Volume 48, Number 3
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Amco News
Autumn 1992
yo^ntinn Photo Contest
Grand Canyon
Trip Photo
Wins For Wise
Virginia Wise (Drexel Knit
ting) captured first place in this
year’s Amco News Vacation
Photo Contest. Her shot of pack
mules on a Grand Canyon Trail
was judged best among some 30
entries. She wins a S150 gift cer
tificate from Belks.
Taking second place was
Frances Come (Administrative
Office) with a shot of a resting
carribou in Denali National Park
in Alaska near the base of Mt.
McKinley. She wins a SlOOBelks
gift certificate.
Third place went to Eva
McKenzie (Kernersville Finish
ing Annex) for her shot of the
snow-covered Bavarian Alps
which she shot during a visit to
Germany.
Wise, a knitter at Drexel, spent
two weeks in July with her hus
band, Paul, and her daughter and
her husband and their two childen
traveling in the western United
States, visiting Yellowstone Na
tional Park, Las Vagas, Cody,
Wyoming, and The Grand Can-
(Continued On Page 6)
Virginia Wise captnred this prize-winning photo on a hot d.ay in the Grand Canyon
No Employees Hurt
When Fire Damages
Knitting Operation
A six-alarm fire on Novem
ber 16 did about $500,000 dam
age to the High Point Knitting
Plant. However, no employees
were injured in the 5:45 a.m. blaze
but three firemen were slightly
injured while fighting the fire.
The fire is believed to have
started in a second floor knitting
machine, according to fire offi
cials. It then spread quickly to
the third floor through heating
and air conditioning ducts.
“It was so black, like closing
your eyes,” said Plant Manager
Gary Swain, referring to the
smoke in the building. “So, we
started crawling on our hands
and knees to get out. Td seen
‘The Towering Inferno,’ and I
knew that you could get free.
“I just wanted to get my people
out,” he said. “I can replace the
building. I can replace equipment.
But I can’t replace an employee.”
When smoke began billow
ing from heating and air condi
tioning ducts, Swain got two
groups of employees together and
had them craw'l single-file on the
floor, down the stairs and out of
the building to safety - the tech
nique which was taught during
fire drills at the plant.
About half of the plant’s 200
employees returned to work the
day after the fire to begin cleanup
operations. There was extensive
smoke and water damage to the
plant and equipment.
CEO Rich Noll said the com
pany is lucky.
“I consider all of us very fortu
nate,” Noll said. “No employee
was injured, and you know we
have to be very thankful for that.
Everything else is secondary.”
About 15 of the 500 knitting
machines in the plant were de
stroyed in the fire.
Full plant production resumed
within a week of the fire.
New Plant To Open
In Barnwell, S.C.
Van Joyce
Joyce Named
Vice President
Of Operations
Van Joyce, who has served as
vice president of manufacturing
for Adams-Millis for the past 10
years, has been promoted to Vice
President of Operations.
He replaces Dick Porter, who
was named Vice President of
Worldwide Hosiery Initiative with
Sara Lee Personal Products
Operations Group in Winston-
Salem.
Joyce, a native of Madison, is
a 1973 graduate of High Point
(Continued on Page 5)
With about 150 state and
community leaders on hand,
including South Carolina Gov
ernor Carroll Campbell, Adams-
MiUis CEO Rich Noll announced
plans November 19 to open an
other sock manufacturing plant
in Barnwell, S.C.
The plant, which will be a
“state-of-the art” facility, will em
ploy approximately 400 people.
The operations will be in a for
mer Burlington Industries plant
which covers about five acres on
a 32-acre site just outside
Barnwell.
Renovations to the 240,000
square-foot building already have
begun and production could be
gin as early as February, 1993,
according to Van Joyce, Vice
President of Operations.
Dan Bulman, who has 12 years
of manufacturing experience with
Sara Lee Hosiery, will be the plant
manager.
“A large, state-of-the-art fa
cility is vital to support our growth
plans,” Noll said. “The Barnwell
facility is large enough to handle
the knitting, dyeing and finish
ing operations for white athletic
socks and also support our growth
tor the next three to five years.
“We also have been restruc
turing our existing manufactur
ing to have our plants focused on
product lines,” Noll added. “All
of these efforts are part of our
overall plan to create the most
efficient, cost-effective manufac
turing operations possible.”
Noll said the decision on the
Barnwell location was based on
the availability of the building
and the work force necessary to
begin operations.
“We are looking forward to
becoming part of the Barnwell
community and appreciate the
cooperative efforts we have seen
from state and local officals, area
residents and Burlington Indus
tries,” Noll said.
He added that the building
where the new operations will be
located has been closed for sev
eral years. When it goes into
operation it will be similar to the
Mount Airy plant, where the
required space is available for all
(Continued on Page 4)
Company Goal
Double Market Share By 96
Although Adams-Millis is the
largest socks manufacturer in the
United States, controling about
25 percent of the sock market.
Chief Executive Officer Rich Noll
says the company will seize a much
larger share in the future.
“We want to double our share
of the sock market by 1996,” he
said recently. “Empowerment,
coupled with cross-functional
teamwork, will be the vehicle that
all of us use to attain our goals.”
NoU made the comments while
discussing the new mission state
ment which has been established
for Adams-Millis.
“Our mission is to further
dominate the socks industry by
having the number one or num
ber two position in all channels
of trade: mass, department stores
and specialty stores,” Noll quoted
from the statement.
“We can’t dominate the in
dustry without being either
number one or number two in all
channels of trade in the indus
try,” he said.
Noll said many opportunities
exist for further growth such as
college bookstores and in chain
speciality shops such as Foot
Locker.
“That’s only two examples of
places where we don’t have a
presence now but we want to in
the future,” he added.
He elaborated further on the
mission statement, citing four ar
eas in which emphasis must be
(Continued on page 4)
CEO Rich Noll,
right, and South
Carolina
Gov.Carroll
Campbell share a
moment after the
Barnwell Plant
announcement.