Abstract: In a pleating machine having intermittently driven pleating rolls (4,5), between which a pleatable fabric can be inserted with the aid of pleating blades which are disposed on an upper and a lower blade beam and work in the manner of feed tongs, and in which machine the blade beams are pivotably mounted on arms on a blade shaft (13) which in turn is adapted to be swivelled to-and-fro and optionally to perform axial reciprocating movements, individual drives (17, 18, 19, 20, 21) are provided for driving the individual components participating in the pleating, which drives are associated with the individual components and whose functions are controllable by an electronic control device (22).