Technologies Driving The Sewn Products Industry
Announcing the New Needle's Eye!
Out of the Past
Originally, “the Needle's Eye” was published in magazine format bi-monthly by Union Special Machine Company, a builder of industrial sewing machines.
The purpose of “the Needle’s Eye” was to report on news events in the needle trades, describe developments in machine-sewn products, furnish information about improved manufacturing methods, and promote interests in Union Special machines and their applications in industry. The company was established in 1881 in Chicago, Illinois (USA) and it set its goals high. Those goals helped it to be the leading industrial sewing machine company in the world. NE
The purpose of “the Needle’s Eye” was to report on news events in the needle trades, describe developments in machine-sewn products, furnish information about improved manufacturing methods, and promote interests in Union Special machines and their applications in industry. The company was established in 1881 in Chicago, Illinois (USA) and it set its goals high. Those goals helped it to be the leading industrial sewing machine company in the world. NE
the Needle's Eye - July 1971
Today
It took Union Special only 20 years to get large enough to expand into Europe. Their first expansion formed the UNION SPECIAL Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Germany.
Today, Union Special products include a wide variety of sewing machines and parts for the Non-Apparel & Hosiery industries. Bag Making & Closing, Carpet Overedging, Mattress Tape Edgeing, Canvas Seaming, Geosynthetics, Panty Hose Toe Closing & Gusset Seaming, and Napkins & Table Cloth Serging, are just a few of the industries they service.
A full line of Union Special sewing machine parts are also manufactured and supplied for the wide range of apparel industry sewing equipment used throughout the world. Union Special, LLC is based in Huntley, Illinois (USA). www.unionspecial.com NE
Elias Howe, Jr.
A Century of Change
It is widely known that Elias Howe, Jr. invented the lockstitch sewing machine during the first Industrial Revolution. He received his master patent number 4750 in the USA on September 10, 1846. However, he did not try to manufacture machines for another 20 years. It took him about eight years of litigation against other manufacturers to establish his patent fully in the USA courts. From 1854 he licensed others to use his patents, and from 1856 he exacted a royalty of $5 per machine sold in the USA through the patent combination. These licensing agreements made him a very rich man.
It has now been 185 years since Howe's first sewing machine was invented. Operated by a hand crank, and very ponderous, it represented a significant step forward, sewing at a remarkable estimated 200 stitches per minute.
It has now been 185 years since Howe's first sewing machine was invented. Operated by a hand crank, and very ponderous, it represented a significant step forward, sewing at a remarkable estimated 200 stitches per minute.
Since that time, the sewing machine has greatly improved the efficiency and productivity of the clothing industry and decreased the amount of manual sewing work performed by clothing companies.
Subsequent refinements, innovations, and inventions during the first hundred years came from now-familiar names like Allan B. Wilson (Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company), James E. Gibbs (Wilcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company), Isaac Singer (Singer Manufacturing Company), and William S. North (Union Bag Machine Company, and then later Union Special Machine Company), and helped bring speed and productivity out of the home and into the factory.
As the quality and speed of sewing machines improved, manufacturing changed. Initially, each garment was made one at a time, with an operator performing every operation until each garment was complete. Consequently, much of the sewing was handled in large bundles. Hence the phrase "bundle system."
It wasn't until sometime in the 1800s that manufacturers started to break down garments into individual sewing operations. Operators could get their work from a central bin and return the “bundle” to the bin. As machines became even more specialized and one machine was intended for one specific operation, the “piece work” evolved. NE
"The Best Product We Have to Offer is Service"
(From the Needle's Eye, December-January 1994-1995)
(Left to Right) Frank Henderson, Vice President of Henderson Sewing Machine Co., Jim Gratsch, Field Director of Sales for Union Special Corp.,
and James Henderson, President and Founder of Henderson Sewing Machine Co.
Henderson Sewing Machine Company, one of the new distributors of Union Special Corporation sewing equipment and parts, has made “service” its rallying cry for almost three decades. A truck pulls up to your company’s loading dock. In the back (of the truck) are all your new sewing machines. All assembled, in their tables, motors installed, and already adjusted and tested. All you need to do is plug them in and sew. And the service representative will not leave until you are satisfied with each machine.
