Unifi Visit

On Tuesday, I visited Unifi. Unifi produces, textures, and dyes all types of filament (and works with many spun) yarns for multiple industries. Since my research is focusing on color, we visited the dye house in Reidsville, NC. This was a great opportunity for me to refresh my color chemistry memory as well as learn something new (or a lot of somethings). By speaking with my contact there and learning about the processes involved in color matching, the dyeing process, and documenting this information for future reference and consistency, I picked up on several helpful hints for how to record my color observations from the automotive fabrics. He also spoke in detail about the history of the industry since he's been involved and the dynamics between all levels of the automotive supply chain.

In the hay-days for automotive textiles, from the mid 1980's until the mid 1990's, yarns were being packaged dyed. Unifi led this evolution by developing all procedures to dye polyester yarns, along with other filaments, such as nylon (which at the time was supposedly "impossible" to dye). This meant more business for Unifi, but it also meant more control by the designers and represented a time that automotive fabrics represented quality and luxury.

In the mid 90's, one of the OEMs demanded that costs be cut by piece-dyeing yardage, and everyone else fell in line. Rather than designers controlling design, all control was given to purchasing and the result has been the bland grays and neutrals you'll find yourself sitting on today. It was at this point that companies began refusing to pay more that $100 to upholster the entire interior. Not only did switching to piece dye limit design capability, but there was a lot of "corner-cutting" by the OEMs. For example, take a good look at your "leather" seats. Chances are the only leather is inlay, the very center of each seat. The bolster, on the edges, is almost always vinyl, and its all coated with acrylic. The same is true in fabrics. Its ironic that cost-cutting has landed the automotive industry in the financial crisis we are experiencing today.

While so much has changed, not just in the past 10 years...but in the past 10 months, with this industry, it is necessary to review what has changed since the most successful times in order to be successful again. The de-evolution from package dyeing to piece dyeing is just 1 example at 1 level of this industry. There is much to learn, but I hope that my research will contribute to increasing success through value, quality, and design.