I nkwell Printing is a second-generation print company near Peterborough that I own with my wife, Becky. We took it over from her parents when they were ready to wind down. I didn’t come from a print background: quite the opposite, actually. I was in software design. I didn’t even know paper came in different weights. But Becky’s parents plus all of the staff here were incredibly supportive, and we had a long overlap with them. Becky’s dad, Inky, was unbelievably patient – I asked so many questions and he probably had to work out a few things he’d done instinctively for years, just to explain them to me. The early years were a steep learning curve. I sold everything too cheap. We were busy, but there was less money. I got dragged into what many people called “the leaflet war” which was essentially a race to the bottom – chasing volume, discounting hard, and convincing myself it was just how the industry worked. We hired sales reps at one point, but that made me complacent. I’d handed over the problem and told myself it was someone else’s job to fix. It’s only really since mid-last year that I’ve started trying to shift the trajectory properly. Alongside rebuilding our website to marry the offline print experience with the ease of online ordering, I focused myself building a sales funnel that attracts the right kind of customers – not just any customer – and ones that can scale. We’re still hands-on, and I’m still pulled into production more than I’d like, but I’m much clearer now on the kind of business we’re trying to build. Print has certainly changed, some of the bigger work has gone, and there’s always a gloomy paper rep or print owner ready to tell you it’s all downhill from here. But I’ve always had something to prove. That’s what drives me. I want to build something solid. Something that actually works. Something we can be proud of. Like many others, we’ve watched the big players race ahead with automation, and for a long time, we thought it wasn’t for us – either too complex or too expensive. But as we began exploring the options, we realised there’s a version of automation that fits our business. And that’s what this article is about: finding the right fit for your company and not trying to replicate what works for a business 100 times your size. There’s a big push for automation in every industry right now. You don’t have to look far to find someone talking about ChatGPT or Elon Musk’s robots threatening to take over every job in existence. In the print world, automation often feels like something reserved for “the big guys.” It’s easy to assume automation is out of reach, too costly, too complex, or simply not worth the effort. We’ve been receiving Print Monthly for years, but I never felt we had much to say that would be of interest to other printers. Now, as we step into automation ourselves, I think this is something worth As the print industry continues to change, with automation and AI dominating a lot of conversations, Neil Wallis of Inkwell Printing talks about making automation work for small to medium sized businesses, while still keeping a human touch Automation Isn’t Just for “The Big Boys” 36 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk FRESH PERSPECTIVES | NEIL WALLIS July / August 2025 - Issue 355 I’ve always had something to prove. That’s what drives me. I want to build something solid. Something that actually works. Something we can be proud of
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjM0NDIxOA==