SPRINGS INDUSTRIES

"This is a challenging workplace with heavy use of advanced software development tools."
– John Dykstra, Director, Corporate Services, Telecommunications, Operations

• IBM ES 9000, DEC • COBOL, DB2, IEF •
• Textiles • Large shop •

Started as a cotton mill in 1887, Springs Industries, Inc., branched out immediately after World War II to produce finished fabrics, such as home furnishings, including sheets, bedspreads, towels, curtains, shutters, and tablecloths. Brand names include Springmaid, Wamsutta, Graber, Bali, Dundee Mills, and Nanik as well as licensed sheets and bedspreads for the Lion King, Power Rangers, and Liz at Home characters. Steps in the manufacturing process include spinning and weaving, which incorporates a computerized system to track work in progress and report looms out of service; dyeing, printing, and finishing, where temperatures and chemical solutions are monitored at computer terminals; screen printing, with computerized dye mixing; fabrication of the finished products, where computer-controlled machines cut, sew, insert batting, and fold, and finished goods are boxed and logged in a computerized inventory system.

Springs is publicly-held. The company employs 25,000 people, including 180 at corporate headquarters in Fort Mill, South Carolina. 1995 revenues were $2.2 billion. Springs was selected in the book 100 Best Companies in the United States.

Technology

Springs has an IBM ES9000, running MVS, with COBOL, CICS, VSAM, and DB2. Additional platforms include DEC VMS machines, IBM AS/400s, and 70 servers connecting 3,000 PCs in a Novell NetWare 4.1 network, with a pilot Lotus Notes project. The DEC VAX cluster uses the Cincom database management system and the Consilium workstream product for shop floor data collection. The AS/400s use AS/SET, part of the BPCS (ISSA) manufacturing package, as a CASE tool. On the IBM mainframes, development is in COBOL, under CICS, with DB2 and VSAM files, using the IEF CASE tool. Gentran's Electronic Data Interchange is used heavily.

Staff members recently implemented an order management system, using IEF as a code generator, incorporating the business application area (BAA) methodology, data and process modeling, Rapid Application Development (RAD), and using performance tools to identify SQL call bottlenecks and indices needed. The system was developed on the IBM ES9000.

Culture

Computer professionals work in cubicles in a nonsmoking environment. Standard office hours are 8 AM to 5 PM, with a 40-hour work week. There is an occasional need for travel, less than 10 percent of a staff member's time.

Springs observes 11 holidays. Employees earn two weeks of vacation to start if starting before July 1, three weeks after ten years, and four weeks after twenty-five years. The company pays for medical, disability, accident and life insurance and most of the costs of dental insurance. The company pays for tuition reimbursement and matches employee contributions to a 401(k) plan and it funds a profit-sharing plan. There have been layoffs. Unemployment compensation for affected employees was supplemented to 65% of the employee's former salary, depending on years of service.

Candidates

Springs does hire entry-level computer professionals and finds many through internal job postings. Springs' new computer professionals are generally found through college recruiting and advertisements.

Contact

Letters are preferred.

Ms. Anna McAteer, Human Resources Manager

Springs Industries, Inc.

205 N. White Street

Fort Mill, South Carolina 29715-1500

(803) 547-1500

stacy.barfield@springs.com

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