As digital print technology has improved, low-pagination booklets have become more cost-efficient to produce and stitch. However, low-pagination stitched booklets, unlike perfect bound ones, have a tendency to gape open at the middle spread - a less than desirable look.

Watkiss Automation's SpineMaster was designed to address this problem by transforming a stitch-fold booklet into a square-backed one. Priced at under £10,000, it works by clamping the spine and rolling it to give the appearance of a perfect-bound spine. As a result, printers are able to charge more for the finished booklet, a factor which helped boost worldwide sales of the machine to 1,200.

"We looked at squashing the spine as some other machines do, but we found that after a while it just pings open again, so we roll it," says Jo Watkiss, marketing manager at Watkiss Automation.

When it was first unveiled in 2000, the SpineMaster was only available as an offline machine, but in 2002 Watkiss released an inline version with the bookletmaking line running after the trimmer units.

The manufacturer argued that it was faster, more convenient and cheaper than perfect binding. "In the same price range, for lower pagination books, perfect binding was not satisfactory. You'd first have to cut the paper to size because you're dealing with loose sheets so there's extra cutting, glue and consumables," says Watkiss.  

Flat-pack benefits
The standalone machines are hand fed. The rounded spine booklet is held in a clamp while the machine rolls the spine to create a square profile, after this the booklet is ejected to a stacking hopper.

"The booklets stack flat so they're good for on-shelf displays and for packaging, plus the spine can be printed on. They can be opened flat quite well too," explains Watkiss. "The only difference is there is a stitch in the spine."

The SpineMaster has not radically altered since its launch, although its compatibility has been extended. "Obviously it's been on the market for a few years now, so there have been small improvements made on the machine. It can connect to various machines so there have been different interface kits developed for that," says Watkiss.

Warranties on secondhand machines will depend on factors such as how much the machine is being sold for. "We don't see very many secondhand but occasionally we take them in. For a secondhand price you're looking at probably about 50% to 60% of the new price depending on the age and condition," says Watkiss.

Specifications
Production speed 1,400 booklets per hour
Booklet size
Min 80x120mm
Max 250x350mm
Max booklet thickness 6.5mm
Footprint 00x750mm
Weight 130kg
Price
New £8,453
Used from £4,000
What to look for

• General wear and tear
• Interfaces