SIC 2397 Schiffli Machine Embroideries

SIC 2397

This category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing Schiffli machine embroideries.

NAICS CODE(S)

313222

Schiffli Machine Embroidery

Most companies whose primary business is Schiffli embroidery are relatively small and privately owned. Schiffli lace is produced by a machine with several hundred needles placed horizontally one above the other. With fabric held in a frame covering the full width of the machine, the needles move back and forth through the material. The yarn used to embroider the fabric is supplied from individual spools.

Schiffli lace is a type of embroidery that once was made by hand with needles that were pointed at both ends. The lasting popularity of handmade lace led to the invention of lace-making equipment such as Schiffli machines. Many types of lace are machine made, frequently with geometrically shaped netting used as backgrounds. Although previously made only from cotton, Schiffli lace, like other laces, can be manufactured from manmade fibers.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 122 companies operated in this industry in 2004, compared to 200 Schiffli machine embroidery companies in 2000. New Jersey and California had the largest number of companies in this industry. The value of shipments in this category was $120.4 million in 2005, down from $123.0 million in 2004.

Following an almost continuous decline since 1988, employment in all of the fabricated textile industries increased in the mid-1990s. However, in 2001 the U.S. Department of Labor predicted a general decline in employment for all textile machinery operators through the year 2006. Such a decline would be caused primarily by the introduction of new machines and more efficient operating practices (which would reduce the number of workers needed at textile factories), along with more relaxed international trade agreements (which could place U.S. companies and workers in greater competition with imported textiles). Total Schiffli machine embroidery industry employment fell from 1,873 in 2000 to 1,752 in 2004. Payroll costs over this time period declined from $49.5 million to $39.0 million. In 2002 the industry's 1,798 production workers earned $37 million.

In 1994 the United States, Mexico, and Canada implemented the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which removed tariffs and other trade restrictions from most goods made and sold in North America. As a result, U.S. textile...

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