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Combining tradition and cutting-edge innovation, Bally Ribbon Mills covers the engineered narrow woven tape and webbing marketplace. Shannon Bingham spoke to Jim Gehris about the lengths the company goes to for its customers.
There's one block in Bally, Pennsylvania where turn-of-the-century shuttle looms hum alongside their modern needle loom counterparts, where craft tape is manufactured next to vital medical equipment, and pet leashes next to critical safety equipment. It's the block where Bally Ribbon Mills first began operating in 1923, with 40 employees manufacturing ribbon for hatbands and lingerie. Now, nearly 80 years, 20 expansions, and 240 more employees later, this one block in Bally is taken up by one of the world's largest suppliers of narrow woven industrial tape and webbing, Bally Ribbon Mills.
Bally's products range from lightweight binding tape to specialty, heavyweight tie-down webbing and include composite materials, two- and three-dimensional structures, and woven tubular and braided materials. The fact that Bally still uses over 100 seemingly obsolete shuttle looms, despite their slower pace and lack of automation, reveals a commitment to traditional quality not found in many other textile manufacturers.
“The new machines just can't do it the way the old ones can,” explained Jim Gehris, manufacturing manager. “The shuttle looms are the only way to produce seamless tubes with a woven edge that won't unravel.” That commitment is matched by a self-sufficient dedication in Bally's fully operational on-site machine shop, which produces its own spare parts for the shuttle looms because they're no longer available anywhere else.
With textile mills shutting down all over the country, Bally has had to be flexible in the products it markets, staying ahead of the constantly changing demands of the aerospace, medical, military, commercial, and industrial industries. “We are constantly investing in new technology and processes,” said Gehris. “Our R&D department is constantly creating innovative, [custom] design and processing solutions to meet the exact needs of our customers. We've created niche markets for our products, and our processes and commitment to 100% customer satisfaction has helped.”
The fast-changing applications found within the medical, military, and aerospace industries require new, innovative fabrics to match the developing technology. In the aerospace industry, there was a need to replace the expensive high-tech alloys in aircraft and structural components with a cost-effective, lightweight, strong material that resists thermal shock, stress cracking, corrosion, and chemical attack. Bally's design and production of two- and three-dimensional woven composite structures that were made from carbon/graphite fibers strengthened the airplane fuselage and wings.
Bally has also found new ways to market its products. Its Web site has been available since 1995 and is constantly being updated. The company is in the process of integrating the site with an e-commerce program by year-end in conjunction with Thomas Register. With the database, Bally can reach designers and engineers at the product design level to inform them about the performance capability and improved cost implications of using textiles rather than traditional materials.
There is endless potential for Bally's product development and niche markets. The development is driven by a customer's need for woven products that use engineered fiber characteristics of the yarn. Products used in a specific application, such as reinforcement materials in parachutes, are quite versatile and can be used in other applications, such as automotive linkages. Fibers such as nylon, polyester, teflon, kevlar, carbon, quartz, and ceramic create an endless variety of promising products that are inherently abrasion resistant, heat resistant, very strong, and have controlled elongation or increased flexibility.
Its approach has undoubtedly worked. The company has recorded year-on-year sales increases, with last year reaching $24 million from its 1,500 active clients. In addition to numerous small outlets, Bally's customer list includes Delphi Automotive, NASA, Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, Eastmann Kodak, and Baxter Healthcare, and the company is one of the few manufacturers approved by the Institute of Heraldry to produce military award ribbons.
Bally supplies products worldwide from its 150,000 square-foot premises. The company's facilities also have a fully operational lab where all fabric is put through stringent inspection and tests for tensile strength, porosity, elongation, and weatherability. These internal quality checks are made in addition to the official inspections carried out by ISO certifiers, which began to take place five years ago. Bally achieved ISO 9001 certification and AS 9000 compliance in 1999, signifying a major step forward for the company and the contracts it could undertake. The company also remains in compliance with the strict environmental regulations throughout production, processing, and testing.
Additional capabilities on site include a color-dying division that houses a fully-computerized, color-matching machine. This has extended quality control beyond its previous visual inspection and ensures that Bally can exactly, and faultlessly, meet the color specifications of its customers' products. There are also isolated facilities for weaving implantable medical materials, preventing potential contamination by foreign materials within the mill.
There are no current plans for expansion, but Bally has proven its adaptability in an industry where so many others have failed. It's obvious that Bally's approach of meeting the needs of both ends of the marketplace, and every step in between, will continue to prove exciting and profitable for the company. |
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