Managing director David Clark said the £68,000 kit was installed in the trade finisher's Corby plant in Northants this April and is predominantly used to strap and stack work from the firm's three Heidelberg ST 300 stitchers.
"Customers increasingly want paper binding rather than plastic strapping, so we bought the machine to get more work. Paper is easier for mailing houses, which just rip it off rather than fuss around cutting plastic."
The Delta 502 was supplied by Friedheim International and has helped Apex Print Finishers speed up a typical A5 two-up job from 17,500 to 18,500 per hour, according to Clark.
"Another benefit of the Delta is we can use it with one person: with other kit you need two people to handle each bundle but with this machine, they come out together already with a paper binding, so that eliminates the need to one person."
Clark’s six-staff company has a £500,000 turnover and its services include stitching, inserting, strapping and shrinkwrapping. Clients include Polestar and Prinovis.
