Introduction
In today’s fast-paced printing ecosystem, the value of direct and streamlined digital print integrations cannot be overstated. Caldera, renowned for its robust RIP system, has been a game-changer in the digital inkjet print industry.
Caldera is best known in the digital print and cut industry primarily serving the graphic arts, display and textile printing markets driving large and grand format print devices.
Yet, maximizing Caldera’s potential and significant cost savings requires an intelligent bridge, ensuring seamless communication between queued and batched work, imposition (ganging) and submission to the press RIP with efficiency at every step.
ZenSmart has built a custom integration between the ZenSmart workflow automation platform and Caldera to enable the automation of on demand print manufacturing processes from order source to shipping.
Problem
Many print RIP systems, while technologically advanced, often operate in isolation and work must be manually managed and moved to the RIP. This means large format and textile print facilities aiming for end-to-end automation in their on demand and print workflow are blocked. High labor cost, inefficient press utilization, error and missed production deadlines are the result..
The ZenSmart-Caldera Integration Unveiled
ZenSmart has effectively leveraged Caldera’s capabilities by integrating directly with its system, (similar to other ZenSmart integrations such as HP PrintOS, EFI Fiery and Canon Prisma). This ZenSmart integration hinges on Caldera Nexio, an essential plug-in for vendors aiming to achieve complete automation of their wide format print workflow.
(If you haven’t come across Nexio, it’s an extension to Caldera that enables integration with 3rd party applications using standard JDF or JMF protocols).
With Nexio installed, ZenSmart uses this interface and crafts a JDF and JMF handler enveloping the Nexio instance. The beauty of this process lies in the level of workflow automation achieved. Jobs are imposed automatically, queued, batched, imposed and then dispatched for printing. However, it’s the two-way communication that truly stands out. ZenSmart provides Nexio with all the necessary details about the job and issues the print request. In return, Nexio updates ZenSmart about every phase of the job’s life cycle, be it nesting, ripping or printing and error states if the job fails at any of those stages.
This means that an order workflow can be implemented which takes the print order from its source all the way to the press with no staff contact at all delivering very significant savings in cost and time.
Operational Advantages
This deep ZenSmart – Caldera integration not only ensures precision and consistency but also reduces manual interventions drastically. Digital print facilities using Caldera, when combined with ZenSmart, can achieve a fully automated print workflow.
Key benefits that flow from this are:
- Reduced press room labor cost
- Reduced prepress labor cost
- Business rule based execution of queued work removing the chance of human error
- Faster queued work to press time increasing compliance to SLA
- Increased press utilization delivering better capital yield.
- Rich job status information enabling precise SLA compliance and work scheduling
- Automated error management re-queue or retry
Real-time updates about print job status also mean that troubleshooting becomes easier. Knowing when a job has been nested, printed, or if it encounters issues, ensures a proactive approach to problem-solving.
Conclusion
ZenSmart doesn’t just interface with Caldera; it amplifies its capabilities. By ensuring real-time communication, automatic imposition, and detailed job status updates, ZenSmart makes Caldera Nexio a valuable investment for print facilities. This synergy results in an end-to-end automated print workflow, solidifying the importance of such integrations in today’s competitive print industry landscape.
Seeking Deeper Insights?
If you would like to know more about the ZenSmart – Caldera integration, then find us at zensmart.ai and send us an inquiry via the form located at the base of each page.
