The LSi Day Out In Blackpool
We were recently invited to Blackpool to visit one of our main manufacturers of promotional merchandise to see first-hand how everything is made! Of course any trip to Blackpool couldn't be complete without a cheeky trip to the pleasure beach and fish and chips by the sea! Have a look below to see what some of the Promotional Heroes have to say about the trip to the coast.
After a long journey on the never ending motorway we arrived in sunny Blackpool, for our tour of one of our supplier's factory's. As excited as we all were about the Pleasure beach and fish and chips to come later, first we would learn about how they work as a company, and see how they process an order from a customer calling up, to the product been moulded and printed, and sent out to another satisfied customer. So after receiving a Hi Vis jacket and earpiece, we set off on the tour.
We saw all areas of the company, the sales guys taking and making phone calls, and sending orders through to the factory floor, artwork and marketing providing visuals quickly for customers, which also double up as artwork for the factory, and the factory itself, which was huge and a hive of activity, filled with massive machinery and operatives covering all jobs from binding notebooks, to printing in 6 colours on a shopper bag. The machinery was amazing, robots working 24 hours a day moulding all kinds of products, some even printing during the moulding process to save time and money. These machines were very efficient, didn't need much assistance, and any waste was recycled through the system and remoulded into more products. Any waste that couldn't be recycled within the company, around 20%, was then turned into electricity, making them a zero carbon footprint company, which is very impressive for its size and sheer amount of products that it churns out.
Although the factory mainly consisted of multimillion pound machinery, there were also a lot of staff there, including machine operators, ink mixers, printers etc. It was amazing to see the pad printing in action, people could sit there and print around 1000 pens per hour! These have to be quality checked at the same time, and if the colours/print aren't correct the printer is trained to pick these out so the problem can be resolved. There were all sorts of people working on one job, and although they might not meet, the process is so streamlined from start to finish that whenever there is a problem it can be resolved quickly and with not much interference. Overall I was impressed with how quickly a job can go from the order being processed, to a product being created and printed in-house, all within a day if necessary on some products. It is amazing that a company of that size could be carbon neutral, but through reusing products so there is no waste, and creating energy from any waste that can't be recycled, it manages to maintain this and they are proud of this fact.
The people at the factory are all very friendly and Steve, Diane and Neeta were kind enough to take us on a proper trip to the seaside after the tour was done! Firstly heading to the Pleasure Beach, then for fish & chips, and finally some ice cream on the pier. We arrived at the Pleasure Beach at the perfect time, just when all the kids were leaving, and headed straight for the Big One. The nerves were racking up amongst the group as it was the first coaster of the day, but after that we were raring to go, good job we didn't have the fish and chips first though! Unfortunately for a few of us, we made the brilliant choice of following Perry's instructions and headed towards Valhalla, it's a water ride and we thought we would go on there and spend the rest of day drying off, but just as we got to the front (and actually in a carriage!) we were then told to get off and wait for some maintenance that would last 5 minutes. Around 45 minutes later we were finally told that the ride would be closing, brilliant! So after some huffing and puffing we went and got as much as we could done before the park closed. Next came fish and chips, and as you could expect on the coast, they were perfect, and what better place than to eat them than on the seafront. Once we had all finished, we rolled over to the nearest ice cream parlour and got ice cream each, and headed toward the pier before heading back for the coach home. It was a great day out all in all, it was great to see how things work at a massive manufacturer, and how they deal with certain problems that we could experience on a smaller scale, and of course the visit to the Pleasure Beach afterwards was enjoyed by all.
Having worked in my current role for over 2 year I was hoping to learn more about manufacturing of the products whilst visiting. I was very impressed to see how much they do under one roof. Earlier this year I had an order for the Brite Americano Mugs which at the time was a product that hadn't even been launched. I assumed this item would have been manufactured outside of the UK so it was really interesting to see every part of this order was done under their roof. From receiving an enquiry which key account team would deal with, to the processing of the order and sending an order acknowledgement to confirm the order, then the artwork proof and amendments if needed. The next step is in the warehouse where the Americano is physically manufactured, this is from mini 'beads' which are heated and then moulded into shape - all done by a very impressive machine. Once the order is completed it is then packed and despatched out. Very impressive to say it's all done under one roof.
Having worked within a printing factory before I was shocked to see how many orders go through each day and how many people are involved in each order yet it is so well organised that everything runs so smoothly. For instance an order for notebooks would go through key accounts, order processing, artwork, production – printing, gluing, cutting, and then packing and despatching. Yet every member of staff knew everything about any orders sat waiting, they knew exactly what the order was, what needed to be done and when it would be going out.
