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Zellweger Uster, Inc. honored Parkdale Mills with an awards luncheon held at the Sapona Country Club in Lexington, NC, on August 2nd, presenting Parkdale with the 30,001st Uster Quantum clearer. The plaque, engraved with the 30,001 serial number, represented the successful installation of 30,000 Uster Quantum clearers in various Parkdale, Parkdale America, and Magnolia Manufacturing plants.

A plant tour of the George Bloomquist Plant in Lexington, NC, took place with special emphasis on Zellweger Uster equipment in the facility and the Uster Quantum clearers installed in particular.

The plant initially opened in 1913, and was bought by Parkdale in 1968. Parkdale Vice President of Manufacturing, John Nims, pointed out, "we have taken a old facility and fully modernized it using the most up-to-date technology and advanced automation systems."

From beginning to end, Parkdale shows its commitment to quality. Every bale is classed through the Uster HVI line in Parkdale's Gastonia distribution center. They have a 50 bale laydown that feeds into four blend lines producing 75 percent 100% cotton and 25% blends, all quality tested.

The plant, which produces over 1.5 million pounds of yarn per week, employs only 112 associates. Parkdale wanted to fully exploit the technology available in automation for this facility. Bar codes that run throughout the floor, guide the automated guided vehicules AGV's around the plant. These AGV's move cans from the drawing room, dispatch themselves to the battery charge area when they need it, and operate two lifts to carry the cans from one level to the next. "We put this automatic system in about five or six years ago and you can really forget that they are up here," commented Nims.

As we moved from the drawing room to one of the labs, Jackie Hill of Zellweger Uster talked about the Uster Sliverdata system, pointing out, "This system measures five different quality levels – weight, evenness, CV, Spectrogram, and thick place detection. The Sliverdata catches defects before they become problems."

Rudy Kagi, president and CEO of Zellweger Uster Americas, added, "Parkdale does an excellent job in fully utilizing the equipment to its full potential, and has made the most use of thick place detection in the industry. We chose to focus on the thick place detection because we want to stop problems before they occur."

Nims pointed out, "These systems have turned into the wrench and screwdrivers for our plant rather than just another computer system. While we still have the lab in the plant, we use the Uster equipment like a lab, and our people can determine what is wrong and what is causing trouble before anything becomes a problem." Nims added that the staff claim they could not ‘live' without the systems, and it is rare that a defect gets out of one of the open end plants.

The Computer Aided Yarn Engineering system, which monitors the Uster Quantum clearers, and the Uster Expert System were set up in a kiosk formation in another lab, looking more like a space station than part of a mill. Here Zellweger Uster official Pascal Zissel explained, "technicians can come in and look at just about any area in production, and pin point any problem areas." On-line quality monitoring is possible 24/7 as is data collection for the classification of foreign matter in the yarn. "We can even set the clearer curve and actually see what the defect would look like. This system is incredibly versatile and scalable," Zissel added.

Kagi also commented that for the first time, Zellweger Uster can put new feeders in, and the hardware may stay the same but the software changes.

The Uster Quantum clearer offers possibilities and versatility not available with any other system. The Quantum clearer delivers continuous control of quality for basic yarn defects, and eliminates foreign matter contamination. This state-of-the-art system uses CAY (Computer Aided Yarn Engineering) and Expert Data management to perfect its processes. It also provides active quality monitoring and precise productivity control for both winding and spinning. By employing digital yarn clearing with capacitive and optical sensing capability, the Uster Quantum clearer has indeed set the standard for the 21st century.

Alvin Ellison of Zellweger Uster noted, "The presentation of this Quantum clearer is very significant in the life of both Parkdale and Zellweger Uster. We have been working together to make the best possible products for our industry. Parkdale's commitment to quality did not start with the Uster Quantum clearer, but it is a continuation of that commitment and we are proud to be a part."

Kagi added, "The following quote from Parkdale's mission statement clearly shows their determination to provide outstanding products and services – ‘Throughout our growth, we have never wavered from our focus on providing the highest quality yarns and providing world class services.' Uster is very happy to be a partner to Parkdale in providing the tools to achieve their goals. Not only is Parkdale the worldwide industry leader in their field, but they are also our biggest end-user customer on a constant basis. We are very thankful for this relationship as we move forward in joint research and development activities. Parkdale, from very early on, has identified the potential of gentle ginning and the positive impact on cotton quality. Andy Warlick, Duke Kimbrell, Gene Fry, and others have helped and encouraged us when we introduced the Uster IntelliGin system to the cotton ginning industry.

