Manufactured by KAS Paper Systems, the device was installed at the Telford, Shropshire-based business last month. While it had first heard about the machine a couple of years ago, the purchase had been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Head of design Gary Steinert said the opportunity to upgrade had come because the trimmer on the company’s previous bookletmaker had broken.

“It is ideal for our type of work, not only because of the formats it can handle but also because it finishes a range of stock,” he commented.

The KF640 produces a maximum booklet of 320x320mm as well as more common sizes like A4 landscape. It will also handle a maximum sheet size of 640x320mm, which means that SRA2 sheets do not require pre-trimming of the long edge on a guillotine prior to producing an A4 landscape booklet.

“We have regular orders for A5 orders of service for funerals and A6 booklets for a local school which until now we had finished by hand,” said Steinert.

“We were halfway through an order for 1,000 booklets which had taken us quite a long time to finish by hand when the KF640 arrived. We were able to finish the rest of them the same afternoon, which will make a huge difference to our productivity.

“Because of the limit in formats we could finish by machine, we recommended customers to go for A4 portrait books but now they have a choice of A4 landscape as well. We also plan to offer a range of covers including laminated and foiled, which had to be finished by hand in the past.

“The addition of the square fold inline unit, which sits between the bookletmaker and the trimmer, is an efficient way to produce a perfect bound appearance with the security of a stapled finish. We have just completed an order for books for a university and are very pleased with the result.”

MDT Print & Design, which also operates two Xerox digital printers – a Versant 180 and backup Versant 80, produces short run, fast turnaround digital print, t-shirts, and workwear in-house.