The Newcastle-based company had invested in an Océ Varioprint 6250 early last year.

The machine should have been able to run at around 250 sheets per minute (spm) – producing around 1,400 books an hour – but the finishing unit Elanders was using at the time, slowed the digital press down.

Digital print manager Steve Pegram said: "It was running it down to 110spm, which is what our old digital presses were doing. We replaced them because they were too slow."

Elanders has now fitted the CP Bourg BDF automated stitch/fold/trim unit from Terry Cooper Services, which according to Pegram, has made a huge difference: "The paper travels through the BDF in a vertical S-shape, so it doesn’t change direction laterally.

"This is a much better idea than the machine it replaced, which had the paper travelling through two L-shaped corners."

Elanders predominantly prints manuals for the automotive industry, as well as dealing with educational organisations.

The UK arm has a £15m turnover and currently employs 150 staff.

Also see:
Review: CP Bourg BB3002