Seven Trends Giving Shape to Digital Cutting and Routing

While printing technology has advanced rapidly over the past decade, finishing departments — including cutting, routing, and fabrication activities — have increasingly become an operational bottleneck. Within the interviews of seven executives and technical leaders representing major cutting and routing equipment manufacturers, one overarching reality emerged: The future of production will not only be defined by faster printers, but also by smarter finishing processes.

From adding automation and AI-driven software, to migration toward higher-value signage applications, finishing OEMs are aligning around common solutions to shared challenges. Included in this article is input from representatives of the following companies:

• Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems/MultiCam Summa
• Zünd America
• Graphco
• Elitron America
• Graphtec America
• Cutworx USA

1. Automation Is No Longer Optional

If there is one word that appears in every interview, it is automation. One by one, executives emphasized that automation is not merely an upgraded feature; it has become a valued and essential survival tool for wide-format print service providers (PSPs). Though automation, finishing is transitioning from a labor-intensive craft into an industrialized manufacturing process.

In his interview, Glenne Wimpee, North American sales manager of Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems/MultiCam, summarizes the shift succinctly: “It’s all about ease for the operator, and automation where an operator might be able to run two or three machines, because labor is hard to find.”

It is important to highlight that automation today extends far beyond simple mechanical motion. Today’s best equipped systems may now include automated material handling, robotic loading and unloading, camera systems to ensure registration, and unattended production workflows.

And automation isn’t just about faster cutting. In fact, Daniele Gallucci, president and CEO of Elitron America, explains that cutting speed itself has reached its physical limits due to material constraints. Therefore, any new gains in efficiency or throughput must come from automation.

“We reach a certain point where we can’t increase speed of cutting itself because of the material,” he says. “So, people are working on increasing automation around the machine — loading and unloading, software automation, integration.”

In illustrating a goal of automation, many interviewees described “lights-out production” as an emerging norm. Gallucci notes that some of today’s systems are able to run overnight or through weekends without operator involvement once materials are staged.

2. Labor Shortages Drive Technology Decisions

Closely tied to automation is an issue that has been affecting nearly every PSP — wide-format or otherwise — worldwide: labor scarcity. In their interviews, multiple manufacturer representatives say workforce challenges have been, and remain, a primary catalyst for accelerating equipment innovation.

Bart Robbrecht, sales support manager at Summa, points directly to the difficulty customers face in hiring skilled operators.

“You see more and more that there’s a quicker turnover of people, or it’s more difficult to find skilled labor. … We really have a philosophy to make this machine as easy to operate as possible,” he says.

To illustrate, Graphco president Chris Manley provides parallels between wide-format and offset printing, both of which are historically dependent on skilled technicians.

“The wide-format industry has the same pressures that the offset printing world does with talent difficulties,” he explains. “This level of automation has really been well received.”

Today’s cutting equipment manufacturers are responding to labor challenges by designing machines that require dramatically less expertise to use. Instead of needing to possess programming knowledge or manual equipment setup skills, operators are increasingly interacting with simplified interfaces and guided workflows.

This “democratization” of production technology enables businesses to grow even when experienced labor is unavailable. This changing reality may serve to permanently redefine workforce expectations in the wide-format segment.

3. Software Becoming More Important Than Hardware

Another development that has a striking consensus among interviewees is the growing dominance of software over efforts to improve mechanical engineering. In his interview, Julian Boesch, managing director of Zünd America, makes one of the clearest statements on this ongoing development: “Software is probably more key now than the hardware. … The hardware has physical limitations. The software is really going to be the key piece in the future.”

Historically, performance improvements have stemmed from innovations, such as faster motors or stronger cutting heads. But today, production gains increasingly originate from improved workflow automation, streamlined file processing, and intelligent job management.

Several companies note the existence of so-called “one-click workflows,” where operators load material, press a single command, and then allow software to handle activities including job sequencing, tool selection, and execution.

Describing one system capable of processing dozens of jobs automatically, Robbrecht says, “You load it on the machine, do a single click, and the machine is going to kiss cut, through cut, everything … without me doing anything else.”

Graphco’s Manley echoes this evolution, noting that software can now transform a simple PDF into a fully fabricated architectural sign. “You could make up your own sign,” he explains. “Then send that PDF, and they could create a proper push-through sign from that file. That’s almost unheard of in the signage industry.”

And, as artificial intelligence and automation tools expand, software will increasingly become the operational brain of well-appointed finishing departments.

4. Finishing Continues as Segment’s Biggest Bottleneck

All interviewees for this article note the same operational reality: printing has outpaced finishing. Simply put, high-production wide-format machines can now print faster than materials can be cut, routed, or assembled — creating production backups downstream. In response, finishing equipment manufacturers are addressing this troubling reality through a few common strategies:

Faster Equipment: Marc Rannow, national sales manager at Cutworx USA, emphasizes improvements in motion systems. “The linear drive is faster, quieter, smoother, so you can get more production at the end of the day,” he explains.

