The Stevenage, Hertfordshire-based business has taken delivery of a Kolbus BF512 automatic case binding line and a Kolbus DA260 Casemaker.

According to Gerald White, managing director of Berforts, the 84-staff company has been "very successful" in the short-run space and felt it was time to invest to boost capacity.

He said: "We've experienced a significant increase in demand for the short-run digitally-printed books we produce.

"10 years ago, the average run was close to 10,000; now that figure is closer to 1,500. That is a digital sweet spot and the new Kolbus setup will allow us to cater for that."

The company's latest investment coincides with the launch of a web-to-print offering, Bookselect, which was launched at the London Book Fair earlier this month.

According to the company, Bookselect is being pitched towards publishers that require books from a single copy up to 10,000 copies.

Berforts has sites in Stevenage and a litho division in Hastings. It operates a raft of digital print equipment including nine Kodak Digimaster mono sheetfed printers, a Nipson Varypress 200 mono web and three Konica C6500 colour sheetfed machines.

The company has clients that include Sweet and Maxwell, Elsevier, Brooklands Books, Thompson Reuters and Pearson Education.