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With Upgrade, Trio Manufacturing |
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Celebrating 100 Years |
Textile Mill Still Churning |
In an unremarkable pre-Civil War-era building on Adams Street, a yarn factory is a modern-day reminder of Georgia’s once thriving textile industry. Trio Manufacturing Co., which was a munitions plant in the 1840’s, has been a textile mill for the past 107 years. Today with 55 employees, the plant churns out 3 million pounds of yarn and twine a year. “Nearly every part of the plant has been modernized in just the last 11 years,” said Howell Newton, President of Trio and a great-grandson of J.W. Newton, one of the company’s founders. At one time, the machines that were part of this yarn and twine textile mill were all made in the United States. Now none of them are. Newer machines come Germany, Japan and Switzerland, and what was once run by sheer manpower is now operated by computer-driven machines. In a separate building, large air handling fans and filters hum, removing bits of cotton and string from throughout the plant and away from the machines that operate around the clock, five days a week. Temperature and humidity controlled, the plant is divided by process: carding, roving, spinning, winding, doubling, twisting, packing and shipping. Workers assist the machines that have replaced heavy, physical labor with higher skilled mechanical and maintenance work. Eleven years ago, prior to the systematic modernization, Trio employed 140 to 150 workers. Two new machines have been added within the past few weeks. The newest additions, a 528-spindle spinning frame and a new winder have meant the difference between hands-on versus hands-free feed. The result is a safer, faster process that translates into more production at the end of a day’s work. “A large emphasis here is safety”, says Gil Stroupe, the company’s Vice-President. “Our associates are important to us and we have a successful relationship that adds value to out products. Improvements in our processing have also improved ergonomically the tasks that our Associates are doing, thus making for a safer, healthier work environment.” Proof of that: There have been no lost-time days in the past eight years at the plant, officials said. All of the products at Trio Manufacturing begin with 500-pound bales of raw cotton, all grown in the United States. About 2,000 different yarns, all 100% cotton and natural are produced at Trio Manufacturing. Each of these yarns are sold for further processing – either woven, knitted, tufted, made into fabrics for products such as blankets, rugs, sweaters, mops, twine and yarn for hand tufters or hand weavers. All of the cotton undergoes additional cleaning at the plant, leaving some by-products that are resold for furniture or mattress stuffing or composting. Spinning cotton into yarns and twines produces remnants that are “seconds” used to make tar mops, another product at Trio. Outside, beyond the parking lot, is a small cluster of ten white, vinyl-sided bungalows – all that remains of a bygone era of company housing and company store. The store is gone, but the “village” remains, still providing housing for current employees and retirees. “Most of the mills had these at one time throughout the South. We just added new windows and siding,” Newton said. “Some people have lived here a long time.” Across the street there’s another small brick building that was once the Forsyth Ice Co. “During the Depression, selling ice made it possible for our family to survive financially,” Newton said. Inside, workers make polished cotton tag yarn. Dyed during the process of starching and stretching, these yarns can be used for everything from tag string – these short, usually red stiff strings attached to business envelopes and used for fasteners – to kite string, firecracker fuse cord, candlewicks and “green” string, used by the forestry industry because its biodegradable. Trio Manufacturing Co., is the only domestic producer of some of these products. Article: |
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