The Broadstairs, Kent firm replaced a Sheridan stitcher with the 200,000 machine to help make nearly 3m diaries a year.

"When producing formats from 120x80mm, specialist gear is often needed for finishing," said works manager Fred Altree.

"Other suppliers had to fit extra kit to their machines to cope with our needs. The Osako handled our jobs as standard."

Automated trimmer and cover-folder feeder cut changeover time for jobs as small as 50x50mm. The firm looked at kit from Muller Martini and Heidelberg.

Altree then saw the Osako in action at Liverpool's Pharma Finishing. The decision was subsequently made and he ordered the stitcher from agent  MAN Roland GB.

"We were impressed by the performance and build quality," he said. "The Osako is very robust and a monster of a machine compared to others."

Westwood Press, the print arm of Graham Cumming Group, takes more than 2,500 orders a year from churches and schools, the National Farmers Union and suppliers of sporting diaries.

Story by Jez Abbott