Old Saybrook, CT—On June 26, printing and production services provider R.R. Donnelley contacted catalog customers who print in its Old Saybrook facility with the news: Donnelley plans to close the Connecticut location by next July. But Donnelley will be expanding its facility in Lancaster, PA.
The closing of the Old Saybrook facility and the expansion of the Lancaster plant is part of a $300 million companywide investment aimed at increasing efficiency. Putting the decision in a positive light, Donnelley spokesperson Vera Panchak says, “The sense we got from our catalog customers who now print in Old Saybrook was that they are excited about the added capabilities that will be available to them in Lancaster.” The Old Saybrook facility was “too small to be able to expand efficiently,” Panchak adds. Donnelley “has not assigned a cost savings value to this consolidation yet because the main goal is to focus on how to better serve our customer base.”
The transition, slated to begin next spring, includes phasing out Old Saybrook’s 500 employees, though the company hopes to find jobs for up to 100 of them in the Lancaster facility. Donnelley will also relocate presses and equipment to Lancaster, and the plant will be getting other equipment such as new high-quality offset presses and more bindery equipment.
The closing of the Old Saybrook plant comes on the heels of announcement that Donnelley is closing facilities in South Daytona, FL, and Des Moines, IA. According to Panchak, those plants service magazine primarily.