FOCUSED ON GROWTH: CHAFFEE'S COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR ON MOVE

Gene Cummins, director of operations for Columbia Sportswear in Chaffee, discussed business while in front of a montage of the company's 10-year history in Chaffee.

Laurinda Johnson, computer marker maker from Columbia Sportswear's home office in Portland, Ore., demonstrated a new system for the Chaffee plant to Gary Wilfong of Puxico, a former cutting room foreman with Akbani Industries. He was interviewing for a job because Akbani recently closed its doors.

Operating operating the computerized cutting machine at the Chaffee plant are Terry Birk, left, of Delta, and Mike Mason of Scott City.

CHAFFEE -- Columbia Sportswear's manufacturing plant in Chaffee achieved 15 percent growth last year over 1993, and the plant manager expects a similar increase this year.

Gene Cummins, Columbia's director of operations in Chaffee, said that was "very good growth" in the number of units produced.

"We've been able to maintain a steady growth every year in operation," Cummins said. He attributes the growth to quality products and timely deliveries.

Columbia Sportswear started n Chaffee in January 1984, doing business as Chaffee Hat Co. in a downtown facility with 6,000 square feet and two dozen people. The operation moved to a new 50,000-square-foot building in Chaffee's industrial park along Highway 77 in 1988. Another 25,000 square feet was added in 1991. The company also uses a 15,000-square-foot warehouse in Chaffee.

The plant employs 300 people, ranking it among Chaffee's largest employers. Columbia's payroll in Chaffee was $6 million in 1994, Cummins said.

The plant's 1994 sales totaled $28 million, Cummins said. The factory -- the only one owned by Columbia -- accounts for 11 percent of the company's total sales. The other goods are produced in factories with Columbia contracts around the world. Columbia's 1994 sales totaled $191 million and its 1993 sales $260 million.

The main products at Chaffee include summer and winter styles of fleece sweaters and jackets and 56 styles of headwear, Cummins said. The plant makes four basic jacket styles: a fleece jacket also used as a liner, a pullover zip-up sweater, a snap-front sweater and a zip-front sweater.

Because of the level of material quality required, fleece items are only made at the Chaffee plant. Columbia's entire product line includes ski wear, rugged outerwear, rainwear, windwear, casual sportswear, children's clothing, licensed products, footwear, accessories, and hunting and fishing apparel.

The factory is undergoing an engineering program in headwear that will provide that department with 35 percent more space and the ability to use 20 more people, Cummins said.

"We're hiring every day," Cummins said of sewing machine operators.

The factory has received a number of applications in the past two weeks from former employees of Akbani, which recently closed its plants in Puxico and Sikeston.

"If those applicants come in, we can put them to work," Cummins said. One former Akbani employee was hired Jan. 11 and another was interviewing at the Chaffee plant on Jan. 12.

Modular production

The biggest innovation for the Chaffee plant was a change last February from a progressive bundle-system to modular manufacturing, Cummins said.

"We were one of the first companies in our industry to try this approach," Cummins said. "It's been so successful, other companies are looking at it."

There are usually 12 to 15 people in each of the modules, depending on the style of clothing being made. The teams are empowered to make their own decisions about the sequence of production steps, including how the garments will be sewn together, who will be doing what jobs and how quality checks will be made.

"This approach empowers workers to make their own decisions and say what they can do," Cummins said. "There is peer pressure from the others to keep their end up; if somebody slows down, the people in the module are the first to let them know. They're the company now."

Supervisors in the past had 25 people under their watch. With modular production, overhead decreased, and supervisors handle 45 people now. The supervisors are more like coaches: They strive to reach a certain production level for the teams, Cummins said.

The teams set their own goals for income and bid on orders available, Cummins said. A team can get a bonus if its production exceeds the goal. Each member is paid a proportionate share of total team pay. The average pay has increased more than 6 percent in the past year.

For the team approach to work effectively, attendance is important. Absenteeism has declined 2 percent since February. The team can absorb one person being absent. but more absences interfere with meeting goals, Cummins said.

Workers have been cross-trained to handle different jobs in their modules.

An immediate benefit of modular manufacturing has been a decrease in processing time from six to eight weeks to only one week from the time the order is cut until it is shipped. In addition, operator productivity rose more than 30 percent, and 50 more sewing machines were added to the same square footage.

"This team concept is working great," Cummins said. "It's the only way to be competitive in the apparel industry in our market."

Technology improvements

Technology improvements adding to productivity include new computerized cutting machine and spreaders, Cummins said. In addition, the plant is adding its own computer system for marking patterns.

The Gerbercutter has reduced cutting time by one-fifth, Cummins said. What used to take one hour now only takes 12 minutes and recuts have also been reduced.

Niebuhr spreading machines were specially made in Sweden to fit the Chaffee operation. The machines have improved the quality of spreading material by not stretching the fleece. The machines also check yardage digitally.