GelatoConnect Blog

The future of print buying | GelatoConnect

Written by GelatoConnect team | Jun 18 2026

Managing printing needs can be a daunting task, especially at scale. There are many challenges, from maintaining consistent quality to efficiently managing numerous print jobs.

See it for yourself: book a personalised demo and watch GelatoConnect Estimator turn a brief into an accurate, margin-aware quote in seconds. Request a demo →

For Hudson Printing, a US-based commercial printer known for quality, the challenge wasn’t print production — it was speed to market.

Customers increasingly expected instant answers. Yet quoting remained slow, manual, and frustrating. CEO Paul knew something had to change.

📊
Free benchmark: Get the 2026 AI quoting benchmark — quote turnaround, close rate, and accuracy data from print operations running AI estimation in production.

The Challenge: Customers Won’t Wait

Traditionally, Hudson’s quotes could take hours to prepare. For buyers used to ecommerce experiences, that felt like an eternity.

  • Prospects often sent specs to multiple PSPs.

  • By the time Hudson replied, a competitor had already won the order.

  • Sales teams felt trapped in admin rather than focused on growth.

The bottleneck was damaging both customer experience and conversion rates.

The Solution: GelatoConnect Estimator

Hudson Printing adopted GelatoConnect Estimator to bring quoting into the modern age.

  • Internally, the team slashed quoting time from hours to minutes.

  • Externally, Hudson embedded Estimator directly on its website. Now, buyers could describe their jobs and receive instant, validated quotes 24/7.

Sales staff were freed to focus on complex and high-value accounts.

The Results: Faster, Smarter, More Customer-Centric

  • 65% reduction in human quoting effort — freeing teams to focus on growth.

  • Quotes in <5 minutes instead of hours.

  • Higher win rates by being the first to respond.

  • Always-on quoting: Website became a 24/7 sales channel.

Customer experience upgrade: Buyers described Hudson as more modern, responsive, and easier to work with.

Free industry report

The State of Intelligent Print Production 2026

Benchmarks, trends and AI strategies from the world's leading print operations — see what's driving growth in 2026.

Download the report →

Conclusion

Hudson Printing didn’t just make estimation faster — it transformed quoting into a growth engine. For Paul, AI Estimator is more than automation. It’s a way to give buyers what they want: speed, simplicity, and confidence.

See GelatoConnect Estimator in action

Turn hours of manual quoting into accurate, margin-aware print quotes in seconds. Book a personalised demo and see it run on your own jobs.

Request a demo →