The Leicester-based company took delivery of the new folder last week and training is currently underway. The machine was supplied by Friedheim International and has replaced an existing Heidelberg Stahlfolder KH 82, which has been sold on.

Taylor Bloxham technical director Wesley Sykes said: “We’ve bought the machine in mainly to fold 16-page section work. Our biggest bottleneck is folding and this machine is about two to three times quicker than our existing kit.

“Where we would fold a 16-page section at about 4,500 [cycles] per hour on our existing kit, we’re expecting to get to between the 12,000 and 13,000 mark with this machine.”

The company looked at a range of options available on the market but found that the K8 RS best suited its requirements.

“I looked at a few machines that would deliver what we anticipated and then it very much came down to the operators who were involved in the trials and had a big impact on the final decision – they’re the ones that have got to make it work,” said Sykes.

The new kit will support existing print machinery at the company’s 5,600sqm site, which includes five Heidelberg Speedmaster litho presses and a raft of other finishing kit. Two new Muller Martini machines have also been installed in the past couple of months to replace kit that was damaged following an electrical fire in May.

Taylor Bloxham, which has 200 staff and a turnover of more than £26m, was formed in 1938. It is now part of The Taylor Bloxham Group which also houses two other brands – direct mail and fulfilment arm FastAnt and specialist POS arm Instore.