Life after Levi - Levi Strauss & Co - interview with J.A. Lamy Mfg. Co. Pres. and CEO H.W. Swearingen - Contractor's Perspective - Interview

When J.A. Lamy Mfg. Co. heard its contract work for Levi Strauss & Co. would be coming to an end in December 1998, the news wasn't totally unexpected. The company, which operates in concert with Levi's own facilities, has shared the ups and mostly downs of the jeans market over the past few years.

Levi has been the Sedalia, MO-based contractor's sole client for 48 years, and its customer since 1946, when the Stafford and Haas families (owners of J.A. Lamy and Levi, respectively) consummated their partnership with a handshake. Both had been around for some years at that point, with Levi, which this year turns 148, being Lamy's senior by only 16 years. And both were, as they are still, family-owned businesses.

There aren't many U.S. contractors who can say they've serviced only one account for close to half a century. But, then again, there's only one Levi, and that's the way the jeans magnate has always liked its contractors - loyal and exclusive.

Today, Levi's U.S. sewing contractor base has dwindled to only two - J.A. Lamy and Mississippi-based Lucky Star Industries - both of which will cease Levi production at the end of this year.

Bobbin asked H.W. Swearingen, president and CEO of J.A. Lamy, to reflect on his company's long relationship with Levi, and the opportunities and challenges what lie ahead as the firm "re-enters" the U.S. apparel contracting market.

BOBBIN: How has your jeans contracting relationship with Levi developed and changed over the years?

SWEARINGEN: Our percentage of their production and the operational functions we have done [for them] have certainly chanced over the years. When we went with Levi, they had some $8 million in sales, and last year they were over $7 billion in sales. ... Over the years, we have done a number of things. Early on, we did cut planning and inventory replenishment here, and at one time we warehoused, filled orders, shipped to the customers and even billed for Levi. In fact, I think we even handled customer complaints for a while. Today, we only handle CMT work.

As far as the relationship, they have always been an excellent company to work for, and [likewise] we've felt that we've given them a quality product at a reasonable price and on the schedules that they've requested.

BOBBIN: Did Levi Dive you some forewarning that they were going to be cutting back on production in the United States?

SWEARINGEN: They were giving indications in the late summer that they were going to have to look at their productive capacity, and it had been obvious based on the way we were running for the last couple of years. We have always operated as if we were one of their own plants, and Done up and down in relation to the market.

BOBBIN: Going forward, what do you believe your main strengths are going to be as a company, and in what direction do you want to take the business?

SWEARINGEN; We believe that our strengths lie in our highly skilled, loyal and very flexible work force. And that includes everybody here, from our operators to our supervisors to inspectors and mechanics. We feel that they will allow us to quickly deliver various products at very high quality. Quality and dependability - those have been our hallmarks over the years - and we don't want to change that. We're not looking to do low-end garments. ...

We've worked primarily in denim bottoms, and that would be the easiest thing for us and our people to work into, but because of the people we have here, there's very little we would not entertain. ... We also are looking at the possibility of being able to deliver a package.

BOBBIN: What do you think are going to be the biggest challenges of moving into this new 'land of opportunity'?

SWEARINGEN: Reestablishing contacts with individuals and companies that are looking to source. We've been out of this loop for 51 years because we felt it was really improper for us to make any overtures to anyone on the outside because of the relationship that we had with Levi.

BOBBIN: Do you have any concerns about the overall stale of the U.S. apparel industry going forward?

SWEARINGEN; The high-volume segment of the industry historically has gravitated to areas with lower labor costs. But we feel very strongly that there is still a place for flexible and quality-conscious operations that can deliver on time here domestically. We have to carve a niche for ourselves and work into that segment.

COPYRIGHT 1998 Miller Freeman, Inc.
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