FT Solutions upgraded its finishing capability by installing a Watkiss PowerSquare 224 bookletmaker at its Hertford headquarters two months ago.

The new machine, which has a list price of £39,600, stitched, folded, spine-formed and trimmed in one pass and was uniquely versatile, said FT Solutions digital operator Ray Bruce.

“It replaced an older Watkiss and is an entirely different animal. Quality is great and whereas the other model had two standard staple positions, the new kit offers up to six staples per spine.

“And the thickness you can put through is immense.”

FT Solutions has an international client base and works from four locations: Hertford, Wolverhampton, Southampton and Burnham in Bucks. Its 110 staff make an annual turnover of over £20m.

The firm's print department recently switched from Canon to Ricoh kit, including Pro C9100 and Pro C7100 models. Its finishing kit includes a Watkiss Mamo laminator and Mamo perfect binder.

Operations manager Kevin Abraham said: “This machine produces books with a square spine, similar to perfect-bound products, but at a lower cost and with less effort.

“We wanted to increase pagination of our stitched books, typically training manuals for the financial services sector. The PowerSquare allows us to produce up to 224 pages depending on stock.”

The PowerSquare is also being used on a project to pioneer new 3D printing technology involving a walk-in 3D scanning booth that produces “extraordinarily life-like” figurines.

The company is now marketing collectable figurines of famous footballers.

“When we package up a figurine, we need to produce very small booklets as part of the package,” said Abraham. “The PowerSquare is versatile enough to do this for us in-house.”