We have UltraLift® coil slings that are still performing after 100,000 lifts. And that’s a synthetic sling. – Jim Posa, CEO, Unitex Group USA
and manufacture of seatbelt fabric and woven air bags. While the firm still focuses on seatbelts, it has expanded its target markets to include height safety products, industrial webbing, and lifting products. Currently, Marling consists of three companies, Marling Leek, Miller Weblift, and Ridge Gear for height safety. In the 1950s, Repetto’s original group operations began to
move in the direction of lifting products. Ten, in 1998, he further diversified to include height safety products with the addition of the Ridge Gear business. Now Repetto’s business operates manufacturing and distribution facilities all over Europe, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and the U.S. Te North American operations debuted as Unitex USA in 2007. Te company’s first U.S. business offered group products made in its European and Asian facilities, servicing North American markets with various finished products in the lifting and lashing industry. Te new Unitex Group USA location, in Piedmont, lies at
the heart of what was once a major textile production area in this country. Although many large U.S. textile operations have closed down or dramatically downsized over the past two decades, much of the infrastructure, trained workforce, and transportation resources remain in place. As a result, international businesses, such as Unitex, have opted to set up domestic manufacturing operations involving fabric sewing or weaving in the area.
GROWTH WOVEN INTO THE PLAN In 2008, Unitex Group opened a small sewing operation in Georgia to make specialty slings and web slings. Te
28 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
move allowed the Unitex Group to have a presence within the U.S. marketplace at a time when the industry was beginning to demand more domestically made materials. In October, 2010, Repetto made a strategic decision to move that business to Piedmont, South Carolina, and expand within the Charlotte/Atlanta I85 “manufacturing corridor.” Te manufacturing campus he purchased soon became established as Unitex Group USA’s North American headquarters. Te company’s new 52,000-square-foot Piedmont operation
crafts narrow woven, durable (nylon/polyester) products that are sold directly to web sling manufacturers. Tis domestic facility also manufactures round sling and web sling finished products. In addition, the group has purchased land behind this facility to accommodate future plant expansion, as market demand continues to grow. “In our South Carolina production operations, we have
invested over $5 million,” explains CEO Jim Posa, who has led the Unitex Group USA start-up. “We continue to invest in upgrades and new equipment and will invest over $500,000 this year alone. Since our move, sales have more than doubled in 2011 and 2012, and we expect a significant increase this year as well.”
A CEO WHO’S CLOSELY TIED
TO THE INDUSTRY To the Unitex Group, Posa brings a broad specialty products’ perspective. His prior experience with BP Amoco is closely tied to Unitex; the firm has produced the raw materials used
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