The system was supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS) and installed at the Woking business in November.

The family-run firm was founded in 1963 and celebrated 60 years in business last year. It specialises in high quality litho, personalised digital print, and mailing. It operates two five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster presses; an XL 105 and an XL 75, and two Ricoh Pro C9210 digital colour presses.

Production manager Tony Clark said: “We reviewed how much we were spending on perfect binding and believed, with the right machinery, we could keep a large percentage of it in-house, drastically reducing the turnaround times and saving on transportation costs.

“There was also the potential to win more business as we would be more competitive and quicker.”

He added: “We already had a Horizon SPF-200L bookletmaker which has proven to be a great investment, speeding up production and completing a larger variety of finished book sizes.

“It is well built and reliable. We tested the BQ-270 at the IFS showroom and then visited the Horizon factory in Germany. I was able to network and meet other printers who had experience of using the BQ-270 and the feedback was largely positive.

“We also researched what else was on the market. We believed for our budget and requirements the BQ-270 was the best system available.”

The BQ-270V single-clamp perfect binder offers high-quality perfect binding and on-demand production of variable thickness books.

It includes an automated, sensor-activated digital caliper system which measures book block thickness and automatically transfers this data to the binder for quick, automated setup for books of different thicknesses.

Clark said the 48-staff business, which turns over £5.5m, was “extremely impressed with how easy the machine is to operate and the quality of product we can produce”.

On working with IFS, he added: “We have a great relationship. The team is very pleasant, and I really like working with everyone. They are very responsive and helpful.”