The machine consists of six-station automatic signature feeders, one station automatic cover feeder with scoring, stitching unit with two heads, in-line single copy trimmer and belt delivery. The FeiMa has a maximum mechanical speed of 8,000 cycles per hour.

For Bharath of Ravi Graphics, there was no doubt in their mind about the machine they wanted for finishing jobs. "We wanted our finishing to be strengthened, for which a Muller Martini seemed ideal," he stated.

This is in addition to its Welbound six-clamp perfect binding machine. "We needed more machines on the stitching-saddle side," he added. According to him, there was only one competitor for the FeiMa saddle stitcher: the Heidelberg Stitch Master, which they didn’t consider because of its high cost.

The only dilemma  at Ravi Graphics was about buying brand new machine or a used one. Their final decision was, however, in favour of a brand-new machine, which was purchased at a cost of Rs 60-lakh.

"Within the first few days of the machine, we’ve seen a considerable difference in operation. We were able to produce 50,000 books and brochures at very short notice. The capacity for collation, trimming and cutting has increased by four times," said Bharath.

Ravi Graphics is gearing up for its next set of plans. The printers are considering expanding to packaging. "We will have a complete set of machines by the end of 2011 to help us expand," said Bharath. "We can’t house the new set of machines in our current workspace in Rajajinagar, so we will begin to look for a new space," he pointed out.