Muller Martini will cease production of its own Onyx inserter and will supply Sitma equipment as standard on its lines.

As part of the agreement, Muller will also become a Sitma supplier in a number of worldwide locations, although this will not affect the UK, where Integra will continue to supply Sitma standalone machines.

According to Muller UK managing director Andreas Schillinger, the move has been made to improve efficiencies at the company's Swiss plant.

He said: "There is consolidation in the industry and this deal works for both of us. We have a strong distributor network. Why do we need to build ourselves when there are companies like Sitma with a fantastic reputation.

"They are able to produce the lines economically. They produce much larger volumes than we do, so Muller has taken the decision to pull back a little."