Hybrid and Multi-Function Systems: Graphco’s approach focuses on combining processes into a single platform capable of routing, cutting, and fabrication. Manley explains that replacing multiple older machines with one automated system enables PSPs to both improve profitability and increase throughput. “Someone might take two or three older routers and replace them with one machine that can do two or three times more work,” he says.

Unattended Operation: Both Summa and Elitron highlight systems capable of running overnight, effectively extending production hours without additional staffing. Despite these advances, Gallucci describes an unavoidable truth: cutting will always be the bottleneck, because it’s a lower priority than printing. Minimizing human involvement with finishing systems may help mitigate finishing’s “bottleneck” reputation.

5. Ease of Use Now a Core Design Principle

Another common theme here is the need for simplicity. For example, while earlier generations of CNC cutting and routing equipment required programming knowledge, newer, better-equipped systems increasingly rely on intuitive interfaces. “It used to be coding,” Wimpee says, describing how workflows have evolved, “now it’s point and click.”

Describing the customer feedback Graphtec America has received from its newer systems, applications engineer JC Cabrera reinforces simplicity’s value: “They love it because it’s really easy to use. It’s straightforward.”

To promote greater ease-of-use, manufacturers report they are investing heavily in training resources, guided setup processes, and simplified machine controls. They are doing so with a very clear goal in mind: to reduce the learning curve so new employees can become productive immediately.

As mentioned in the trend above addressing labor challenges, increased ease-of-use also supports business scalability because expanding PSPs can add equipment without worrying about lengthy operator training cycles, setting them up for faster success and growth.

6. Integration and Workflow Connectivity Are Next

While automation can (and does) certainly improve individual machines, interviewees indicate that the next major step involves connecting the entire production workflow. Identifying integration as the industry’s next phase, Gallucci says, “Print-to-cut workflow. Everything is integrated. Integration is the next step, for sure.”

Cutworx’ Rannow also highlights connectivity as a trend, and described systems where customer files move directly from submission into production without human intervention. “A customer submits a file, no one has to touch it, and it makes it right into production, right into shipping.”

This evolution mirrors broader manufacturing trends toward what is known as “Industry 4.0,” environments where machines communicate with software ecosystems, ERP systems, and finishing equipment automatically. The long-term result of this connectivity may be on production floors, where manual job handling may largely disappear.

7. Profitability Shifting Toward Higher-Value Applications

In addition to discussing finishing technologies as a whole, several interviewees highlight an important economic transformation in the wide-format space: PSPs are moving upmarket. Manley offers his assessments of current market dynamics, arguing that traditional wide-format applications such as yard signs, vinyl graphics, and vehicle wraps have become oversaturated. “Everybody can do it,” he explains. “The smart ones are moving toward something that has more permanence — architectural signage.”

And the advantage of better equipped, more highly capable finishing systems becomes clear because they enable wide-format PSPs and sign shops to fabricate dimensional signs, aluminum structures, and complex assemblies that command significantly higher margins. Manley illustrates the opportunity this way: “You [can] take $50 to $100 worth of material and sell a sign for $1,800. That kind of markup isn’t possible with yard signs.”

This new opportunity aligns perfectly with automation trends. As machines can handle repetitive production tasks with aplomb, operators are free to focus on value-added fabrication and higher-margin creative applications. Technology is empowering PSPs to transform from print providers into manufacturing businesses.

The Future of Finishing in Wide-Format

When asked to predict what the next five years will bring to finishing equipment and the workflows they operate within, interviewees consistently envision a production environment defined by greater automation and robotics, increased software intelligence, fewer operators managing more equipment, integrated workflows, and expanded use of rigid and architectural materials.

These new directions — and others yet unknown —represent a transformative moment for finishing in the wide-format space. It is one that looks less like a print shop and more like a data and automation-enhanced manufacturing environment.

For years, innovation in the wide-format space has centered on increasing print speed, improving print quality, and diversifying ink technologies. But the focus has changed. The industry, by and large, is looking at finishing technologies to speed up production and eliminate bottlenecks. Expanded finishing capabilities are also key to opening doors of opportunity for new markets, products, and directions.

Cutting, routing, and finishing systems — once viewed as secondary processes — have become a primary focus for technological advancement. This shift is redefining what a wide-format PSP can be, and that’s good news. In his interview, Manley suggests success will increasingly belong to companies willing to move beyond commodity printing toward sophisticated manufacturing applications, particularly those supported by automated finishing technologies.●