Letts have invested in machinery and fulfillment systems that allows them to offer a more personalised option. We now implement global contracts, which include a web-based order system, offering bespoke products, and added product personalisation which are then fulfilled to all regions of the world. Over 300 staff are employed by Letts at a 250,000 sq ft factory which incorporates customer service, print, bindery, and fulfillment on one site. The company has always maintained some manufacturing in Scotland, but certain products were made in Asia for cost and capability reasons.
Now Letts has invested £230,000 in new printing technology which will allow it to produce more of its diaries and personal organisers at its 250,000sq ft factory in Dalkeith.
Sales and marketing director Charles Letts said the three machines would allow the company to make better use of its 350-strong Scottish workforce and stabilise employment at the plant.
He said the firm had always preferred to manufacture in Britain but customer demand for more complex diary designs forced it to branch out to the Far East, where they could be produced more cost-effectively.
But this has “inevitably brought issues in terms of producing finished products on time alongside the increasing cost from Far East suppliers”, he said.
Letts said production costs in Asia had been rising as wages in China were climbing fast. A booming internal market also meant Chinese manufacturers were less interested in exporting.
The firm had been making about one-third of its products overseas, but that will now be cut significantly as the latest technology increases productivity and makes it cost effective to make those products in Britain.
Letts said manufacturing at one site in the UK gave the company closer control of its production, which was something valued by clients, especially in the retail market where short lead times are key. The firm, which started life as a stationer in 1796 and created the first commercial diary in 1812, also produces branded products for the corporate market.
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