Across the publishing industry, production teams are being asked to do something that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago: produce more publications with significantly fewer people.
Deadlines have not moved. Reader expectations remain high. For many publishers, the number of titles being produced has increased through acquisitions, regional editions and digital-to-print workflows.
At the same time, many organizations still rely on traditional production methods that require teams to manually build pages, place advertising, adjust layouts and assemble publications late into the evening. These workflows are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
Print remains an important part of the business for many publishers. It continues to serve loyal readers, supports local advertising markets and provides meaningful revenue for media organizations.
Publishers are under pressure to operate print as efficiently as possible. As audience habits evolve and resources shift toward digital growth, organizations are focused on reducing the cost and complexity of print production while maintaining quality and consistency.
Automation plays a key role in that effort. By reducing manual production work and streamlining workflows, publishers can continue producing print products while operating with leaner teams and more efficient processes.
Most print production workflows were designed in a different era when staffing levels were larger and the number of titles being produced was smaller.
Today, production teams often find themselves responsible for dozens or even hundreds of publications across multiple markets.
Even highly experienced teams can struggle when manual layout, ad placement and last-minute adjustments must be repeated across large portfolios of publications. The result is a cycle that many publishers know well: late nights, production bottlenecks and unnecessary pressure on already stretched teams.
Automation helps break that cycle. By introducing standardized style guides and rule-based workflows, publishers can automate many of the repetitive tasks that consume valuable production time. Production teams can generate complete publications much faster while maintaining control over design and layout.
Momentum around print automation is accelerating across the industry. One example is Iconic Media Group, formerly National World plc, which is now producing nearly 100 titles using automated production workflows.
In this deployment across the U.K. and Ireland, supporting this portfolio of weekly titles, a team of eight production staff oversees automated pagination. Instead of manually assembling each publication, the system generates most pages automatically based on predefined style guides and layout rules. Local editorial teams curate the news lists, while production teams focus on reviewing pages and handling exceptions rather than building every layout manually.
Similar rollouts and implementations are taking place across markets including Australia, Ireland and — most recently — the United States.
With the right systems in place, publishers can automatically generate pages based on style guides, place advertising according to predefined rules and produce complete publications far more efficiently than traditional workflows allow.
With well-structured style guides and consistent content flows, automated pagination can dramatically reduce production time. In some automated environments, complete weekly publications can be generated in approximately 30 minutes, with production teams focusing primarily on review and adjustments rather than manual page construction. For organizations managing multiple titles, automation allows production teams to handle larger workloads without increasing staffing requirements.
Automation does not eliminate the need for skilled production teams. Instead, it changes how those teams spend their time.
Rather than manually assembling every page, teams oversee automated workflows, manage exceptions and ensure the final product maintains the quality and local identity readers expect.
The result is a production environment that is faster, more consistent and better equipped to support modern publishing operations. For publishers navigating staffing pressures and expanding publication portfolios, this shift is becoming an important part of maintaining sustainable print operations.
While automation can significantly improve production efficiency, successful deployments depend heavily on preparation. Publishers often begin by reviewing page designs, advertising structures and editorial workflows to ensure they support consistent automation rules.
Common challenges include poorly structured page styles and overly long digital articles that were never intended for print layouts. When content length and page designs are not aligned, production teams still need to spend time adjusting layouts manually.
Establishing clear style guide structures and realistic content lengths is often one of the most important early steps toward successful automation.
To explore how publishers are approaching automation today, Atex will host an upcoming webinar focused on how automation is transforming print production workflows.
During the session, we will discuss:
For those attending the Mega-Conference, the Atex team will also be demonstrating automated pagination and production workflows live. You can book a demo here:
https://outlook.office.com/book/AtexMegaConference2026@atex.com
Stop by the Atex booth to see how automated page production works in practice and how publishers are producing full publications in a fraction of the time required by traditional manual processes. Our work around the globe shows that this movement is happening widely.
About Atex:
Atex is a global provider of software solutions for media companies, supporting editorial, advertising, and subscriber revenue operations. Through its work with publishers worldwide, Atex helps organizations adopt automation, streamline production, and modernize workflows to improve efficiency and scalability.
