The Blackburn-based company has installed a Heidelberg ST400 eight-station-plus cover feeder stitching line to replace a slower machine as part of an £800,000 programme to update its machinery.

First 4 Print Finishing intended to replace the slower machine with an ST300, which it installed in November 2010; however, that stitching line ended up being an addition rather than a replacement.

The £3.5m-turnover company, which has 85 staff, has also invested in a £40,000 Polar guillotine flowline, which includes a Transomat automatic re-stacker.

It now has six high-speed stitching lines, seven folders with Palamides technology, two Polar guillotines and a miniature folding department.

First 4 Print Finishing managing director David Nestor said: "The new machines we have installed are aimed at the high-volume, high-end web market. The level of automation that the new line gives us enables us to do makereadies in minutes and change formats, as well as offering enhanced running speeds."