Specialty Fabrics Review July 2020 - 19

or mats; and in other markets, making
equipment covers or protective covers.
"We've seen that when we've become
too focused in one area, we're left to
reinvent ourselves again when that area
dries up," she says. "We like the idea of
sitting in a couple of different areas and
providing products. The challenge is
making sure that all the areas have
some kind of common thread."
HONESTY, INTEGRITY, SERVICE
At CCP, ideas for designs or product
innovations often come from customers,
while internal innovations are driven by
reviewing how products are manufactured
and how the company can be more
efficient-for example, by adding
automation or changing the workflow.
"One of the biggest challenges that
contract sewing companies face, mine
included, is the feast or famine type of
situation, where large projects come in
and we are overwhelmed to manufacture
to the level that we need to, and yet we
don't want to turn it down. We've had
times when we've been so busy, we were
up to 17 employees and running a second
half shift to meet demand, and I was trying
to find local people around me to sub out
the work. We were successful in doing that,
but it was a difficult strain."
The COVID-19 crisis has prompted
many companies to work together for
the common good. And these growing
relationships may just have the potential
to strengthen the position of small contract
sewing operations in the global market.
"We're all sharing ideas and resources
and coming up with designs. That helps
us as American manufacturers," she
says. "When I came back to work after
being out of the industry, a lot of things
had changed; a lot of things had gone
overseas, to offshore manufacturing. It
was personally disappointing to see that
we hadn't maintained manufacturing to a
bigger degree in the U.S."

Because of its medical line (see
"Snapshot" on page 18), CCP was
deemed an essential business during
Ohio's stay-at-home order. The company
set other projects aside to focus on its
existing medical products and added the
manufacturing of face shields. Because
of its large facility, the company's 12
employees are able to spread out and work
safely at a distance from each other.
When Kellogg first started at CCP, she put
the words "honesty, integrity and service" on
a wall in the facility as a reminder to everyone
to be honest with both customers and fellow
employees, even when delivering bad news;
to have the integrity to follow through with
commitments, even if it costs more to deliver
a quality product; and to focus on service
so that employees and customers know they
can depend on the company. That's
a combination that creates growth.
"Our biggest goal is that we serve our
customers so that they want to stay with
us, and they want to bring their friends
over," Kellogg says.

What is your biggest
business strength?
My employees. They
are always up for a
challenge. We've taken on some
complicated projects, and they
don't say no. They say, "How can
we do this?" We all have a say-I
like to bring in other people rather
than make decisions on my own to
make sure we have the expertise to
handle a project. That's helped us
as a company to grow because we
are willing to stretch and put extra
effort into something. We don't just
stay with the status quo. That goes
all the way through our processes.
If we've been doing something a
certain way for a long time, we still
ask, "Is that the right way?" Maybe
it is still the right way. But we like
to ask the question: "Is there a way
to make that better?"

Jill C. Lafferty is senior editor of
Specialty Fabrics Review.

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Specialty Fabrics Review July 2020

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