Route 1 Print Leads UK Rollout of SCREEN Truepress JET 560HDX
Route 1 Print, part of the Bluetree Group and one of the UK’s largest online trade printers, has installed the first Truepress JET 560HDX in the United Kingdom, bringing SCREEN’s next-generation inkjet press for commercial printing to the region.
Rotherham, United Kingdom — Route 1 Print is one of the UK’s most established trade print businesses, and as the trade arm of parent company Bluetree Group, produces thousands of jobs daily for print resellers across the UK, supporting them from their 300,000 sq ft production facility with a variety of commercial print products including flyers, leaflets, business cards, booklets, and more for resale.
To continue supporting their clients as demand shifts to smaller quantities that must be supplied on shorter notice at competitive prices, they required an additional investment in a next-generation digital printing. As an existing SCREEN commercial printing partner already operating two Truepress JET 520HD inkjet presses, Route 1 Print had a strong understanding that SCREEN technology has always balanced efficient production speeds and exceptional printing quality, and that the newly released Truepress JET 560HDX represents the next stage of that evolution.
Meeting the Demands of a Changing Market
Print resellers are under increasing pressure from their own customers, with shorter print runs, custom quantities, and faster turnaround times now the standard. This is only accelerating as e-commerce resellers and a consumer base more used to on-demand customisation that expects orders to be delivered quickly or even next-day.
Adam Carnell, CEO at Route 1 Print, commented on the shifting demands of the trade print market saying, “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 Driving Quality & Adaptability
Following a thorough evaluation of the digital presses available from a variety of equipment suppliers, Route 1 Print’s decision to return to SCREEN for this investment with the Truepress JET 560HDX was grounded in the proven reliability of their existing inkjet installations while standing out as a clear advance across every key production criterion.
The press operates using 1,200 dpi true resolution printheads at speeds of up to 150 metres-per-minute, producing output visually indistinguishable from offset print. Powered by SCREEN’s Truepress Ink SC2 set, it delivers an expanded colour gamut and prints directly onto standard offset-coated stocks without primer, opening new possibilities to simplify production while reducing costs.
A key operational advantage that further optimises Route 1 Print’s workflow is the press’s thorough integration capabilities with pre- and post-press solutions. The Truepress JET 560HDX supports printing both barcodes and 2D matrix codes 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, which can even be reconfigured across different print jobs printed continuously on a single reel fed from the press without operator intervention. This configuration minimises setup and changeover, reduces the risk of human-error, and maximises throughput, particularly across multiple, mixed shortrun job queues. For a high-volume trade print operation with a diverse product range, this level of automation translates directly into a lower cost-per-unit and the capacity to take on more orders without additional labour requirements.
The Truepress JET 560HDX is also integrated inline with a Digital Fluid Applicator (DFA) and a Contour Web Coater, protecting vibrant printed colours and ensuring substrates remain stable throughout downstream finishing without impacting press productivity.
Reflecting on the impact of the integrated workflow, Adam noted, “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.”
A Landmark Installation for Route 1 Print and SCREEN Europe
The installation marks the first installation of the Truepress JET 560HDX in the UK, and a significant achievement in the commercial launch for SCREEN’s next-generation inkjet platform across the European market.
For Route 1 Print, this investment in the latest innovation in inkjet technology forms part of their wider multi-million-pound investment in its production capabilities, spanning both commercial and large format print, reinforcing its position as one of the most advanced trade print operations in the UK with a solution that could reliably provide printed products look better than ever, are delivered faster, and on shorter notice to their own customers.
The result is even more competitive pricing, and more products delivered next-day, positioning the company to capture a larger market share as demand for short-run, fast-turnaround commercial print continues to accelerate.
Bui Burke, Senior Vice President Sales at SCREEN Europe, remarked on the significance of this landmark installation, saying, “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.”
