Diary manufacturer and supplier Letts has invested ￡230,000 in new equipment, including an HP Scitex FB500 flatbed printer, to migrate greater production levels back to the UK.

The company, which manufacturers more than 22m diaries per annum, has also installed elastic enclosure case-making machine from Peroni Ruggero and a SCS Automaberg rounding corner machine.

Charles Letts, sales and marketing director at Letts, said the investments enhance its existing UK production capabilities and stabilise its Dalkeith-based workforce while "lowering the dependency on Far East manufacture".

He said: "The HP Scitex FB500 UV Printer has many advantages in comparison to the standard litho printers and digital presses we currently use.

"By broadening our digital offering, we now have the ability to print on almost any substrate, meaning design issues due to print limitations should be eliminated."

HP's FB500 1.6m flatbed offers white ink on a low-volume machine and can handle 64mm-thick media and an optional roll-to-roll kit. It offers speed ranges from 5sqm/hr in photo mode to 37sqm/hr for express mode.

The company added that the latest investments will also improve both productivity and flexibility by reducing its reliance on exported production.

"Recent trends in fashion have shown that customers are almost expecting elastic enclosures and round cornered cases on their products and for Letts to achieve this standard, the only option was to produce in the Far East," said Lett.

He added: "This, inevitably had issues in terms of producing finished products on time alongside the increasing cost from Far East suppliers.

"However, since the new, cost-effective machines have now been developed the productivity and sheer speed of the machines give Letts an obvious competitive advantage over our major competitors who still need to manufacture in the Far East."