The Lincoln-based company’s managing director, Paul Banton, said Ruddocks was now able to complete jobs faster and could handle smaller run lengths.

He said: "We are able to turn work around sensibly and, more importantly, profitably, so we can confidently take on last-minute jobs.

"We wanted a production line that could handle smaller quantities as efficiently as the longer runs and would be equally at home with litho and digital work. It had to be able to easily complete runs of 500, 1,000 or 2,000."

The 126-year-old B2 printer installed the machine with two VAC-Turbo 10 10-bin PowerCollators. It works from flat four-page sections, eradicating the need to pre-fold into signatures or pre-trim top and tail.

The machine also features an icon-based colour touchscreen, allowing automated set-ups to be completed in less than two minutes. It can run at speeds up to 5,500 books per hour (bph), or 11,000bph in two-up mode.

Ruddocks also revamped its perfect binding with a Horizon BQ270, also from IFS, replacing its existing BQ150. The machine has a running speed of 500bph.

It is fitted with an autocaliper, which measures the spine of the book and automatically sets up for the run, cutting set-up times.

Banton added: "Soon after the machine was installed we won a contract for a short-run book that we were able to turn around in a morning. Before we couldn’t have done that job in-house."

Ruddocks, which has a turnover of £2.2m, produces a wide variety of work for organisations including the Scouting Association, Macdonald Hotels, Lincoln Cathedral as well as NHS trusts and local authorities.