Sourcing City has published its first white paper, titled Every Second Counts, a practical analysis of Print on Demand workflow for the promotional merchandise industry. The paper is free to read with no registration required.

The paper was originally researched and written by Andrew Talbot in 2019 and has been updated for 2026 by Alistair Mylchreest, Strategy Director at Sourcing City. Mylchreest brings particular authority to the subject, having previously founded and built Custom Gateway, one of the UK’s leading Print on Demand workflow platforms, before returning to Sourcing City in his current role.

The central finding of the paper is straightforward but significant. By improving workflow across 14 specific processes in on demand production, a business processing 100 orders a day can save 3 minutes per order. At that volume, that saving compounds to 163 working days per year. The equivalent of almost one full-time member of staff, freed without a single hire.

The 2026 update reflects how significantly the landscape has shifted since the original publication. The paper now covers Industry 4.0 and the connected factory floor, the role of artificial intelligence in automating artwork generation, quality checking, and order routing, and a dedicated section examining what the more mature North American Print on Demand market tells us about where the UK promotional products industry is heading.

Mylchreest commented: “Print on Demand is not yet mainstream in the UK promo market. It is in the US. The businesses that understand the workflow challenge now, and act on it, will be in a much stronger position when that changes. This paper is about helping suppliers and distributors in our market understand what to do and why.”

The paper is the first in a planned series of white papers through which Sourcing City intends to publish practical, industry-specific research for suppliers and distributors across the UK promotional merchandise sector.

Every Second Counts is available to read now at https://sourcingcity.co.uk/whitepapers/every-second-counts

Published on: April 28th, 2026