030216_American Suessen 50th

Posted March 2, 2016

By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In the global textile industry, to many, the word “Suessen” is synonymous with spinning. Indeed, for many yarn producers, the spinning process starts with Suessen, the Germany-based company that, for nearly 100 years, has provided an immeasurable number of innovations and developments with lasting influence on this textile manufacturing segment.

Recently, its U.S.-based subsidiary, American Suessen Corp. (ASC), celebrated its 50th anniversary with a luncheon for employees, retirees and friends. ASC President Jim Blalock addressed the aforementioned word association during his remarks to attendees.

“Typically, we think that when most people within our in our industry hear the word ‘Suessen,’ we believe they think ‘spinning,’ ” he said. “But lately I have asked some of our customers what they think of when they hear the word ‘Suessen,’ and I was told it’s actually ‘people’ – people who care about their customers … people who put their customer first … people who provide good services … people who provide good, quality products … people who stand behind their products … people who are honest and can be trusted … people who are knowledgeable about spinning. In the end, it’s the people who make American Suessen what it is. I am proud to work with each one of you.”

But reaching that half-century milestone was not always a given, especially during the industry’s contraction over the past two decades, Blalock said in an interview afterward.

50-year anniversary in U.S.

For American Suessen, the spin starts here

American Suessen President Jim Blalock speaks during 50th anniversary celebration.

ASC President Jim Blalock (L) recognizes Matthias Frey, vice president of Sales for Spindelfabrik Suessen GmbH of Germany.

American Suessen has been based in this facility since 1972.

American Suessen President Jim Blalock speaks during 50th anniversary celebration.

1/6

Like many suppliers and their customers, American Suessen had to figure out how to find a “sweet spot” for survivability. For this company, that meant strengthening its relationships with customers and working with them for the common good during downturns, Blalock said. After going through a period of significant decline in its customer base in the early 2000s, the nadir came in 2008 as the Great Recession was starting to wrap its tentacles around the economy.

“When everything started to collapse, we just buckled down,” said Blalock, who has been with the company 24 years. “We began to watch every penny we spent. We cut out the janitor and cleaned the facility ourselves. We cut out the lawn service and took care of it ourselves. But one thing we did not do was cut out any of our travel expenses. In fact, I told our people, ‘I want to increase our travel expenses’ because I felt like, as other competitors were not seeing customers as often, we wanted to see them more. That would give us more time with the customers.

“We made a conscious effort to do the opposite when it came to customer service,” he continued. “If somebody up the road needed a set of rotors now, we’d get in the car and take it to them. We didn’t care if it was only a dozen rotors. Would we lose money? Absolutely. But we wanted to take care of the customers. We knew if we didn’t take care of our customers there’s no way they were going to be able to take care of us. We made a total commitment to customer service. Whatever they asked for, we were going to do it – or at least try to.”

Even prior to that steep recession, with its customer base dwindling, the company already had instituted methods that would help buffer it when the next storm came, Blalock said.

“When the financial crisis hit, we were ready,” he said. “We had everything in place. We had our inventory in place. We had procedures in place to do the rework. We had the rapport with Germany, which understood our business and was poised to react to our business. The work we did through the lean years just helped us zero in on the fine details of what our customers needed. We listened to them and we got prepared for it. And when they turned around, we were able to continue to be there for them.”

And today, American Suessen is realizing strong business as the U.S. textile industry continues to turn the corner, he said. Open-end spinning parts sales represent 75 percent of its business, with the balance being comprised of ring spinning parts, spindles, fibers, miscellaneous parts and rework services. It employees nine people full time, three part time and four on contract.

“We are better than we were 15 years ago,” Blalock said. “Were smarter. And we are able to do more with less.”

Celebrating a half century

At its 50-year anniversary celebration, which took place at its current 35,000-square-foot facility that was built in 1972, Blalock recognized Matthias Frey, vice president of Sales for Spindelfabrik Suessen GmbH of Germany, and Bill McNair, a board member who has served as American Suessen’s attorney since its founding.

During his remarks, Blalock also called for a moment of silence for employees who have passed. He also thanked everyone for helping the company reach the milestone.

“I am very proud of all of our current employees and partners,” he said. “I appreciate the job that each one of you do. I think the thing that sets our company apart from others is each individual always puts American Suessen first and tries to do what’s best for it.”

In addition, he mentioned certain highlights in the U.S. company’s history, including:

On April 27, 1966, American Suessen Corporation was incorporated in Charlotte. Hans Stahlecker was president and Erwin Steiner was vice president.
The company started supplying top rolls and drafting systems to U.S. manufacturers of ring spinning – mainly Whitin Machine Works located in Sanford, N.C.;
Drafting modernizations and spindles continued to be the primary offering in the 1970s;
In the late 1970s, ASC, along with Hoerof, began selling GVA machines to the carpet yarn industry;
In 1979, the board began discussions to expand the facility and start manufacturing some items in the U.S., and the expansion was approved the following year;
In 1982, ASC began selling the Suessen Parafil machine;
In 1992, the company reported excellent business with their GVA machine and exited the cup machine business. ASC had begun to assemble the conveyor belt drive system instead of purchasing it from Hoerof;
In the late 1990s, ASC installed the first SC1-M SpinBox conversion in Galax, Va.
In 1999, Erwin Steiner retired and Jim Heatherington was named executive vice president;
In 2000, ASC began selling open-end parts directly to customers; and
In 2010, ASC entered into an agreement with Asota, which is located in Linz, Austria, to begin selling and warehousing their polypropylene and polyethylene fibers for nonwovens applications.

Blalock also recognized five colleagues who went through the “business wars” with him, including:

Dale Mitchell, sales representative, the longest-tenured ASC employee, who Blalock said does “whatever it takes for us to be successful;”
Simone Johnson, office manager, whose responsibilities are numerous and who works with customers outside the U.S., to the extent that exports represent almost 7.5 percent of total sales;
Tony Watts, technician, who is dependable, has a “tremendous work ethic” and has never missed an appointment for an overhaul at a customer’s location;
Brian Franklin, product manager, who wears many hats and is responsible for products related to ring spinning and spindles, as well as Asota; and
Putt Church, sales contractor, who has been an integral part of the team in growing sales efforts in Georgia and Alabama, Blalock said.

Blalock also passed along his gratitude, through Frey, to all of its partners at Spindelfabric Suessen in Germany.

“When I talk to other U.S. vendors who have ties to a European company, I am convinced that no one has as much support as we do,” he said.