Making Small Print Orders Profitable at Scale · Adam Carnell & Cameron Mitchel · Route 1 Print

How do you turn thousands of small print orders into an efficient, highly automated industrial production process? At Route 1 Print in the UK, the answer lies in intelligent job aggregation, sophisticated workflow software, and investment in high-performance printing and finishing technology.

In this INKISH film, Adam Carnell, Co-CEO, explains how Route 1 Print, part of the Bluetree Group, has developed its e-commerce and trade printing business around a simple principle: combining small, individual customer orders into larger production batches and directing each job to the most suitable technology.

A central part of this strategy is the new SCREEN Truepress JET 560HDX, which replaces the company’s previous generation of SCREEN inkjet presses. With production speeds of up to 150 meters per minute, improved print quality, and the ability to handle both coated and uncoated substrates, the press significantly increases capacity while reducing operator intervention.

But the story is about much more than printing speed. Route 1 Print has invested heavily in workflow automation, including SCREEN’s EQUIOS software, automated job grouping, and integration with Hunkeler and other finishing technologies. Rather than treating each order as a separate production task, the company establishes continuous production streams that maximize equipment utilization and reduce per-unit cost.

Automation also extends beyond the printing presses. Robots already handle pallet movements, while the company continues to investigate how material handling, finishing, packing, and logistics can become increasingly automated.

Interestingly, Carnell does not believe that a completely lights-out printing factory is immediately achievable. Printing technology and workflow software have advanced enormously, but physically moving, handling, and packing printed products remain significant challenges. Nevertheless, certain production streams could become almost entirely automated within the next five years.

An insightful look at how one of the UK’s leading online trade printers combines technology, software, and industrial thinking to make short-run printing profitable at scale—and why the next major productivity gains may happen after the printing press rather than on it.