Anything for the customer
From 1968 to 1976, Henderson Sewing Machine Company grew from a one-man-band to a company with three employees, $500,000 in sales, 125 customers, and 30 different vendor lines.
Today, Henderson has 4,000 customers, 440 different vendor lines, nine outside, and four inside salespeople, technical staff of five, and sales approaching $25 million per year.
How did this company achieve such phenomenal growth?
“Whether it’s $15 in parts or $400,000 in capital equipment, each order gets treated with the same commitment to service,” comments Frank Henderson, Vice President of Henderson Sewing Machine, the company his father founded in 1968.
“Our customer service department is combined with a salesperson in a specific territory,” explains Frank Henderson. “If a customer calls in for assistance, that customer knows exactly who to ask for to get help. The customer service person can then check his order, provide him with information on any item, and advise him on items that are back-ordered.
“But it does not stop there,” he continues. “When we get our shipments at I0:00 AM each day, we have a list of items that are back-ordered and pull them out of the shipment, check them off, re-package them, and have them out the door that same afternoon. And we ship it freight-free. After all, it was not the customer’s fault the items were late. So, they should not have to pay for the additional shipping costs.”Henderson also has a shop to set up all the machinery when it comes in the door. (continued)
“We ship no product in the box,” explains Bruce Moore, Sales/Marketing Coordinator for Henderson. “All of the product we sell we fully assemble, the table, the stand, the motor, the legs, and all the attachments that go on it. When the machinery leaves here, it generally leaves here on one of our vehicles. By setting up the machinery here, we can know that the machine is set up properly, is sewing properly, and that it will do the job before it leaves here,” he continues. “If not, then we do not send it. We will make it right or it will not leave here, whether it be an automated piece of equipment or a very simple single needle machine. It is an expensive way of doing business, but our customers are very important, and we want them to be happy with the machines from the start.”
The timing was also a big reason for the company’s phenomenal growth. “We experienced 374% growth in 1986,” commented Frank Henderson. “In 1984 and ‘85 we anticipated that knit goods were going to take off, so we concentrated most of our efforts in that area. We never dreamed it would take off like that. After surviving the year, we stepped back and tried to achieve a more manageable growth.” Henderson has also been expanding into the Caribbean and Latin America. “Our way of selling in these markets is different than what others might be doing,” comments Mr. Henderson. We are selling the technology to manufacturers. We help them set up an entire plant to sew T-shirts, or sweats, or panties, or bras, or whatever they want to sew. Our method of selling is not just to go in and say we can sell a machine for this much money, but rather we go in and help train the people and find the most efficient way for them to sew a product.”
Last year offshore business represented 17% of the company’s business. In 1995 they anticipate these markets to increase to 25%-27% of the company’s total sales.
Where does Henderson see the future?
“In the last 18 years, there are only three areas of the United States that have grown in apparel manufacturing -- the Southeast, Texas, and California,” explains Mr. Henderson. “Now we see more business migrating to Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean because of the abundance of low-cost labor. We do not foresee an end to sewing in the United States. It will always be here. But the real growth is going to be South.” www.hendersonsewing.com NE
The timing was also a big reason for the company’s phenomenal growth. “We experienced 374% growth in 1986,” commented Frank Henderson. “In 1984 and ‘85 we anticipated that knit goods were going to take off, so we concentrated most of our efforts in that area. We never dreamed it would take off like that. After surviving the year, we stepped back and tried to achieve a more manageable growth.” Henderson has also been expanding into the Caribbean and Latin America. “Our way of selling in these markets is different than what others might be doing,” comments Mr. Henderson. We are selling the technology to manufacturers. We help them set up an entire plant to sew T-shirts, or sweats, or panties, or bras, or whatever they want to sew. Our method of selling is not just to go in and say we can sell a machine for this much money, but rather we go in and help train the people and find the most efficient way for them to sew a product.”
Last year offshore business represented 17% of the company’s business. In 1995 they anticipate these markets to increase to 25%-27% of the company’s total sales.
Where does Henderson see the future?
“In the last 18 years, there are only three areas of the United States that have grown in apparel manufacturing -- the Southeast, Texas, and California,” explains Mr. Henderson. “Now we see more business migrating to Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean because of the abundance of low-cost labor. We do not foresee an end to sewing in the United States. It will always be here. But the real growth is going to be South.” www.hendersonsewing.com NE
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