to construct synthetic yarn products that Unitex utilizes. He also spent a number of years in the “nonwovens” industry, where he delivered critical performance filtration, medical, and barrier products to the marketplace. Posa cites the quality of Unitex’s personnel, the caliber of their training, the group’s commitment to excellence, and the company’s continued investment in manufacturing efficiencies as the basis of a strong, reliable foundation for vigorous future growth. He describes Unitex Group USA’s role as a solution
provider for its select customer base. “In our industry, product design, performance, and cost are equally critical concerns for our customers. Our manufacturing operations in the U.S. were built with one overriding goal: to achieve the most highly integrated, cost-effective manufacturing process that we could put in place that eliminated unnecessary steps in the production for both webbing and finished products. At the same time, we are fully focused on maximizing product consistency.”
SEAMLESS VERTICAL INTEGRATION
KEY TO BUSINESS STRATEGY Key to the company’s success is its seamless flow from production of base component material to finished product. According to Posa,“Tis vertical integration allows us to provide for the areas where we need the most cost-competitive products, as well as flexibility when the design specs for our customers’ specialty products change. We have direct access to as much of the product stream as makes logical sense.” Even though Unitex does not make yarn, the company has manufacturing control over all of the weaving and product construction involved in delivering customers’ finished products. Tis allows Unitex to maintain consistent quality, unmatched design specification accuracy, traceability of products, and the flexibility to adjust to customers’ changing needs—whether that means only a single component, such as webbing, or fully customized finished products. In addition, Posa explains, Unitex’s unique manufacturing practices translate to cost savings and quality assurance for the marketplace it serves. “For example, some companies take the yarn from the packages and put it through multiple steps before they can begin the process to weave the webbing. We eliminate those steps by going directly from packages to the woven product.” As a result, the company maximizes its running time and eliminates waste. Te process, which limits handling, also protects the yarn’s properties. Te material then goes into the dye area, which features a sophisticated dye range—one of the newest such dying operations in the industry. From the dye range area, it goes directly into boxes used to sell webbing, or directly into another area where finished products are manufactured.
SYNERGY WEAVES UNITEX TOGETHER Unitex’s unique product lineup includes SuperTechlon® round slings and UltraLift® round slings.
SuperTechlon® offers a special system for determining the capacity of a sling. Each sling is labeled with its load capacity, while the opposite side of the sling features a stripe coding system to help users quickly and easily identify the capacity of slings. In addition, the SuperTechlon® sling has a durable cover comprised of unique yarns to provide excellent abrasion resistance. Te UltraLift® product is able to increase abrasion resistance and reduce cutting during lifting. Tese round slings are made
There is no question that what our customers can expect to see, near-term, is significant manufacturing capabilities growth, a commitment to developing innovative new products, and a strengthening of our internal group and external customer partnerships. -Jim Posa, CEO, Unitex Group USA
with patented rope core technology that delivers high cycle fatigue resistance. “We have UltraLift® coil slings that are still performing after 100,000 lifts,” says Posa. “And that’s a synthetic sling.” Next, Unitex plans to introduce its Ridge Gear® line to the U.S. height safety market, working closely with its partners in the U.K. Tere’s that word again: synergy. “Tough the companies within Unitex Group are run independently from each other, there is still a lot of coordination, communication, and transfer of technology and know-how among the companies,” Posa notes. “We all work together pretty closely. We source a lot of similar products globally, and if a specified product is manufactured at another one of our worldwide companies, we may enlist that facility as a group resource for that product.” In the future, Unitex will continue to manage
diversification as it continues to grow into new market areas requiring innovative products. Te company also plans to accelerate the development of some new and unique products and technologies for its current markets. New product designs are planned using innovative yarns and groundbreaking constructions of hybrid slings and other high-performance woven products. New equipment is being brought on virtually every month now. “Tere is no question that what our customers can expect to see, near-term, is significant manufacturing capabilities growth, a commitment to developing innovative new products, and a strengthening of our internal group and external customer partnerships,” Posa concludes. “Tese are the keys to how we plan to grow our business. Terefore, we are anticipating some dramatic developments resulting from further group synergy and product line expansions in 2013 and beyond.” y
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013 29
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