Living Jackson Magazine

Spinning Their Own Tale

Buhler Quality Yarn Corp. Succeeds In a Shrinking Industry

By Gail Ellen Daly

Photography By Joshua T. Barnett

Not all cotton yarns are equal, as not all cotton is alike.

And with this in mind, there is a local company that spins its cotton into fine yarns.

Most everyone who travels Athens Street in Jefferson between downtown and the bypass is familiar with the large red B. and the long, low white building near the railroad crossing. Few are aware of what’s inside Buhler Quality Yarns Corp. and what the company actually does. Even fewer know that the yarn spun at Buhler is turned into fabric known for softness and comfort.

“We’ve been here since 1996,” said David Sasso, vice president of international sales, noting that Buhler purchased the facility that previously housed SCT Yarns.

Hermann Buhler formed Buhler’s parent company, with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, almost 200 years ago. The company located its United States division in Jefferson specifically to serve the “sheeting market,” Sasso explained. It is Buhler’s only facility in the U.S.

“We produce fine yarns with long staple fibers for fine thread-count sheets and towels,” he said. “With the facility in Jefferson, we were in proximity to our customers.”

“It was a $30-$35 million investment (locating a branch of the company in the U.S. and installing all new machines),” Sasso said.

He added that the spinning process and the machinery needed to transform the raw cotton into finished yarn is the most expensive part of the process that turns cotton into fabric. The spinning process takes place 24/7/363 inside the vast Jefferson facility.

Buhler uses only Supima cotton grown in California’s San Joaquin Valley, where production benefits from a long, hot growing season, with no rain from April to October and cool nights. Supima is not only known for softness, it is stronger than other cotton, Sasso said. The long staple fiber can be woven or knitted into softer, finer and more luxurious fabrics than cotton grown elsewhere.

“Egypt has done a fine job of advertising its cotton, and of course Georgia grows cotton,” said Victor Almeida, Buhler’s textile engineer. “But Georgia’s cotton is coarser and used in heavier fabrics such as denim.”

Buhler ships its yarn to 15 different countries, where the yarn is used to manufacture shirts and trousers, plus sheets and towels, for an assortment of known name labels.

“Buyers tend to forget there is manufacturing left in the United States,” Sasso said. “We have to remind them.”

Shipped from the Jefferson spinning mill on large “cones,” 27 cones to a box, the yarns wind up at fabric manufacturing plants in diverse places such as Singapore, Ecuador, El Salvador, Turkey and Guatemala.

Almeida noted that the company’s involvement does not end when the yarn leaves Jefferson. “We’re heavily involved with the finished product,” he said.

Buhler markets to both retailers and manufacturers, selling service and developing ideas. “We understand the customer and the business,” Sasso said. “And we’re involved in the supply chain.”

Displaying a few samples of high-end retail products, Almeida noted the difference in the various weaves and knitting. But whether a Ralph Lauren T-shirt or a Ralph Lauren towel, a Lacoste woven golf shirt or a Boss dress shirt, the softness was evident.

Since Buhler is a major component of the finished product, the next step is to place a B. tag on the garment giving the consumer information about the cotton used in the manufacturing process. “Our goal is to have the B-dot label on all products,” Almeida said. “We’re working closely with the brands on license agreements and have had limited success.”

Sasso quickly noted that all the yarn produced does not go into fabric slated for high-priced designer labels. Supima cotton fabric is found at all price levels. Even some clothing Wal-Mart carries can be 50 percent Supima cotton.

“When a manufacturer wants to cut corners, they start with the yarn,” Almeida explained.

Since the spinning process is automated, Buhler’s payroll is not large by manufacturing standards. Between the various shift workers, maintenance personnel, management and supervisors, the company employs 150 people. “We have a hard time finding employees,” Sasso pointed out, “since some of our needs are for people who are educated and have some experience.”

The plant operates 24 hours, seven-days-a-week, 363 days a year and is currently running at full capacity. Every week, 448 bales of cotton are spun into 170,000 pounds of yarn. Each cotton bale weighs 500 pounds.

A walk through the vast building underscores the magnitude and complexity of the operation. When the cotton bales arrive at the facility, they are separated, blended and cleaned before being fed into the automated operation.

The first step involves “carding,” or lining up the fibers to be combed. “Combing” the cotton removes the short fibers. After combing, a process called “finished drawing” further blends and aligns the combed cotton.

With only long fibers remaining, the “roving” process transforms the cotton into a product that is sent to the “ring spinning” machines.

At one point in the process, a machine determines the yarn weight of the final product.

Spinning machines continually spin the large rolls of cotton into yarn, roving bobbins into yarn. From these small bobbins, yarn is wound onto the larger cones.

Although the immense operation bay is noisy, it is immaculately clean. In front of each machine, a giant vacuum constantly travels back and forth directing the excess cotton down a large grate.

Technicians and supervisors constantly monitor the machines.

“There are 32,000 spindles (that hold the small bobbins) with a computer tied into each machine,” Sasso explained. “It (computer) tells us everything.”

In the small computer room, screens glow with information. A textile lab offers an opportunity to determine product quality.

Sasso noted that the operation is leaner and more efficient than in the past, especially with the newer spinning machines. Eventually more of the newer machines will replace the older models currently in operation.

“We’re surviving in an industry that is shrinking dramatically,” he said. “But we have a niche and provide excellent service.”

Gail Ellen Daly, a long-time reporter for the Chronicle, a daily newspaper serving northeast Connecticut, recently moved to Jackson County with her husband. They live in Apple Valley with their horses.