The Carolinas also used to be synonymous with the U.S. textile industry, back when the United States still had a domestic textile industry. Thanks to the offshoring of jobs to low-cost labor countries in Latin America and China, the number of workers employed at U.S. textile companies is down to around 240,000, a far cry from the 1 million employed in the 1970s.
The location of this year’s IW Best Plant Conference in South Carolina is a study of contrasts, which carefully reflect many manufacturing trends. As Governor Nikki Haley said at the SpeedNews Aerospace Manufacturing Conference earlier this month, “We don’t have a union in South Carolina, and we never will. “On the other hand, the state has developed into a new production center, not only the large original equipment manufacturers (OEM) active in the automotive (BMW) and aerospace (Boeing) industries, but also the state’s suppliers. In the textile industry, the United States still has a national textile industry. Due to the redistribution of jobs to the cheap labor countries in Latin America and China, the number of workers employed by underground textile companies fell from 1 million in the 1970s to about 240,000, but some American companies are still alive. And fabric manufacturers, such as Valdese Weavers, a private manufacturer based in Valdese, North Carolina, which is one of the top three manufacturers still operating in the United States.Lean supply chain management is one of the secrets of Valdese Weavers’ success. Its application is so impressive that it enables the company to stay in its home country, where many other companies have begun to look for foreign markets in that country. deliver. As the VP of Continuous Improvement of Third-Party Logistics Service Provider (Transportation Insight) of Valentese Lean Manufacturing Program, this is a third-party logistics service provider (3PL), which has two main lean manufacturing methods: The traditional method is dedicated to eliminating production Waste (clumsy) in. Areas such as overproduction, waiting, excessive inventory, unnecessary movement, defects and transportation. As Layle explained on IW Best Plants, traditional lean production methods are suitable for the differences between different typical growers, but they are invisible to consumers-this is an obvious omission. However, another approach is advanced lean manufacturing, which goes beyond the factory level and involves customers and other supply chain partners. Layle said that the company’s n processes, and the extension of lean manufacturing connects the entire supply chain. Renee Ledford, process engineer and head of continuous improvement at Valdese Weavers, introduced to IW Best Plants attendees how the company has expanded its lean waste management concept in its supply chain to significantly increase productivity. For example, Vardese (along with its 3PL’s Transportation Insight) works with suppliers to separate transportation costs from invoices so that Valdese can accurately see how much it spends on freight. Cost opens up the possibility of transferring part of the freight to a cheaper mode of transportation (for example, transferring part of the freight to a full vehicle instead of using more expensive means of transportation).Through similar Kaizen measures to control waste in the supply chain, Valdese has reduced inbound transportation costs by 30% and outbound freight costs by 12%. Ledford said: “We use the money saved by changing the supply chain and invest it in our employees, especially in training.”
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