How Is Yorkshire's Instantprint Using A Robot Fleet For Faster Customer Turnarounds?

Picture a massive printing factory. It’s buzzing with activit, printers humming, fresh flyers, banners, and business cards rolling off the production line. But in any busy place, there are always those little jobs that slow things down: moving a stack of paper from A to B, taking a full bin to be emptied, or fetching a new pallet of materials.

They’re simple tasks, but they add up, creating mini traffic jams that can delay an entire order. But what if robots could handle all that? Well, instantprint has just made a huge £260,000 investment to do exactly that, bringing in a team of clever robots to make their factory smarter, faster, and more efficient.

Meet The New Crew: What Are AMRs?

So, what’s happening at the instantprint factory? They've brought in a new fleet of what are called autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs for short. Think of them as super-intelligent, self-driving trolleys.

This isn't just a small trial; it's a major £260,000 investment in cutting-edge factory automation. The company has teamed up with Movigo Robotics to bring three of their Ŝharko AMRs onto the factory floor.

The new robotic fleet consists of:

• Two Ŝharko5 units
• One Ŝharko10 unit

These aren't just remote-controlled toys. These are highly advanced pieces of kit designed for one main purpose, to take over the repetitive, low-value tasks. This means things like pallet handling, moving bins of waste paper, and transporting finished print jobs to the next station.

By letting the AMRs handle the fetching and carrying, the skilled human operators can focus on what they do best, managing the complex printing machinery and ensuring every single order is perfect. This boosts skilled output and overall productivity.

How Do These Robots Actually Work?

It all sounds a bit like science fiction, but the technology behind these autonomous mobile robots is surprisingly logical. The AMRs from MoviGo Robotics use a combination of smart systems to navigate the busy factory floor without bumping into people or machinery.

First up, they use something called reflector navigation. Imagine sticking little mirrors on the walls around a room. The robot sends out a laser beam, and by measuring how the beam bounces back off these reflectors, it can pinpoint its exact location with incredible accuracy. It’s a bit like a bat using sonar — but with light.

But that’s not all. The fleet is also equipped with high-resolution 3D cameras. These act as the robots’ eyes, allowing them to see the world around them in real-time. This is crucial for spotting unexpected obstacles, a person walking by, a box left on the floor, and safely navigating around them.

They also use QR scanning. When a robot approaches a pallet or a bin, it can scan a QR code to understand exactly what it’s picking up and where it needs to go.

The real magic, though, is the intelligent task logic, the robot’s brain. It doesn't just follow a pre-programmed path. The system can proactively detect when a bin is full and needs emptying, or when a printing station is running low on pallets and needs a top-up. It thinks for itself, prioritising jobs to keep the production flow moving smoothly.

This level of factory automation ensures there are no hold-ups and everything runs with maximum efficiency.

Smarter Moves For A Better Production Flow

So, what does all this tech actually mean for getting your business cards printed faster? It all comes down to improving the production flow. In any production process, you get bottlenecks — points where work piles up and causes delays.

Often, these are caused by simple logistical jobs. A printer might finish a huge batch of leaflets, but it sits there waiting because the person who would normally move it is busy with something else.

The new fleet of AMRs eliminates these exact problems. Because the robots use intelligent task logic, they know when a job is finished and can be there instantly to collect it. If one area of the factory gets too busy, the system automatically redirects the robots to clear the backlog, ensuring a constant, smooth flow of work.

This massive boost to efficiency means less waiting time, faster production, and ultimately, quicker customer turnarounds.

Jon Constantine-Smith, Head of instantprint, explained the impact of the investment:
“This investment in MoviGo AMRs removes the repetitive bottlenecks that slow teams down,” he said. “It frees our operators to focus on the skilled parts of production, speeding up output, reducing wait times, and ultimately delivering an even faster turnaround for our customers.”

The system was first tested on business card production, one of instantprint’s most popular products. After proving its success, it’s now being used across other key production areas, with plans to double the size of the AMR fleet in the near future.

This shows the system is not just effective, but also built for scale.

Built For Scale And A Greener Future

This big investment in AMRs is part of a much larger plan at instantprint. The company is always looking for ways to improve, not just in speed but also in sustainability. This project supports their commitment to achieving carbon net-zero operations by 2035.

For example, alongside the new robots, the company has switched to using durable plastic pallets. These last much longer than traditional wooden ones, reducing waste and breakages.

Every step towards automation and efficiency is also a step towards being greener. A smoother production flow means less wasted energy and materials.

This commitment is seen across the business, which has already achieved carbon neutral certification for 2020–2021 and is ISO certified. It’s a sign that modern manufacturing and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand.

This project is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, which includes recent investments in facilities for large format printing and expanding overall factory space. It’s all about building a bigger, faster, and more sustainable future for production.