Textile Industry's Global Expansion, Worldwide Competitiveness Created

Demand for Highly Skilled Associates, Textile Executive Tells Audience

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10/12/99
(By Lisa Garrett)

PENDLETON --- The textile industry's global expansion and worldwide competitiveness have created a demand for highly skilled associates who possess international trade, marketing and foreign language skills, Robert Chapman, president and treasurer of Inman Mills, told a crowd at Tri-County Technical College's 27th annual Textile Management Technology scholarship awards banquet.

Mr. Chapman, who also serves as president of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, said, "Because the industry is high tech and globally competitive, strong emphasis is placed on training people to use the latest technology. At Inman Mills, as with all textile companies, we need a higher skilled workforce to operate the state-of-the-art equipment. We can no longer work with a hammer and screwdriver -- those days are gone. We must use different skills and diagnostic equipment," said Mr. Chapman.

"Investment plus technology plus workforce effectiveness equal a world-class performance – that's what we're all shooting for," Mr. Chapman said to an audience filled with textile executives.

He discussed his company's technical skills training program for technicians, which includes interactive video instruction, written testing and hands-on certification. "An incentive pay is offered as the technician progresses in his or her knowledge," he added. "This program has allowed us to better train our technicians and to pay them more. Proper maintenance is an absolute necessity."

Because of the global nature of today's textiles, students entering the industry have the advantage of having the opportunity to travel the world, learn other languages, and decide for themselves where they want to live and what kind of job to do, added Mr. Chapman, who also is a member of the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education.

He discussed the future of the industry: "With the downsizing and consolidations that are taking place, you probably wonder that one day there will not be a textile industry in the U.S. I believe there will always be a textile industry in the U.S. Our industry is becoming smaller, but the survivors will be stronger and better companies."

Key factors in competing in the textile industry today include state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. "You must continually reinvest in your company," he said. "You must have market opportunities and marketing position which offer a strategic advantage. You must have a skilled workforce. We have been successful at Inman Mills because we have a company that is not afraid of change. We have a management team that is flexible and innovative, and we have continued to invest in state-of-the-art equipment and facilities and in our outstanding workforce."

The U.S. textile industry is a $69 billion a year industry that employs more than 600,000 people in nearly every state, said Mr. Chapman. "The U.S. is the most efficient high-tech manufacturer of textiles in the world and very much a player in today's global marketplace."
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