The new binder, which has a 420mm x 50mm maximum spine and also features a closed tank glue system, has enabled the company to offer short-run PUR at "a fraction of the cost" of traditional trade finishers.

Adrian Wood, sales and general manager Advantage Digital, said: "We were looking for a PUR solution, but we thought the available options were over-engineered and overpriced until the Watkiss machine was presented to us.

"Some of the processes may be manual but there are real cost savings for us and our customers."

Advantage Digital, which employs five staff, is using its new machine to bind jobs that it prints on its Xerox iGen4 digital press - work that was previously finished on a hotmelt EVA binder.

"We could cope with lighter stocks, but a common requirement was 150 gram silk or gloss with a 350 gram cover," according to Wood.

However, according to Wood, books started to fall apart when using digital stock on the hotmelt machine, which led to this new investment.

"The majority of perfect binding jobs such as photobook production was outsourced as it simply wasn't possible in-house. That is no longer the case," he added.

The Watkiss 420PUR offers a range of features including unique recirculating glue system that the manufacturer said minimises the potential for clogging.

The binder has four connected glue tanks so glue can be maintained at different temperatures in each tank and also features both manual and automated functionality.

While book blocks and covers are loaded manually, the vice and clamp automatically adjust according to the book width while spine dimensions for gluing are set via a photo sensor.

The Watkiss 420PUR perfect binder is available now and costs £25,000.


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