The machine, which was first seen at Drupa last year, was officially launched to UK users at an open house event at Muller's Iver, Buckinghamshire base last week.

According to commercial manager Michael Mortboys, the saddlestitcher is perfect for trade finishers and printers looking to introduce saddlestitching services to their businesses.

The machine, which has been heavily influenced by larger lines in the Muller range, including the Prima and Primera, runs at 9,000 cycles per hour, but Mortboys claimed that its automation is the main selling point.

Mortboys said: "This would be a replacement machine for our 335 or our Minuteman machines, but it is so easy to use that it would be perfect for a first time saddlestitcher. The first machine we sold in the UK went to someone that had never had saddlestitching before."

Notable alterations to previous entry-level machines include a twin-score system, which removes the need to change over the scoring kit between differing jobs – this can also be retro-fitted on older Muller machines.

Paul Murphy, who demonstrated the machine at the open house event, said average makereadies can be completed in around seven minutes.

"Muller has stopped chasing speed, it is now looking at how it is getting the paper through the machine. It uses all the good bits from the Primera, but I have never seen a lot of them on an entry-level machine before. It can handle any job from around 500 through to very long runs," he added.

Depending on specifications, the machine costs from £160,000.