Route 1 Print installs UK first SCREEN Truepress JET 560HDX

Route 1 Print has become the first UK company to install the SCREEN Truepress JET 560HDX digital inkjet printer, in response to a growing demand for shorter print runs with tighter deadlines.

Route 1, the trade arm of parent company Bluetree Group, produces thousands of jobs daily for print resellers across the UK, supporting them from a 300,000sq ft production facility. Its output includes a variety of commercial print products including flyers, leaflets, business cards, and booklets for resale.

The recently launched press was purchased after Route 1 saw demand shift to smaller quantities that needed to be supplied on shorter notice at competitive prices. The company is an existing SCREEN commercial printing partner, already operating two Truepress JET 520HD inkjet presses.

Shorter print runs, custom quantities, and faster turnaround times are all in rising demand in the UK print landscape due to an increase in ecommerce resellers, with a consumer base more used to on-demand customisation that expects orders to be delivered quickly or even next-day.

Commenting on these shifting demands, Adam Carnell, chief executive officer at Route 1 Print, says: “The trade print market has changed considerably. Our reseller clients and their customers expect greater flexibility with the same consistent high-quality from our printing services.

“When we considered our next press investment, we needed a solution that could meet that pace of change while continuing to offer them products that not only match but continue to exceed our own high standards.”

The Truepress JET 560HDX offers 1,200dpi resolution printheads, with maximum speeds of 150m/min. It is designed to produce output visually indistinguishable from offset print, powered by SCREEN's Truepress SC2 ink set that can print directly onto standard offset-coated stocks without primer.

The JET 560HDX also supports printing both barcodes and 2D matrix codes, which are readable by a variety of finishing equipment. These codes allow inline finishing equipment to be configured automatically with individual job parameters for a variety of applications. These can also be reconfigured across different continuously printed jobs which are fed on a single reel from the press, without operator intervention.

This configuration aims to minimise setup and changeover, reduce the risk of human-error, and maximise throughput, particularly across multiple mixed short-run job queues.

The Truepress JET 560HDX is also integrated inline with a Digital Fluid Applicator (DFA) and a Contour Web Coater, which have been developed to protect print vibrancy and ensure that substrates remain stable throughout downstream finishing without impacting press productivity.

Reflecting on the impact of the integrated workflow, Carnell adds: “The balance of improved printing quality and consistency, with a printing platform that streamlines every step of production from job management to finishing, is making a real impact on how efficiently we move work through production.

“Our operators can focus entirely on throughput, and the result is marked improvements to our products without impacting cost-per-print.”

The investment by Route 1 forms part of a wider multi-million-pound investment programme in Route 1’s production capabilities, including two major upgrades to its stickers and labels division and the revamp of its wide-format department.

Bui Burke, senior vice president of sales at SCREEN Europe, says: “Route 1 Print represents exactly the kind of high-performance, forward-thinking printing operation that the Truepress JET 560HDX was engineered for.

“As the first installation in the UK, this is a strong and early validation of the press in the European commercial print market. We are proud to have them as our launch partner for this platform and look forward to supporting their business for many years to come.”