The St Ives-owned book printer is planning to add a new, high-speed integrated digital book printing line at its Suffolk base for handling runs above 1,000 copies.

Clays managing director Kate McFarlan described the new system as the result of a "unique partnership" between Clays and Timsons.

The high-speed integrated line will comprise a duplex monochrome press built by Timsons, feeding bookblocks through to a Muller Martini binding line to provide either perfect bound paperbacks or lined bookblocks, with JDF controls for full automation.

The new system, which is set to be installed in spring 2012, will offer "full flexibility on reel sizes, substrates and book formats". Details about the digital print engine technology are being kept under wraps for the time being.

McFarlan said the company was finessing its offering with a standardised pricing model for publishers that encompasses everything from single copy books to long-run bestsellers.

"We are giving publishers consistency and helping them make the right decisions," she explained. "It allows them to sell then print rather than print then sell, and have exactly what they need, without wasting anything."

The £5m spend also includes upgrading  Clays’ existing digital book system to Kodak’s Prosper 1000 inkjet heads, a move envisaged when the system was initially installed. The Prosper line went live this week.

Clays has also adopted Kodak’s Prinergy workflow system, and is using its rules-based automation facility and Insite interface to further streamline its production workflows.

McFarlan said the firm was open to the possibility of adding digital colour printing to its services in future. "We will invest in digital colour as and when there are customer-relevant solutions. We would love to offer short-run colour," she said.

St Ives chief executive Patrick Martell hailed the investment as "digital without compromise." "We have made a lot of investment in non-print areas recently, but we are equally prepared to invest in print when the model makes sense," he said.

"One of the important things for us is that as far as our customers are concerned they don’t see any difference. It’s the same paper, the same glue so even a single copy book looks the same. Our starting point was what do our customers want, not what can they have."