The machine was installed at the beginning of August to provide an automated solution for gluing because previously the team had manually produced work with glue guns.

Swanline's production director Simon Kirby said: "The machine increases the speed of work going through the finishing department and will help alleviate the bottleneck normally associated with hand gluing."

He also claims that the precise glue application of the machine will prove to be a benefit for its box-making and point-of-sale customers.

Kirby said: "Our designers design around the machine which gives our customers a niche to be able to eliminate their competition.

"The intricacy of applying glue to areas that cannot be done on a straight line gluer and the quicker pass through of orders creates extra capacity for our designers to use all the technology of the machine to make more suitable packaging for our customers’ customers."

The £100,000 automated Bickers gluing machine can handle both PVA and hot melt glue and was bought as part of a bigger £300,000 investment in Swanline’s finishing department.

A Mosca pallet press line, including a Mytho stretch wrapper, is to be installed at the plant in Stone, Staffordshire at the end of September.

The £125,000 line will improve presentation of wrapped pallets and speed up delivery times by eliminating the longer labour times from hand wrapping. Roller conveyors to transport pallets from machinery to the pallet wrapping equipment will also be added to speed up production at a cost of £25,000.