North Carolina's Six Sigma success.

• Position: NC State University - Parkdale Mills worked with NC State University in order to bring a new yarn to market - Brief Article

Parkdale Mills management understood they must successfully bring a complicated new yarn to market, or close their aging textile plant in Belmont. They decided to try a Six Sigma approach with the help of NC State University. Last May, after months of work, the plant produced a highly technical yarn that puts the stretch in stretch denim, with better quality and at a better price than the competition. The plant got a new lease on life and 100 jobs were saved.

"This product and this project saved this plant," says Dan Nation, president of Parkdale Mills. Much of the credit goes to the Industrial Extension Service and the College of Textiles at NC State University, which provided specialized Six Sigma training for Parkdale Mills.

The Industrial Extension Service brings NC State's vast...