serve as an integrated module in a more complete, unified EFI workflow.
Holt explains: “My goal, after a number of years working as a partner with EFI, is to now have the opportunity to fully integrate Metrix with their two main MIS, Pace and Monarch. To bring a new level of automation that is absolutely unique in the industry.”
The ganging application of Metrix Software automatically imposes multiple jobs to optimise plate production for improved efficiency, saving make-readies and hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Holt’s sights are set on loftier targets now, with the complete workflow capacity of EFI to play with. He hopes the move will benefit printers by giving them access to increased levels of efficiency for lean manufacturing.
“I believe in the future, and we’re not that far from it now, we’ll be at a point where the order comes in and the system analyses what it needs to produce, its constraints and resources and then determines the best way to manufacture it. The software just works it out and it’s away,” says Holt.