Knitting Mills, NEC

Products manufactured by companies in this category include bags and bagging, bedspreads, curtains, dishcloths, elastic girdle blanks, girdles and other foundation garments, gloves, shoe linings, mittens, stockinettes, towels, and washcloths.

Like many companies in the knitting business, firms in this category tend to buy yarn that is customized to suit their requirements instead of running their own dyeing and finishing operations. When dyeing and finishing is required, the companies either have the work done on a commission basis or, in some cases, sell goods to dyers and finishers who in turn deliver the finished fabric. For some types of knit work gloves, dyeing and finishing is not necessary; the gloves are made from greige fabric and left the natural color.

This industry's 169 establishments employed 1,822 workers in 2009. Total industry sales were $178.8 million, with North Carolina accounting for $42.4 million, or about 23 percent of that total. Other leading states in terms of revenue were Texas with $36.2 million and California with $33.8 million. Smaller contributors included Ohio, New Jersey, and New York. Many companies in this category in the late 2000s were small, family-owned businesses serving niche markets; 80 percent of firms had fewer than 10 employees. However, larger firms accounted for the majority of the merchandise shipped in the category.

Employees of this industry work as sewing machine operators, textile draw-out and winding machine workers, hand packers and packagers, inspectors, industrial machinery mechanics, textile bleaching and dyeing machine workers, testers, hand workers, textile machine setters and set-up operators, blue-collar worker supervisors, general managers, and material movers and handlers.

Various diversified textile companies produced goods in this category, but among those who made it their primary business was Beacon Looms Inc. of Teaneck, New Jersey. A designer, manufacturer, and supplier of knitted products, Beacon was founded in 1914 and had 2008 sales of $7.8 million. Other industry leaders included Dorothy's Originals Inc. of Wilmington, North Carolina; Scott Mills Inc. of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania; and Arlington Hat Company Inc. of Long Island City, New York.

Technological advances in the overall textile industry included computer-aided design (CAD), production, and communications; new modular manufacturing systems; and ergonomics (workplace instruments designed to improve the safety, health, and efficiency of workers). Smaller firms were often the least efficient. Miscellaneous knitting mills usually had only a few knitting machines, which were either circular or flat machines depending on the product made. Many of the newer machines were quieter, easier to operate, and designed to reduce workers' stress and injury. Particular emphasis was placed on reducing the repetitive-motion injuries typical of apparel workers that had led to more government regulations, higher workers' compensation costs, and rising health care costs.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment in apparel knitting mills was expected to decline more than 5 percent annually into the second decade of the twenty-first century, mostly due to technological advances and imports of apparel and textiles from lower-wage countries. By 2016, industry employment was expected to show a 14 percent loss from a decade earlier. The industry was also expected to see some of the most significant declines in product output, compared to other U.S. industries.

Knitting mills continued to look for ways to streamline production and offer new products in the late 2000s. Walter Tkach of United Knitting in Cleveland, Tennessee, told WWD in April 2008, "Innovation drives business." One of the main focuses of such innovation was using recycled and organic materials. Regarding foreign competition, Tkach said, "U.S. factories can't compete on price, but they can out-create the competitors."