How AI automation is transforming B2B print workflows
Digitalization is no longer a trend — it has become the reality for anyone operating in the B2B print market. And we are not talking about a minor shift here. E-commerce success in the print industry now depends directly on the ability to connect automated digital workflows with real-world production processes, which are naturally slower and more complex.
According to data from Infigo, a web-to-print software provider, demand for digital ordering, personalization, and automation in the print sector grew 18.2% over the past year.
That is not just any number.
This growth reflects a real and deep shift: print companies are moving away from fragmented, manual processes to adopt digital platforms that support personalized campaigns, localized marketing, on-demand production, and operations that actually scale.
And those who have not made a move in this direction yet? They face a very real risk of falling behind — and fast. Douglas Gibson, CEO of Infigo, put it bluntly when he stated that print companies failing to adopt modern software platforms risk falling behind or even exiting the market within the next five to ten years, as digital capabilities become increasingly central to competitiveness.
In this article, you will learn how AI-powered automation is reshaping print workflows, which companies are already seeing real results from this transformation, and what to expect from the industry in the years ahead. 🖨️
Why the B2B print market is changing so fast
For years, the print industry operated with a fairly hands-on approach: orders placed by phone, approvals via email, spreadsheets to track production, and a whole lot of rework along the way. That model worked for a while, but corporate clients have changed. Today, a company that needs print materials for a regional campaign wants to place the order online, track its status in real time, and receive delivery within a timeframe that makes sense for their business. That expectation is no longer the exception — it is the standard.
The 18.2% growth reported by Infigo did not come out of nowhere. It is the direct result of pressure coming from both sides of the supply chain: B2B clients demand more speed, personalization, and traceability in their orders, while print shops and suppliers realize that maintaining manual operations means high costs, thin margins, and limited ability to grow. When those two forces converge, transformation stops being optional and becomes urgent.
A data point that reinforces this movement: nearly 60% of Infigo’s new clients are based in North America, reflecting growing demand among print providers in the United States and Canada for platforms that support scale, integration, and operational efficiency. According to Gibson, the commercial print market in the U.S. is growing, but many providers still rely on manual processes that simply do not scale. As volumes increase and turnaround times shrink, automation becomes essential to reduce errors and sustain growth without having to expand headcount.
On top of that, digitalization has opened doors that once seemed out of reach for mid-sized companies. Web-to-print platforms, for example, allow a print shop with a lean structure to offer a sophisticated buying experience to its corporate clients, complete with customized catalogs, online art approval, and direct integration with the production workflow. This levels the playing field in a way that, five years ago, only large-scale operations could achieve.
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Automation pressures intensify across the print industry
Infigo’s growth highlights several pressure points shaping B2B e-commerce in the print sector. There are three main fronts: process automation, the replacement of legacy systems, and the increasingly relevant role of artificial intelligence in operational workflows.
Infigo is focused on expanding its cloud-based, AI-powered web-to-print platform while building enterprise partnerships to help print providers operate as digital-first businesses. The platform allows companies to create customizable storefronts for ordering printed products, while optimizing workflows from order to production through features like real-time pricing and integration with MIS and ERP systems.
Gibson made the company’s positioning clear when he stated that Infigo was built as a technology company for the print industry. The company has 28 developers focused on building software to replace the manual, multi-touchpoint workflows that print companies have relied on for decades.
The general commercial print segment remains the fastest-growing for Infigo, with 70% of clients operating in B2B environments. However, Gibson acknowledges that highly customized B2B solutions can create bottlenecks for both providers and software vendors. Enterprise clients with heavily personalized workflows require significant professional services, project management, and custom development. That said, the majority of B2B solutions are not that customized and can be handled with out-of-the-box features, configured through available settings or minor adjustments.
Workflow automation: where the magic happens
When it comes to automation applied to print workflows, it is easy to fall into the trap of imagining robots or ultra-complex processes. In practice, what transforms day-to-day operations is much more straightforward than that. We are talking about systems that receive an order, automatically verify whether the file meets technical specifications, route it to the correct production queue, and send a notification to the client — all without any team member needing to manually intervene at each step. The time savings are immediate, and error rates drop significantly.
Gibson cited the case of Liturgical Publications (LPi) as a concrete example of how print providers are using digital platforms to automate production workflows. LPi uses the Infigo system to manage weekly church bulletins for more than 4,000 congregations, replacing legacy processes with a far more automated approach.
Another example is Superior Packaging and Finishing, a U.S.-based company serving regulated industries like pharmaceuticals and financial services. The company expanded its use of the Infigo platform over the past year and integrated the system with HP Site Flow to support 51 B2B storefronts across its client base.
One interesting differentiator for Infigo is its update cadence: the company releases new software versions every two weeks, something Gibson described as uncommon in the industry and designed to deliver features and process improvements on a continuous basis. According to him, that is exactly where the platform delivers value — helping clients shorten cycle times and standardize workflows.
Companies that have already implemented platforms with integrated automation report significant reductions in order cycle time. A process that used to take two or three days of back-and-forth emails to approve artwork and confirm specifications can now be completed in a few hours when a structured system is in place. That is not just operational efficiency — it is a concrete competitive advantage when dealing with corporate clients who work under tight deadlines and have zero tolerance for delays caused by a supplier’s internal bottlenecks.
