Deep-rooted family values ​​and growth mentality prepare technical weaving company Schneider Mills for the future.

Author: Rachael S. Davis, Executive Editor

Meet George Shtohryn and Tim Little, the energetic duo at the helm of the fourth-generation family business Schneider Mills Inc., located in the Taylorsville, North Carolina office. Little oversees the company’s 450,000 square feet, Taylorsville Production in the most advanced weaving factory. Shtohryn is the more outgoing and gregarious of the two, just as one would expect from a salesperson; there is a little bit of reservation. But both of them are passionate about their work and the company they work for.

They have been with the company for 64 years-Little in his 39th year and Shtohryn in his 25th year. The company also has 15 employees with more than 40 years of service. A laboratory employee celebrated her 50th anniversary at Schneider Mills this year. Surprisingly, Mary Wike, a long-term laboratory employee who tragically passed away last year, has worked at Schneider for 62 years.

The company stated that it was "built on Samuel Schneider's ethics of family, work, and community", and it is clear that this technology weaving company is a special workplace, as the long tenure of so many employees illustrates this point.

The company was founded in 1917 by Samuel Schneider, originally as a small silk weaving company based in Harleydon, New Jersey. The company expanded in the northeast and enjoyed a high reputation in the New York processing trade.

In 1938, Isadore Schneider, Schneider's eldest son, took over the company. Isadore is in charge of sales, while his brother Albert is in charge of manufacturing.

In 1946, the company established a manufacturing operation in Taylorsville, North Carolina, and eventually consolidated its manufacturing operations there.

"Schneider followed a trend, and I think many companies and other companies in the textile industry were caught up in the 1940s, and that was moving more and more south," Shtohryn said. "This trend is based on labor conditions and lack of union organizations."

"The company chose Alexandria County, North Carolina because it has the largest land area in North Carolina, but the state has the least number of manufacturing industries," Little added. "The Schneiders believe that there are family farm workers in the county, and maybe they can introduce some of them to the manufacturing industry."

In recent decades, both Albert and Isadore have passed away, handing over the company to the next generation.

In the company's more than 100 years of history, its product line and manufacturing capabilities have continued to develop. The company’s focus today is technical woven fabrics. It only sells grey fabrics made of nylon, polyester or acetate, with fibers ranging from 30 denier to 1,260 denier. The fabric may have plain or fancy dobby patterns and weigh from 0.5 to 12 ounces per square yard.

Undyed fabrics, although some may be solution dyed, require downstream processing by Schneider's customers to meet the requirements of the target end use. In some cases, the same base fabric may end up in completely different applications, depending on the type and number of downstream processes it has undergone.

"We weave the raw yarn to the specifications required by the customer, and then the customer processes the fabric in an additional processing step to make it have a specific end use," Shtohryn said. "A lot of things happen to our fabrics in downstream processing. It almost always starts with scouring. From there, the fabric can be dyed, printed and heat set. Some customers may use durable waterproof or flame-retardant finishes. Others People may coat and/or laminate fabrics. We have a specific customer who performs more than 20 different downstream processing steps on our fabrics to meet their specifications."

Most of Schneider's fabrics are ultimately used in military applications. In addition, law enforcement agencies, the FBI, the US Forest Service, and other government agencies may use these same fabrics. The final products include backpacks, parachutes for personnel and cargo, and protective equipment such as vests. "We attach great importance to the Berry amendment," Shtohryn said. "This is very important to our business and to ensure that our military receives consistent products that meet specifications." Berry Amendment requires the U.S. Department of Defense to purchase goods produced in the United States-including clothing, fabrics, fibers, yarns, and other manufactured products. Textiles-not from foreign sources.

However, the applications of these products are not limited to the end use of military and protective equipment. Schneider's acetate taffeta ends in surgical tape. Another substrate is a silicon coating and is used in airbags. The company also has a large number of countries and organizations flags and banner fabric business.

"Some of our customers have their own processing facilities, and many of our customers also use other independent processing facilities," Shtohryn points out. "Our distribution is agile, and some of the processing facilities have features that large companies may not have."

Little pointed out that the company's mindset is very flexible from the machines it operates to the employees who run constantly changing products. "I remember an old saying from Albert-the loom doesn't care what kind of fiber it runs, it just needs to be flexible enough to run different fibers," Little said. "One of the key things they are doing here is to build a manufacturing plant based on flexibility." According to Little, during his years at the Schneider factory, the company has switched from Draper looms to rapier weaving. Machines, then to water jet and air jet looms. The current weaving speed is between 800 and 1,100 picks per minute. "We are proud of our running speed and the quality of our looms," Little said.

