Springs VP optimistic
Week of February 3, 2003
Surratt addresses ATMA Region 2
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Henry Surratt, vice president of grey manufacturing operations,
Springs Industries, Lancaster, SC, told ATMA members that companies
that are around today survived as a result of changes made during the
last decade.
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By Devin Steele
CHARLOTTE, NC — Henry Surratt brought encouragement and advice to members of the American Textile Machinery Association (ATMA) during their resurrected Region 2 meeting here Jan. 16.
“I can honestly say that despite all the challenges ahead, I do remain optimistic that we will have a solid U.S. manufacturing base in the future,” said Surratt, vice president of grey manufacturing operations, Springs Industries, Lancaster, SC. “Sure, there are fewer of us today, but certainly we’ve remained up to this point because of our ability to adapt to change and respond to challenge.”
Those challenges are increasing imports, low tariffs and the upcoming phaseout of quotas under World Trade Organization rules, he mentioned. Facing those odds, the industry has “spent billions on new plants and equipment, set new records of productivity, developed new products and dramatically expanded our export base,” he said.
Surratt pointed out that about 2 million American manufacturing jobs have been lost since July 2000, which translates into fewer U.S. production plants needing machinery and parts. But some of that job loss is due to modernization and increased productivity, not just the usual suspects such as the value of the U.S. dollar, imports and low-wage labor abroad.
He noted that in the 20-year period from 1981-2001, the annual productivity growth in manufacturing averaged 3.2 percent, nearly double the 1.7 percent average productivity growth of the overall non-farm business sector during this same time period.
“I firmly believe that those of us who have survived have done so because of all the changes we’ve made in the early ’90s,” Surratt said.
As a customer of textile machinery and supplier providers, he also offered guidance about areas he said he believed they should be focusing on. One, he said, they should offer turnkey maintenance solutions.
“Aid your customer in increasing uptime through predictive and preventative maintenance,” he said. “Help us to figure out how to reduce machinery failure. Provide optimization services for your customers specific products.”
In addition, Surratt said, suppliers should help users quantify the value added of OEM parts. Plus, equipment providers should equip themselves to react to customers’ needs regarding downtime maintenance, he noted.
“Short runs and reduced lead times created by continuous flow operations will require flexibility regarding shutdown maintenance,” he said. “You may not have the luxury of planning for the typical July 4 and Christmas shutdown weeks. You may be called upon to provide this service at other times in the future.”
Surratt also touched on progress his company has made since going private in Sept. 2001.
“This has allowed us to focus on making significant long-term investments in our business and not worry so much about the short-term impacts those decisions have on quarterly results,” he said. “This has proven to be making a difference for us. All of us at Springs are now able to focus on the long-term benefit of our efforts.”
Note: After a hiatus of
several years, the revived ATMA Region 2 meeting in Charlotte attracted a good turnout of about 25 people, despite impending snowy weather that threatened attendance numbers.
