US yarn manufacturer Meridian Specialty Yarn Group (MSYG) has opened what it claims is the first yarn and fibre dyeing operation to be built in the United States in over two decades, offering the only tow-dyeing capacity in America.
The firm, which supplies a number of industries including apparel, says the new 116,000 sq ft facility at its manufacturing site in Valdese, North Carolina, officially went live earlier this month. Until this summer, it says, all producer-dyed acrylic tow was imported from outside US borders.
“Our new technology gives us the capability to process every dyeable fibre in various forms including yarn, tow and top. This is very unusual in the dyed yarn world,” explains Tim Manson, president of MSYG.
“We can chemically treat or dye all fibre substrates, ranging from cellulosic and animal fibres, to polyester, nylon and dyeable aramids. Most dye houses specialise in certain products, but we are now in a position to source from all over the world, from every type of textile fibre, supporting a wide array of end uses.”
These end-uses include apparel products with regards to skein-printed yarns, while the top-dyed wool capability will support worsted spinners supplying high-end apparel and hosiery.
The technologies in Meridian’s new manufacturing plant will also bring faster delivery to the North American supply chain for all the industries the company serves, the firm says.
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By GlobalDataIt adds that utilising next-generation technology, machines, controls and robotics for package, top and tow dyeing positions the plant as North America’s most modern manufacturing operation with regards to dyeing technology and robotic support equipment.
Meanwhile, renovations are now taking place in the plant’s original manufacturing plant, and when complete, Meridian’s yarn dye operations – which also include several types of space-dyed yarns as well as twisting capabilities – will span both buildings and 284,600 sq ft of office, warehouse and manufacturing space.
“Nothing like this has been built before in North America,” Manson says. “This is one of the only ‘green field’ yarn and fibre wet-processing plants to be built in the United States in a generation.”
The new plant also reflects a large investment in sustainable technologies and processes, with MSYG stating the end result is a facility that operates with “considerably less environmental impact than other yarn dyeing operations both here in North America and abroad.”
As well as installing robotics, the company has added positions and is in the process of retraining employees to work with the new technologies. “We’ve met the initial employment targets of adding 25 jobs and are hiring and retraining,” Manson says. “We did not lose any positions due to new technology.”
The company’s human resources manager, Debbie Sigmon, is also working with local community colleges to develop programmes to train new textile workers, attract new talent to the region and develop concepts for a workplace that appeals to a younger generation.
“It was important to us to keep manufacturing jobs in the United States while supporting the US textile supply chain as well as the community where we’ve been located for so many decades,” Manson explains. “The new plant and the programmes we’re working on in the community do all of the above.”
Last year, MSYG was recognised for its commitment to North Carolina after building the Valdese textile plant at a time when other regional textile plants were closing or moving overseas.
