Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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From the President Some of you have commented about- the changes taking place within our company. All of us are accustomed to change, but often times at a much slower pace than that which we are now experiencing. Our goal as a company is to put quali ty first, lb fulfill our goal, we must be smarter than our competition in utiliz ing our human, financial and produc tion resources. We must be willing to adapt to new ways of doing things. Our thinking must be shaped by the challenges and op portunities of the future and not by the past. We must al ways ask ourselves: How can we do it better? The requirements for our company will be much greater in the future. Team work, a closer coor dination of our manufacturing resources with our customers needs, : constantly changing managerial atti tudes and modifica tions in our market ing strategies will bring a new identi ty to our company. Our ability to change will be the catalyst which makes a successful future. Old attitudes towards complacency must be displaced with a keen desire to be the best. To a large extent, we will feel the demand to develop more specialty markets while maintaining a close liaison with the customers we now serve. We can expect the 90’s to bring greater challenges and broader oppor tunities for those companies which put quality first in product and service. Increased use of computers will pro vide management with information necessary to address financial, person nel and manufacturing concerns rapid ly and in a manner which will reflect upon our ability to make sound business decisions based on accurate information. Electronic transfer of data is already allow ing us to monitor in ventories, service our customers, follow production levels and schedule equipment operations in our plants, regardless of their locations. Clinton Mills has invested millions and millions of dollars in new equipment. To continue to make these capital com mitments, we must secure a reasonable return on our invest ment. We can a- chieve these returns, if we put quality first. Positive attitudes, enthusiasm and willingness to accept change will bear a great influence on our future success. Your understanding of why change is essential to put quality first is impor tant to you and your company. I G. Thaddeus Williams Safety^ Poor performance hurting all of us Safety is everyones responsibility The number of accidents occuring in our plants is alarming. For many years the Company has taken pride in pro viding a workplace as free of hazards as possible. In recent months, our safety pro gram has been eroded away by a number of accidents caused by unsafe acts and practices, failure to follow departmental safety rules, and to some extent, unsafe conditions caused by poor housekeeping or operator practices. Accidents result in employees suffer ing, loss of time and production, and can even affect the quality of products produced. Our performance does not reflect our goals and ambitions for last year. Op timistically, we truly were determined to reduce our medicals by 25%, but our efforts didn’t impact favorably on our performance. This year, safety will rank alongside quality and production. We’ll hear a great deal in the coming months about awareness and commitment - both necessary ingredients for a successful safety program. Safety will rank alongside quality and production. Clinton’s EFA operations have erected signs and scoreboards in an ef fort to focus on safety. Clinton will con centrate on banners, safety contacts, and major recognition activities to in still in others the importance of safety. No one wants to be injured or have a friend hurt. Let’s work together to make 1990 our Company’s safest year. In this issue Bill Hill picks 1400 bales of cotton fiber each week 6 Medical care benefits continue to rise 3 Company begins new lock out program 2 Clinton complies with cotton dust standards 7 Employees get blood pressure checked by nurses 4 Car loans available from Clinton credit association 8 New safety program under lock and key Ralph Vernon, left, and Joe Fields, right, lock out power source as part of Clin ton Mills new lock out procedures. Both Vernon and Fields are in the EFA maintenance department. Renewed emphasis has been placed on lockouts and tags throughout the company. The company’s lockout program establishes the minimum requirements for energy isolating devices so that no employee will be injured by an unexpected energization, start-up, or release of store energy. Employees throughout the company have been instructed in the ways to lockout each piece of equipment for which they have responsibility. Electricians and technicians have been issued locks and trained in the correct ways to apply the locks. In an effort to reduce accidental injuries, each departmental superintendent and all plant engineers have made a list of instances where lockouts are required and appropriate individuals have been advised of these areas. In those instances in which more than one individual is required to lockout or tag equipment, each will be required to place his lock on the equipment. Only the persons installing the lock will have the key necessary to remove it. The company lockout procedures, in effect for Clinton and Elastic Fabrics of America, will reduce the hazards that result in serious injury to our employees. page 2 - Cloth Maker