STILL BEAMING
Briggs-Shaffner continues to shine after 119 years
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Posted February 9, 2016
By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)
YADKINVILLE, N.C. – Set to mark his 50th year with Briggs-Shaffner Co. in July, Emmitte Winslow has seen the big highs and deep lows of the U.S. textile industry, especially during the last quarter century – and he is able to count his company among the survivors.
Like so many industry suppliers as well as producers, the company’s preservation was assured only after leadership was forced to make some tough decisions to adapt to a rapidly changing market. For Briggs-Shaffner, a beam and beam rack supplier, the nadir came in 2003 when the veritable fork in the road came into focus.
“We were seeing another depression in the textile industry in general in North America,” Winslow said last week from his modest office inside the company’s manufacturing facility here. “We felt, at that time, for us to have continued longevity we needed to exit some of the marginal businesses and concentrate primarily on the textile beam business.”
The decision involved letting go about 25 or 30 people, downsizing operations and moving from its facility in nearby Winston-Salem to a smaller plant here.
“We were looking at every avenue possible that would allow us to continue to provide a good, quality product,” Winslow said. “About that time, too, we started taking in used beams and beam racks and refurbishing and reconditioning those. Looking back, that was probably pivotal to our longevity. At that point not many customers were spending money on new capital machinery.”
Today, 119-year-old Briggs-Shaffner finds itself among the living – and doing quite well, thank you. The company offers a complete line of textile beams for fiber and fabric processing, including filament in warping, weaving, knitting or custom applications. It manufactures new and reconditioned tricot beams, section beams and weaving/warping beams.
“We have seen an uptick in the textile beam business in the last couple of years,” said Winslow, a member of the American Textile Machinery Association (ATMA) and a former board member of Textile Hall Corp. “In the last six or seven months we've seen a fairly drastic increase in North America. A lot of that has been driven by automotive and customers needing to change sizes of beams for current-day applications. Business has picked up some, so we're thankful for that. Hopefully it will hold for a while.”
Most of the company’s business is domestic, with about 10 percent to 15 percent of product being exported, he said.
Beams have been synonymous with Briggs-Shaffner since the 1940s, Winslow said. The company and its predecessor companies – Hayes-Albion and Sonoco Products – have produced the lion’s share of textile beams, with the exception of weaving beams, in North America over the past half century, he added.
The company still manufactures new beams, as well as buys, sells, trades and converts used beams and beam racks. On any given day, it has between 3,000 and 5,000 beams in inventory on site, he added.
“We've been very fortunate that our customers have a good allegiance to us and I think that's due to the fact that we've always emphasized making quality products,” Winslow said. “And, of course, we have been an industry leader as far as high-strength beams for nylon and polypropylene and other applications that exert a high yarn-load force on the beams.”
A long history with a venerable history
Winslow, 71, started with Briggs-Shaffner in 1966, which was bought by Hayes-Albion Corp. in 1968 and Sonoco Products in 1982. He remained with the company as general manager throughout the changeovers and, in 1990, bought the company and returned it to private, family ownership.
His three sons are part owners and each is a vice president of the company – Kyle, over sales and major projects; Brent over accounting and administration; and Vann over technical and site support services. His wife Carol is secretary of the company but does not have any day-to-day responsibilities.
Textiles account for about 50 percent of Briggs-Shaffner’s business these days. The company opened a computer and numerical control machining center plant in Yadkinville just over a year ago, and has owned and operated a metal recycling facility in Simpsonville, S.C., for many years.
Winslow said he has tried to create a comfortable work environment and provide good benefits and pay. About 25 people work at its main plant, with about 60 percent to 70 percent having worked for the company more than 25 years, Winslow estimated. Overall, the firm employs around 45 people.
“I think we are blessed with people, even some of the ones who have been with us less than five or six years, who have a good work mentality,” he said. “They're not looking to just punch the clock and go home. They like to create and move things forward throughout the process that it takes to manufacture product.”
Winslow, his sons Kyle and Vann an engineer who has been with the firm about three years drive a lot of the engineering and design, and they are supported by “three extremely talented people in our hourly workforce who have been with the business in excess of 30 years, so they're able to input a lot as new design opportunities come about,” he said.
About a year and a half ago, the company invested in new computer numerical control equipment, which has improved efficiencies, speed and quality, he said.
“I think we're pretty well positioned right now,” Winslow said. “We don't consider ourselves a high-growth company. I don't see any big investment opportunities that we need to avail ourselves of probably for the next two or three years. We are in a ‘maintain’ position right now rather than an expansion mode. We're basically a one-shift operation, so we still have some opportunities to utilize existing equipment with additional people or additional shifts, if we need to.”
Winslow said he enjoys working and has no immediate plans to retire. He said he’s always played golf “sparingly,” and his only outside interests are volunteering for his church and slipping away to the beach with his wife.
“I really enjoy working,” he said. “So I think as long as my memory is good and things are going along pretty well, I’ll continue to contribute as long as I can.”