Another point to comment that impressed me was how green they are. Everything is recycled whether that be the extra cut outs of Acrylic from the keyrings which get crushed back down and then goes back into the machine for the next batch of keying's to be made. Right down to the cut outs from coaster which are part paper and part foam, these are then recycled to make electricity.
Having learnt so much upon the tour it was a nice treat to have some traditional delights of Blackpool; A visit to the pleasure beach, Fish and Chip dinner and Ice Cream to follow. I have to say seeing Steve Bodgers on 'The Big One' and the dodgems with his flat cap is definitely a highlight of the year!
Thursday 9th July our manufacturer invited us to go down and see them to talk about their products old and new!
With also a fun visit to the pleasure beach with of course fish and chips and ice cream included!
When we arrived at the headquarters straight away as usual they made us all feel very welcome and had organised our day out for us. We split into two teams Sales and sales Support in one team and Admin, Artwork and Warehouse in another.
Our visit was to talk about their products and give us a good clear reminder of what they can do for us and what they can offer. They had split themselves into different departments such as Paper, Gadgets, bags, novelties, High Profile, UK Manufacturers. We had 15 minutes each with them to discuss our thoughts and what they could do more for us. I found this very interesting as I learnt about products I didn't realise or knew they could do. I personally found the UK Manufacturing table the most educational and impressive as it opened my eyes to how many products can actually be made in the UK without realising. It also Helped me to think about our customers who need short lead times and high quantities of stock as this wouldn't be a problem with everything been made here in the UK.
We also got to preview potential new products and voice our opinions on them, this was a good chance to get some new ideas and see for ourselves what products would work and maybe not sell as well to our customers.
I found sitting with each department educational as a sales support person because it gave me more knowledge on what different products they can manufacture for us especially when they do all they can to give us the best prices to beat the rest with sufficient lead times to win over our orders.
Going to visit was a good idea as we get to meet our accounts team and meet them putting names to faces and establishing a stronger relationship but also seeing the factory for ourselves and getting an inside view watching our own orders been made!
We ended our day on a high with entry into the pleasure beach, fish and chips and ice cream on the beach! It was nice to spend time with them and my own colleagues out of work and have some fun creating stronger bonds and getting to know each other better out of work.
I had an amazing day and found it both educational as well as lots of fun so I would like to say a big thanks to Steve and the gang!
On my visit to the factory I felt that all the staff were really helpful and full of knowledge, our visit was really thought out as we got put in teams - newbies went for a visit around the factory to see how things are made and printed whilst sales and sales support had more of a training session on products in the showroom as I am a member of sales support we all got put in to teams of 2 then we sat with one table at a time with 6 different tables to go around, this was great because it was more intimate to be able to ask questions when we wanted and ask for things if we wanted it. Something I did not know they could do is on a polyprop notebook we could bespoke this to our customer by cutting out a bespoke shape in the poly prop and then having a full colour tipping page to the front that showed through the shape we cut out, cutting charges are not that expensive either.
The majority of their products are made in house at their very large premises in Blackpool that has a factory within it, this is great having everything under one roof because staff get training sessions on all products and how they are made so that when we call up for prices and information the lovely staff on key accounts understand the products and what we want.
The other advantage of everything made under one roof is the lead time – items can be turned around within 5 working days.
They are a part of a scheme were they at a 0% land fill factory – this means no waste what so ever goes to land fill. 70% of the waste generated is recycled, the remaining 30% goes to 'Energy from Waste Scheme. The factory is also a low energy manufacturer – one example is that they make plastic mugs instead of ceramic, so most manufactures that produce ceramic mugs would have to have mugs in a kiln and keep that kiln warm for hours so that loses a lot of energy. The factory is also a none heated factory, the heating is produced from the machines only and that keeps everyone warm.
After our successful meeting we all was lucky enough to visit Blackpool Pleasure beach and enjoy some of the rides however big or small we liked, then we went for fish and chips on the front followed by a huge ice cream.
Fab day had by all I would say!!!
It is a constant source of worry for me in regards to the state of manufacturing and its impact on the environment. We all try to do our bit but there is nothing we can do individually to stop the impact of waste levels and carbon footprints left in the wake of major factories. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they are constantly striving to become the exception. Their level of environmental sustainability is astonishingly simple.
For instance, we were shown the in-house manufacture of plastic key rings which are cut out from 'kits' of the same plastic by robots. The discarded plastic from this operation then gets separated and recycled itself to become more key rings and other plastic promotional items – it could even become layered into their famous Britemat mouse mats and coasters. This is one small example of a fully sustainable system which runs company-wide and is a testament to their commitment to reduce the level of waste which would otherwise reach its inevitable destination at the landfill site.
It is clear to see the level of dedication across all teams and this was shown in the beaming pride of our tour guides as they explained the vast array of products and branding methods they manufacture daily under one roof.
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