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