Another point worth noting is the integration between management systems. When the ordering platform communicates directly with the ERP, production management system, and logistics tools, the flow of information no longer depends on manual data entry or spreadsheet transfers. This reduces operational costs, improves data accuracy, and gives managers a real-time view of what is happening at every stage of the operation. For the print industry, which deals with high volume and a wide variety of products, that visibility makes all the difference.
Replacing legacy systems at scale
One of the most notable cases of this transformation is Think Patented, a print and marketing provider based in Ohio. The company nearly doubled the number of its B2B storefronts after consolidating five legacy systems onto the Infigo platform. The operation expanded from about 30 to nearly 60 storefronts, with additional portals in development.
The centralized platform allows distributed teams across sectors like healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and education to order branded materials through a single e-commerce environment, while automating production and fulfillment workflows.
Sean Ferguson, Chief Technology Officer at Think Patented, explained that before Infigo the company managed multiple disconnected systems that created inefficiencies throughout the entire workflow. He highlighted that the platform provides a single system that simplifies operations and supports business growth.
Ferguson also noted that the company doubled its storefront count, improved backend efficiency, and moved from a restrictive offering to a modern e-commerce platform that supports both B2B and B2C transactions.
Think Patented’s storefronts serve healthcare organizations, financial institutions, manufacturers, and educational institutions, allowing distributed teams and departments to order branded materials through a centralized system. The results demonstrate in practice how consolidating fragmented systems into a single platform can simplify operations and enable the expansion of digital storefronts.
Personalization at scale: the new differentiator in the industry
If there is one concept that sums up what B2B clients expect from their print suppliers today, it is personalization at scale. It is not enough to offer a quality product — you need to be able to deliver customized materials for different regions, campaigns, or audiences without multiplying internal workload or compromising delivery timelines. That balance between personalization and efficiency is exactly where digitalization and automation come together to create real value.
Modern web-to-print platforms allow corporate clients to access templates pre-approved by their own marketing team, customize details like store address, sales rep name, or regional offer, and send it to production with a single click. On the print shop’s side, that order arrives ready to process, with no need for manual adjustments or file review. The result is a shorter production cycle, less rework, and a buying experience the client wants to repeat — because it is simple and reliable.
The Infigo platform supports both B2B and B2C storefronts with tools for personalization, workflow automation, and systems integration. Additional capabilities include on-demand ordering, real-time pricing, and production integration to reduce manual work and improve operational efficiency.
Documented real-world cases show that companies adopting this model have been able to increase order volume without proportionally expanding their teams. An operation that processed 200 orders per month with a set number of employees moved to handling 600 or 700 orders with the same staff — simply because automation absorbed the repetitive tasks and freed people up to focus on what truly requires human attention, like managing strategic client relationships and resolving non-standard situations.
Balancing automation with flexibility
A point that does not always come up in automation discussions, but is critical in the B2B context, is the need to maintain flexibility. B2B buyers increasingly expect the ease of B2C experiences, yet they still face specific complexities like negotiated pricing, internal approval workflows, and exceptions that are part of everyday long-term business relationships.
Gibson was quite clear about this balance. He explained that fully automated workflows can limit the ability to handle exceptions that often define long-term B2B relationships. It comes down to business requirements: if full automation is the business model, it may affect those relationships. However, that decision remains the business owner’s choice.
Infigo offers flexible storefront configuration that supports both fully automated workflows and order intake processes that require manual quoting. According to Gibson, the platform can support both approaches for different client groups through access controls and customized pricing.
This kind of flexibility is what sets a solution truly designed for the B2B market apart from a generic e-commerce platform hastily adapted for the print industry. The ability to offer full automation for standardized orders while still leaving room for negotiation and human approval in cases that call for it — that is what allows you to scale without sacrificing the quality of business relationships.
What to expect in the years ahead
The outlook for the B2B print sector points to an even faster acceleration of digitalization efforts. Artificial intelligence is already showing up in more concrete ways in this space, with applications ranging from automatic file quality verification to demand forecasting based on a client’s order history. Infigo, for instance, is focusing on expanding the AI capabilities of its cloud platform, signaling that this technology will become increasingly embedded in the industry’s day-to-day operations.
The trend toward on-demand production is also expected to gain momentum. Instead of large print runs that sit in storage and often become obsolete, companies are shifting to a model where they print what they need, when they need it, with the personalization the moment requires. This model is only viable when there is a robust digital infrastructure behind it, with automated workflows that can process smaller orders with the same efficiency as high-volume runs.
For those in the industry still figuring out where to start this transformation, it is worth noting that the learning curve for today’s platforms is much shorter than it was a few years ago. The solutions are designed to make adoption easier, with intuitive interfaces and specialized technical support. The market is already moving, and every month of delay means orders that could have been won, processes that could have been more efficient, and clients that could have been more satisfied. 📊
The B2B print sector is at an inflection point: digitizing and automating is no longer a strategic choice for the future — it is a requirement for staying competitive in the present.
