2015 was a year of expansion and acquisition for HomTex as it seeks to ramp up its U.S. manufacturing capabilities. The company also acquired Loom Craft, a weaving operation based in Belton, S.C. It is creating nearly 50 jobs in addition to retaining 45 Loom Craft employees at the 200,000-square foot plant.
Another 2015 expansion occurred in Waynesboro, Tenn., where the company opened a 24,000-square foot facility in July that was previously operated by Tennessee Apparel. HomTex hired 50 people, a figure that may double in the coming years. The facility is dedicated to making sheeting products for the company’s DreamFit brand.
Posted March 9, 2016
By John McCurry
HomTex, a Cullman, Ala.-based manufacturer of home textiles and industrial fabrics, is moving forward with its plan to increase its U.S.-based manufacturing capacity with a goal of reducing delivery lead times.
A major piece of the company’s plan is the retrofitting of a manufacturing facility in its hometown. The company is making a $4 million investment to add 300,000 square feet of cut-and-sew production space, which will be used to manufacture mattress pads, duvet covers and other bedding products. It also includes a distribution center.
Alabama home textiles, industrial fabrics producer
HomTex making its U.S. manufacturing bed
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HomTex products include bed linens, sleeping pillows, mattress pads, protectors and toppers, top-of-bed collections, throws, blankets, decorative pillows and towels. The company is a supplier to mass retailers and department stores as well as to specialty sleep retailers, home furnishings dealers and e-commerce sites. HomTex markets its top-of-bed products under the brand names Suprelle, Dream Essence by FitRite, Revive and DreamFit. It has trade showrooms in New York and Las Vegas.
HomTex employs a combination of U.S. and overseas manufacturing operations, or as Wootten, describes it, a “hybrid” system. The company manufactures in the U.S. when it makes sense production-wise. It currently operates four U.S. plants, which perform cut-and-sew operations and filling plants for fiber, feather and foam. It also has a small weaving operation.
A network of manufacturing partners
HomTex was founded in 1987 by Wootten’s father, Jerry, who serves as CEO. Jerry Wooten holds more than 25 patents for textile and bedding products. Jeremy Wootten became the company’s president in 2014.
The company’s overseas manufacturing partners are all in Asia. HomTex operates sourcing offices in Hangzhou, China, and Mumbai, India. Foreign manufacturing operations consist of a network of 25 mills in India, Pakistan and China. These include spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing, finishing and cut-and-sew operations. HomTex sources its yarn from both U.S. and Asian producers. Lenzing is a major supplier to the company.
Jeremy Wootten
“These mills give us a network of manufacturing partners that supply our different products,” Wootten said. “We have considered locating operations in Central America, but when you get down to it, the textile manufacturing infrastructure in Asia and our domestic facilities work in concert better.”
Weaving is a niche area for HomTex, which operates 31 looms that weave products ranging from organic cotton canvas to fiber optic fabrics. The operation is comprised of six Dornier flat looms that produce industrial fabrics and 25 jacquard looms, 11 of which produce terry. Wootten says HomTex is also considering adding knitting capabilities to its U.S. manufacturing operations.
Open-ended U.S. production vital
HomTex manufactures in the U.S. when it makes sense, Wootten said.
“If we can make here and make it in a cost competitive way, we will,” he said. “If it involves responding to SKUs quickly, we will make it here. There are some price points in sheeting and bedding that just don’t make sense to manufacture in the U.S. Domestic production on the cut-and-sew side allows us to effectively manage inventory and to be able to respond markets quickly. Having open-ended U.S. production is vital to being able to serve those markets.”
HomTex does have a small U.S. towel weaving operation. This is aimed at allowing the company to quickly serve programs in niche markets such as golf, promotional products and beach towels. A U.S. operation allows the company to respond quickly to areas with lower volume product needs.
While there is a trend in some areas of textiles and apparel of consumer preference driving the growth of products made in the U.S., that hasn’t necessarily been HomTex’s experience.
“We hear talk from wholesale buyers and consumers that they prefer U.S. products,” Wootten said. “It’s a trend and we hear it, but at the end of the day for the majority of our products, it’s not a deciding factor. Price is the deciding factor for us.”
There is a major challenge looming and that is finding, or developing, a sufficient number of employees with cut-and-sew skills. These types of employees are few and far between. This has been a primary consideration as the company searches for new U.S. manufacturing sites.
Wootten noted that the average employee in this area is in their late 50s. With the decline in the industry over the past few decades, there isn’t a ready workforce available for these types of jobs. So, out of necessity, HomTex has developed internal training programs to help fill the need. Wootten said he also believes there is a great need for more community college training programs in this area.
“We are trying to enhance the working environment and make it a cleaner, brighter, nicer place to work,” Wootten said. “The industry has to put a strategy in place and enhance cut-and-sew operations with the right automation. We must make these jobs more appealing and not continue the old sewing mill mentality of the past.”
