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Clinton Mills and Picanol donate weaving machine As employees become more aware of environmental problems facing our world and nation, each has an obliga tion and an opportunity to improve the environment. Clinton Mills has recycled waste from the manufacturing processes for many years, and now the company must recycle other wastes which are filling our landfills. In December, the company began baling and reselling bale wrapping from one from one of our polyester suppliers. The company is now requesting em ployees to recycle drink cans from the vending machines. Special receptacles have been placed in each canteen and at major plant entrances. These are clearly identified and are for drink cans only. Place empty drink cans in these receptacles. If you are not recycling soft drink cans at home, please use these containers for those cans as well. It is important that trash be kept out of recycling containers so that the products identified as recycl able can be used in the way intended. Extending the useful life of our land fills and natural resources will benefit all employees. A recent tour of the plants showed employees were participating in the project. However, some containers marked for recycling contained paper and other trash and this should be discontinued. >See Recycling, page 8 Clinton Mills has participated in a major project to place a Picanol air jet weaving machine in the weaving laboratory at Clemson University. The new weaving machine significantly improves the university's capability to educate students in the most modem technology available in weaving ma chines. In making the announcement. Dr. Doug Rippy, director of the School of Textiles, noted that "we must educate our students using the most modem equipment possible." He noted that with the rapid pace of technological change, the cost of state of the art manufacturing equipment and the limited state funds available for equipment purchases, it would be impossible for us to maintain cur rency in their laboratories without the generous support of a company like Clinton Mills. Rippy, who at one time worked in the Clinton plants fly shuttle oper ation, noted that the new weaving machine would be utilized in carrying out teaching, research and service missions. ClothMaker Left to right are Frank Hunter, Clemson School of Textiles; Doug Rippy, director of School of Textiles; Ted Davenport, vice president of Clinton Mills; and Jimmy Thomas, vice president of sales, Picanol. The weaving machine is a joint gift from Clinton Mills and Picanol. Breathing apparatus training provided The company has provided extensive training to employees who may at some time or another be required to wear a self-contained breathing apparatus in an emergency operation. Jack Veale, training instructor for the city of Clinton,, provided the instructions during a three-hour training session at the Human Resources Department. Participants were trained in the proper wearing of the equipment, various life-saving techniques, ways to detect the proper operation of the air tanks and regulators, and other aspects of emergency fire fighting when a Scott Air PAK must be worn. Completing the program were: PLANT NO. 1: Sammy Simpson, Michael Lawson, Donald Carter and James Hornsby. PLANT NO. 2—WAREHOUSE, SHOP: Danny Webb, Gerald Satterfield, Donald R. Trammell, Tolan Snelgrove, Millard Campbell, Marshall Vaughn and James Werts Jr., Charles Mabry, Tyrone Johnson, Brand M. Lee, Marty Heaton, Harold R. Webb, Bryan Tumblin, George Gary, Michael Maggard, William Calhoun, David Glenn, Joe Spillers, Richard K. Tucker, Benny Martin, Jerry D. Sherfield, John Samples, Kevin Tucker, Tim Crowder, Lorena Pyles, Harley Culpepper, Harold Stroud, Gregory Maggard, Billy A. Smith, Lou Speaks, Kenneth Bull, Jeffery Blackwell, William R. James, Johnny Cash, Donnie Satterfield, Sara Heaton, Merle Samples and J. H. Whitmore. LYDIA: Leroy McGee, Van Oxner, Gregory Kennedy, Mike Kinard, Thomas Beaman, Alvin Satterfield, George Robert Smith, Jimmy Jacobs, Rick Page, James S. Neely, Gilliam M. Boozer, James Robinson, George Cato, Barry Templeton, Carl Turner, Fred B. Smith, Roosevelt Fair, James A. Smith, David Satterfield, Curtis Watson, Brian Shealy, Lem Greene, Joe Turner and William E. Mims. BAILEY: Harold Smith, Jerry Dyal, George Barnett, Ronnie Bishop, Jimmy Jacks, Larry Pace, Richard Scott Jr., Kenneth Morse, Leroy Wells, Frank Reeder, Richard Warner, Norman Patterson, Jacque Gilliam, Ellis Crowder, Larry King, Fred Fuller and Teddy McLendon. Employees encouraged to recycle The company's 1990 financial re sults showed a small improvement over 1989, but we were not able to achieve the profit levels we had antici pated. These poorer than expected results are a reflection of the quality problems the company experienced in its Greensboro oper ation, a weak market de mand for knit goods, the modernization disrup tions at Clinton No. 2, and the recessionary en vironment in which we are operating. While we had hoped for better earnings last year, we are proud to have reported record sales for the com pany and to have main tained our level of operations at a time when many companies were exper iencing curtailments. Unfortunately, operating cost increased. Despite the economic downturn, sales orders have remained relatively strong in 1991, and we are optimistic that qual ity improvement efforts throughout the company and modernization ex penditures at Clinton No. 2 will im prove our performance going for ward. In recent weeks, our company has made much progress in the im plementation of its Quality First prog ram. Many employees have success fully participated in extensive train ing programs designed to improve quality through the application of statistical process control techniques. Our mission is to become the prefer red supplier in all of the markets we serve. This can be achieved by con stantly improving the quality of our products and services. Quality First allows us to use our experienced and knowledgeable work force to address problem areas within our plants in order to make the changes necessary to compete in today’s marketplace. One of our most critical issues is what to do about the continuing rise in health care costs for our employees and their families. During 1990 the‘ total cost of our health care benefits was $5,458,536. This reflects a 21% increase in our medical costs over 1989 and is 236% higher than in 1986. Our total cost per em ployee for 1990 was $2,050 compared to $942 in 1986. The projections are that medical costs will escalate another 21 to 27 percent in 1991. With medical costs in creasing so rapidly, health care costs will be a major problem for your company, and for you, if some way is not found to stop the escalation. We must all be come aware of the high costs of medical benefits, use them prudently, and with their costs to you and your company in mind. You will learn more on this subject from other arti cles appearing in this issue of the Qothmaker. In addition to medical care costs, we continue to experience an excessive number of on-the-job injuries. We're studying ways to get this situation under control. We had a total of 255 medical accidents during 1990 and 84 lost time injuries. We simply do not want our employees to get injured. In closing, I would like to welcome Joe Gorga as president of EFA Divi sion. He brings with him an abun dance of knowledge in manufactur ing, marketing and product develop ment, and I am confident he will make a great contribution to our company as he provides leadership to EFA. I appreciate your continuing efforts in making Clinton the preferred sup plier in all the markets we serve. G. T. Williams