Technical director Mike Watkiss said that machine manufacturing was mirroring the print market at present, with smaller run lengths and shorter lead times.

"In order to meet customer demands efficiently, we need the capability to produce the parts for a single machine, rather than for a large batch. This is manufacturing’s equivalent of personalisation and print-on-demand."

Its new punching machine will be used in Watkiss's production of bookletmaking and collating machinery, including the Vario and DigiVAC collator lines, as well as the SpineMaster and PowerSquare SquareBack book production systems.

Between them, the products have more than 1,800 different sheet metal components that will be produced on the new press.