"Parkdale also has stated in its mission statement -- ‘Superior yarns require the highest quality raw materials, the most up-to-date technology, and the most rigorous quality system.' One of the reasons for this extraordinary market position is the focus on product quality. Beginning with extensive raw material testing using Uster HVI and AFIS, Parkdale's Fiber Distribution Centers provide the optimal bale laydowns for all the mills. During spinning preparation, on-line Sliver Experts systems from Uster are constantly monitoring the quality of sliver coming out of the cards and drawframes in all Parkdale plants. Their ring-spinning machines are also equipped with on-line Ring Expert systems reducing labor cost and monitoring quality characteristics. The latest generation of yarn clearers at Parkdale – the Uster Quantum clearer – eliminates disturbing faults and foreign matter contamination on open-end spinning frames and cone winders. Cone EXPERT and Roter Expert on-line systems allow the control of production and quality parameters during the process. The newest and unique development from Uster, Computer Aided Yarn Engineering (CAY), even allows optimizing cuts and simulation of yarn faults in woven and knitted fabrics. The initial project, which we are celebrating today, included about 30,000 Uster Quantum clearers and 11 Expert systems for several Parkdale ring and open-end plants. In the meantime, the total amount of Quantum foreign-fiber clearers at Parkdale has surpassed the 32,000 mark and Uster has shipped worldwide almost 200,000 units since its introduction at the ITMA 99 in Paris.

"Dedicated industry leaders like Andy Warlcik and Duke Kimbrell made an important decision to equip the majority of their production machines with the latest technology clearer. This decision enabled Parkdale to guarantee minimal foreign fiber contaminated yarn to their customers. Don't forget, they made this substantial investment decision in a time when the domestic yarn market was very depressed. That's true visionary leadership! Other leaders like Max Huntley, John Nims, Buster Willis, and Dan Nation, together with their plant managers and associates, have made the implementation of such a big project a success for all parties involved. Our Uster project team, under the leadership of Mike Williams and Pascal Zissel, also deserves a lot of credit for a job well done. I want to thank everybody involved in this exciting project and congratulate Parkdale, and in particular Andy Warlick, in adopting the latest technology. This is yet another giant step ahead in yarn quality!" Kagi concluded.

Eddie Bradley, head of the Zellweger Uster Division, added, "We had a family of clearers and we decided to focus on one line that was very modern and could provide the quality our customers demanded. It is necessary for us and our customers to be globally competitive and the Uster Quantum clearer helps us and our customers achieve these results. Leadership equals vision and this is certainly the case in Andy Warlick. He has demonstrated a tremendous amount of faith in Zellweger Uster and we appreciate his confidence in us and our products. Of the 180,000 Quantum clearers sold in 2000, 10 percent were sold to Parkdale Mills."

Parkdale Mills President Anderson Warlick told the group, "This has been a great opportunity for Parkdale to work with Uster to solve this worldwide problem. I thank our Parkdale associates for using this new technology and that is not always the case when something new is introduced. You have to recognize that new technology can make good things better for your company and your customers. But you have to use that technology to make this true. We don't mind being the first to put in new systems and equipment. Most of the new technology we have tried have been successful. We will continue to step out and take risks and our industry needs companies to do this. It needs risk takers who will help develop new technologies and our customers need us to continue to step out on new technologies so we can continue to improve our products. Uster and other technology companies need us because without companies that are willing to test new technologies we would not have new systems. It is wonderful to be able to brainstorm and realize you are doing something for the future that make your industry stronger and more competitive. We like to innovate and be a leader. We have had a great relationship with Uster all these years and we look forward to more innovations and ideas in the future."

Andy Warlick has made the pledge to provide a superior quality product for Parkdale's customers. The Quantum clearer systems, with its revolutionary quality control applications and its ability to remove foreign matter, will assist Parkdale in realizing this exceptional objective. It also appears that the Zellweger Uster and Parkdale Mills partnership is strong and viable in 2000 and we should look for more innovations and technologies from this collaboration in the future!

Also see, Zellweger Uster equipment showcased in Parkdale facility, for additional photos.