Following the purchase of a five colour B3 Heidelberg press, Executive Image, in Leicester, has installed an MB CAS 38 folder with pre-loader from Encore Machinery.

"We were spending between £600 to £700 a month with a local trade finisher, so it made sense to bring the work in-house," explained Trevor Short, Managing Director. "We had no previous experience in finishing and we didn't want to employ a finishing specialist just to run the folder as and when it is required, so we looked for an SRA3 machine that was quick and easy to set up. What appealed to us about the MB CAS is its computerisation. Basically all the operator has to do is to follow the simple instructions on the touch screen and the set up is done automatically. We don't have to fiddle around adjusting the machine manually, which takes time and a certain level of skill. It can store jobs in the memory but that is a feature we have yet to use because we don't get many repeat jobs. Most of our work is short run - anything from 2,000 to 5000 copies, so set up time is important. The machine is very compact and, with the pre-loader, it can be operated by one member of staff quite easily. It's made a big difference to us because we can finish an urgent job the same day, if necessary, without having to rely on an outside resource."