Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Page 6 Geneva Plant Giant Slaj When Clinton Mills modernized weaving in its Geneva (Ala.) No. 1 Plant, managempnt knpw what wa<; nppdpri in warn nrpna ration. Modernization in No. 2 Plant created a list of requirements that included: Ability to produce 153-in. warps (and 64-in. warps as long as older looms remained in operation); Heavy-duty slasher rolls that wouldn't flex across such wide warp sheets; Two size boxes; Overflow size boxes; Capability of doffing while operating at creep speed; Creel capacity of 20 96-in. section beams plus magazine feature; Design configuration that permits easy maintenance at all pointsand access to individual ends in the creel; Prevention of beam rolling after power failure. Clinton got what it ordered. The new slasher (West Point Foundry), is customdesigned to size all warp yarns Plant No. 1 requires to weave 115,000 lb. (395,000 yd) of high-quality polyester-cotton printcloth each week. Good slashing: a key to good weaving Warp quality is evident: Weaving efficiency averages 96-97 percent on 130 new 153in. weaving machines (BU, Sulzer). General manager Barry L. Hooks says the machines started up at 90 percent efficiency, and off la f jj I i ^wwm, ^ ?? mmmmhmhh P^MV : ^xT". ^ImB Geneva s >her Sizes V\ (Reprinted by Permission fror quality is running less than 2 percent. Several factors have contributed to Gene va's high weaving efficiency; Management and operating personnel are committed; yarn manufacturing is top quality; and the precision weaving machines are well maintained. mm or inese raciors maKe signmcant contributions," Hooks says. "But the new slasher deserves a large portion of the credit. It is the only single machine in the plant that processes every yard of what will eventually be woven fabric." Clinton's dedication to high-quality, efficient operations pays off in the market. Clinton is blessed with a plentiful supply of "good quality" people in the Geneva area, and management has opted for a 5-shift, 7-day operation. Three shifts work the customary 5-day. 40-hr. week. Monday through Friday; two shifts work 12-hr. days, Saturday and Sunday. As extra compensation for the weekend schedule, the latter two shifts receive 36 hours' pay for 24 hours' worked. Easy access provides quality maintainance "We wanted a machine we could get into and work on," Hooks says. It meant raising the roof, but Geneva got the easy-access, timesaving design it asked for. The installation procedure included moving the older slasher to the side of the room, so it could continue to operate until I i r j $* ^ ^ \ | ilasher sizes 153 in. loom beams and cont fide Beams I n Mac Isaacs Textile World) installation of the new machine was completed. A new, higher roof was installed over the old one. Slasher installation began after the old roof was removed. Additional ceiling height was needed to meet the plant's easyaccess requirement. You can walk across the slasher at each size box and at other key maintpnanrp Inratinn*; The design not only reduces maintenance time requirements, it generates more consistent preventive-maintenance routine. Excessive downtime on your only slasher can quickly become painfully expensive. Configuration of the slasher's 12 face cans (100-in.) also promotes easy access. 'The yarn sheet exiting each size box moves onto four cans. The two sheets then come together on the remaining four cans. Creel design also provides for easy access. Operators can easily reach each end in the creel. Five 4-beam groups nest in the creel, with walking space between each group. The magazine feature permits staging for the succeeding set. C^lnh Innoc r\lant msn^nor nnintc tA l\Clipil piom I I ICi I ICJ O ' puilllj IU another feature of the creel: "The pneumatic braking system prevents beam rotation in event of power failure." Power failures ? short "glitches" ? are common in Geneva due to its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and its frequent thunderstorms. I 41 m u ^M ributes greatly toward the plants 96-97% Efficiently Overflow size boxes prevent gelling Each size box connects to an overflow box. The size mix circulates between the two. Formula additions are made in the overflow size box. "This system prevents the mix from gelling around the edges, a common occurrence with long-running mixes," explains Hooks. The new slasher operates at 70-80 ypm, but Hooks says it is capable of higher speeds if production demands warrant. Management feels that capability to produce 153in. loom beams is important. The slasher head (702 Pacesetter, West Point Foundry) ic nnp nf fom/ I I ^ inctallatinnc "Single-beam tying-in on the loom is much better than a double-beam setup," Hooks says. Clinton specified that the slasher should also be capable of producing 64-in. beams, so the plant could continue to operate its 64-in. flyshuttle looms until they were replaced with the 153-in. shuttleless machines. "Fortunately," says Hooks, "we only had to produce one 64-in. set after the new slasher was installed." Jones points to the heavy-duty rolls as another key feature. "Our side-to-side size variation runs less than 0.5 percent." The huge slasher does occupy consider ame noorspace. ine creei aiong is oy-n. long, and it requires space on each side for the magazine creels. The entire slasher measures 105 feet from the back of the creel to the slasher head. n ? 2 y p * efficiency.