ATMI President Speaks on Current Issues Affecting
the US Textile Industry
by
Jason Rickard, Kate Leffler and Ann Marie Prendergast
NCSU College of Textiles - TATM

from left to right: Ann Marie Prendergast, Chuck Hayes, Kate Leffler, Jason Rickard

October 16, 2001, we were given the opportunity to interview Chuck Hayes, President of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI) and CEO of Guilford Mills, as part of our TAM 483 class, Textiles and Apparel In International Trade.

During the interview, we learned about American Textile Manufacturers Institute and the important role ATMI plays in the changing world marketplace. Mr. Hayes discussed trade legislation and the key involvement of textiles since the World Trade Center bombing of Sept. 11, 2001. He shared in detail challenges the textile industry is facing and ATMI's goals for 2001-2002 to address trade and competitive challenges. His discussion on the future development of the textile industry to diversification of services and new market opportunities challenged us to think broadly about the future of our industry and the interesting career opportunities for College of Textiles graduates.

Discussion with Chuck Hayes, President of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI) and CEO of Guilford Mills,

President of Americsource Alliance Speaks on:
"The CBI Advantage"
by
Lynsey Cesca and Kim Kittleson
NCSU College of Textiles - TATM

PRESIDENT OF AMERISOURCE VISITS CoT

From left to right: Jason Gill, Chris Lentz, Elizabeth Kellis, Blake Lindsay, Dave Springett, Lynsey Cesca, Kim Kittelson

On November 15, 2001, Dave Springett spoke to Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management (TATM) students about "The CBI Advantage" and his company, Amerisource Alliance.

This trip was a homecoming of sorts for Mr. Springett, since he is a graduate of N.C. State. His career in textiles has spanned large companies producing textile and apparel products. His experience with full package sourcing has led to his involvement with many operations from Mexico to El Salvador and finally to the Caribbean Basin.

Mr. Springett shared his knowledge of international trade laws and spoke in depth about the Caribbean Basin Initiative component of the Trade Development Act of 2000. The Amerisource Alliance assists textile and apparel companies in managing their supply chain, saving companies time and money. Americsource provides firms with sourcing operations that can be used, as well as pricing strategies and combinations that have proven already to be cost effective. Mr. Springett explained that the main focus of Amerisource is to help the US textile companies understand how to conduct business outside of our borders.

Through the use of Amerisource, US textile firms will now become more competitive with international organizations. Mr. Springett feels that this is important because the "world is now our competition."

"Conceive, Create, Commercialize -Taking
New Products To Market"
by
Melissa Sladick, Director of Marketing and
Derek Gunn, Director of New Product Development
Unifi, Inc.

Unifi, Inc. has a longstanding relationship with the NCSU College of Textiles, and Fall 2001 students and faculty were able to learn firsthand about Unifi's commitment to "Conceive, Create, Commercialize ---Taking New Products to Market."

Derek Gunn, Director of New Product Development, and Melissa Sladick, Director of Marketing, shared the "market responsive" structure at Unifi, including both technical and marketing functions. The technical process of developing new innovative concepts -- with actual new and specialty synthetic fiber product examples --was detailed. The steps involved in commercialization efforts --activities related to promotions, pull-through selling, and collateral development-- for UNIFI products was of particular importance. The work with "downstream" customers remains a competitive advantage for UNIFI.

Unifi, Inc., is the largest producer and processor of textured yarns in the world. Learning "firsthand" about new product and process innovations provides outstanding learning experiences for NCSU College of Textile students.