Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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r@ 4 ) Cloth Maker Quality First program introduced The Quality First program intro duced by the company will enable Clinton Mills to achieve a new level of quality throughout the company. As an integral part of the Quality First program, Karl Bumgarner, vice president of Hanes Dye and Finish ing, met with management personnel and quality team members from Plants 1 and 2, to discuss his com pany’s expectation from greige good manufacturers like Clinton. "On time delivery is important," explained Bumgarner. "We’re in a time pressure business." He went on to explain every facet of his business and what was expected of preferred suppliers. "We must have a good package and each roll must have a strong core that will not collapse." Bumgarner noted in detail his com pany's requirements, noting that a selvage must meet exacting require ments. The selvages must be tight: i.e., "must have the proper tension." He continued his presentation by showing examples of woven fabrics that had been received in his plant for processing. "Woven goods must not have spots and sizing has to come out early in the bleaching process," continued Bum garner as he explained his company's expectations of Qinton fabrics. He told the group that yardage has to be accurate and that it is no longer acceptable to "be as good today as we were yesterday." He stressed that quality must be a continuously impro ving process. Clinton fabrics compete with those from China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philip pines, Korea, Egypt and other coun tries as well as those domestic man ufacturers that we all hear about daily. The Quality Assurance Executive told Clinton employees that his com pany provided textile components that went into about 80% of the men's trousers made in the United States. "Clinton Mills is a preferred sup plier to the pocketing trade. You can be proud of the organization for which you work — when there is a problem, your sales organization is prompt to respond to the complaint. Clinton fabrics are among the best I've ever seen," stated Bumgarner. Bumgarner said the company should avoid as many bottlenecks as possible. Time lengths must be shor tened throughout the manufacturing process. Quick Response is one of our major advantages as well as the capa bility to make specialty fabrics. He stressed that employees have to strive to eliminate delays. Any bot tleneck along the way will affect delivery and all of us must look at the next person in the chain as the cus tomer. When it's all complete, we'll find that we need to improve commu nication between everyone. He informed the management per sonnel and quality teams of the im portance of having good seams, con necting cuts so that the selvages are even, and the importance of having little or no tint in the fabric. "If we have no tint, then we don't have to be concerned about it not coming out," he remarked. Left to right, Karl Bumgarner of Hanes, Vice President of Manufacturing Ted Davenport, and Air Jet Weaver Brenda Tucker, discuss Quality First during a recent tour of the weaving facilities. Bumgarner explains importance of being a preferred supplier to Plants No. 1 and No. 2 Quality First teams. The Bailey Plant Quality First Steering Committee is comprised of, left to right, Steve Lanford, Cloth Room; Marty Satterfield, Weaving; Joe Aiton, Plant Manager; Steve Floyd, Spinning; Ronnie Bishop, Carding; and Robert Cobb, Maintenance. The Bailey Plant Quality First Team is attempting to reduce start marks in Style 17359. Members of the team are, left to right, Richard Warner, Maintenance; Thomas Motes, Weaving Machine Technician; Sherri Heaton, Inspector Grader; Mike Norris, leader; Rosa Martin, Filling Supplier; and Mary Hughes, Weaving Instructor.