Textiles from Hungary Coats Hungary

TEXTILES FROM HUNGARY

Coats Hungary is a part of Coats plc, the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of threads, yarns and textile crafts for industrial and consumer markets. The two Hungarian facilities, based in Ujpest and Nagyatad, produce more than 1400 tons of products per year between them. Industry Europe looks at the operations of this important European division of the global brand.

Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread and consumer textiles crafts business employing 20,000 people in over 70 countries. Coats’ Újpest facility is its longest-established Hungarian base and produces yarn for sectors such leather goods including handbags, luggage and shoes, automotive, footwear, bedding, quilting, furniture, outdoor and camping goods, linen suture, feminine hygiene and filtration products, to name just a few.

Originally established in 1923, the plant has undergone a number of improvements to enable it to meet current market demands. The facility has state-of-the-art machinery to enable the production of goods that meet exacting standards including, ÖKO TEX 100 Textile Certificate Class 1, ISO 13 485 Medical Certificate for Suture thread and ISO TS 16949 Automotive Certificate. An important factor for all these accreditations is an ongoing commitment to quality.

The Újpest site employs more than 250 staff and Coats places great emphasis on the health and safety of its workers. The HSE committee is led by the operators themselves, as they have the greatest experience of the risks faced and potential hazards in the work place. Recent initiatives to improve staff and visitor safety at the site include a new visitor card incorporating site safety rules and the provision of a new HSE room for training and development.

Focused on efficiency

While Újpest produces thread and yarn for industrial markets, the facility in Nagyatád is focused on providing products that serve the consumer crafts market. Located in the south of the country, it covers 250,000 sq. ft across a 15-acre site and employs some 400 staff. The facility provides products for European markets as well exporting to the USA, Mexico and the Far East. Coats’ involvement with Nagyatád first began in 1934 and lasted until nationalisation in 1949. During the 1990s Coats was able to re-establish relations with the Nagyatád plant and in 1997 once again took 100 per cent ownership of the site.

The need to improve the site and introduce more efficient machinery was identified and a substantial capital investment has been made to bring the plant in line with the rest of the Coats’ operations. This investment ensures that the facility is set to meet future demand in the most efficient manner.

A commitment to quality

Producing quality products to a consistently high standard takes a great deal of skill and focus. All processes need to be reviewed and challenged on a regular basis to ensure a plant is working to its optimum capacity. Both Újpest and Nagyatád are well aware of the need for constant monitoring and have introduced the Six Sigma business management strategy.

The Six Sigma approach to business requires effective leadership and fact-based decision making. This methodology is dependent on a strong, effective and committed

Quality - in line with the environment

Our textile auxiliaries and dyestuffs are high-tech chemicals of premium quality: • Highly effective • Ecologically optimised • Made of standardised raw materials • Produced by qualified employees in accurately controlled process steps • Each single batch is checked

When designing and manufacturing our products we take the utmost care to ensure our products are safe for the user , end consumer and the environment.

TEXTILCOLOR

TEXTILCOLOR has been supplying customers in the textile industry all over the world with textile auxiliaries, dyestuffs and optical brighteners. Today the enterprise with the headquarter in Switzerland and two further production sites in Belarus and Turkey delivers its products globally. With an own development department, equipped with latest technology and ultramodern analytics, the company provides most modern products of (the typically) highest Swiss quality for the customers. Certifications according to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 guarantee top products and the consideration of the environment at the same time. Computer controlled production ensures constancy in the quality level. Skilled and experienced technicians supported by in-house specialists and effective laboratories are always at our customer’s disposal to solve problems, recommend the right product for the right purpose and enable our customers to benefit from innovation.

Our know-how – your advantage! This has been our maxim and the basis for mutual success.

management. The use of a belt system similar to that in judo identifies experts and managers and provides a robust yet flexible management system to help ensure the plant is working at optimum efficiency.

Corporate responsibility

In Hungary, Coats has been consistently investing in staff training and development, providing additional facilities to ensure that the company and its people are best placed for the future. Coats has recently been working to improve employees’ access to information throughout the organisation. At its second Hungarian facility, in Nagyatád, a number of initiatives have formed part of its employee engagement action plan. This includes six-monthly meetings of the entire plant to hear performance results and an international website for employees.

It is often said that the most important thing in business is a strong brand. With a history dating back to 1755 Coats has a strong brand, but how do you maintain that recognition and tradition? The answer is to constantly adapt and adjust to meet new challenges.

Over the past few years Coats has worked to embed its vision of corporate responsibility throughout its global operations. Coats’ commitment to its staff and customers is based on trust and a dedication to high standards, ethical manufacturing, minimal environmental impact, supportive people management, effective partnerships, communication with local communities and quality products. Working to achieve sustainability across all businesses will help Coats maintain its position as the world’s leading manufacturer of thread, yarn and textile crafts. n