"Most people are unwilling to change," Little said. "But in the factory, our employees know that what is running on the loom today may not be available tomorrow. We may have a loom running 30 denier parachute fabric today, and tomorrow we need to run on the same machine. Run 1,000 denier Cordura®. Our employees know to expect change, and they accept change, which makes us strong."

Little and Shtohryn also attributed the company's success to a large extent to its philosophy of never saying no. Schneider often comes into contact with customers who understand the company's capabilities and consider specific fabric structures. "'Do you think we can develop this product together?' is a question we are often asked," Shtohryn mentioned. "Understanding the various capabilities and expertise of the factory, as well as the wishes of our factory employees, the answer is almost always yes.

"This is a company-wide concept that can be traced back to Albert and Isadore. They said that they would send us samples and we would do it," Shtohryn continued. "No one says no, at least not without trying!"

"I'm not saying that we can make everything," Little added. "But we will try. The flexibility of the factory allows us to do this. The only limitation is the minimum and maximum width."

Agile is also a word used by Shtohryn to describe the company. "This is manufacturing agility, marketing agility, and it also comes from the strong financial backbone that the company has," Shtohryn points out. "Today, we consider ourselves to be a professional business, but it is a family business. We have the full support of the family and can do something necessary to keep the business prosperous for more than 100 years."

Recently, the company has encountered some labor challenges and supply chain issues. "There are labor challenges across the country, and we are not immune," Shtohryn said. "But we are fortunate to not have to take vacations during the initial stages of the pandemic. However, for many companies today, labor supply is still challenging for Schneider."

"When it comes to labor, we are very lucky in some ways," Little added. "Due to changes in unemployment, we have actually added some employees. We have second, third and even fourth-generation family employees working at Schneider. The family has really helped us retain employees."

But Schneider Mills wants to change the popular belief that the textile industry is not a glamorous industry. Since the era of sweatshops, the American textile industry has undergone incalculable changes; the movie "Nomare"; and the dirty and dusty cotton plants. The industry is modern and high-tech-both in terms of the products it manufactures or the facilities that manufacture them-and Schneider is the perfect example of a modern technological weaving factory.

"Even though we are a technical weaver, we still suffer from the shame of textiles a long time ago," Little said. "We have highly technical computerized machines, and we are working hard to promote this concept in our communities and let people know about the jobs provided by Schneider factories. It is still difficult for us to understand that this is not the textile industry of a few years ago."

Supply chain issues—from occasional spare parts or raw material shortages and surcharges, as well as increased transportation costs—have not affected Schneider’s business philosophy. "Since we usually work with our supply chain, we are not the only ones who need to pass on all kinds of growth," Shtohryn said. "There is indeed a partnership in our distribution, where we will survive and prosper together."

About 12 years ago, Albert Schneider began researching carbon fiber weaving as a way to leverage the company's expertise and expand its business.

The end result is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Schneider Mills, called Composite Fabrics of America (CFA). The company is run by Albert's grandson Matthew McPherson. CFA woven carbon fiber and para-aramid fiber are used in composite applications in the aerospace, automotive, entertainment, and infrastructure maintenance markets.

"This business is still young, but we are doing some very neat things," Little said. "These markets are indeed very specific and difficult to enter, but the business is growing. This is a different way for us to leverage our expertise in weaving."

"CFA is a branch and a different market, but I do think it complements our business," Shtohryn said. "We have customers because they are exposed to military technology, mainly through soft goods, to the fabric edges of hard goods. This has created some opportunities for CFA, and we hope these opportunities will bear fruit."

"As far as the challenges we may face, you never know what will happen tomorrow," Little mused. "In fact, we don’t say no to anything, which makes every day full of challenges. What we are doing is trying to do better every day. Trying to find a way to ensure better quality, and trying to The price of yards is reduced by half a penny to remain competitive. There are always things we can do better."

"Our customer base is highly entrepreneurial and creative, and many have been around for a while," Shtohryn said. "Over time, we have established a strong level of communication and trust. This is part of a great supply chain. Like Berry Amendment, innovation is one of the best defenses we have as a company and supply chain This is also a cooperative effort to maintain or improve efficiency to maintain a strong supply chain. Once someone thinks they will overthrow us, we will start the next thing."

Agility, flexibility, growth mentality and strong family values ​​define Schneider Mills. The lessons learned from previous generations-including the idea of ​​never saying "no"-put the company in a good position in the future. The family business and the legacy of Albert and Isadore are still handled properly.