Product certification seems to take on greater importance every day and it is for that reason that Sturges recently completed a dynamic test facility.  In order to apply statistical process control to monitor the quality parameters of some of our engineered products, Sturges concurrently developed both testing procedures and sampling plans using critical criteria defined by the customer.   In addition to ambient conditions, Sturges can also test at both elevated and ultra-cold temperatures in addition to conditioning materials at specified humidity levels.“Although we still do a solid amount of static testing, this new facility allows us to really simulate the particular applications of a special group of customers.  We can monitor production using that discrete data” reports Bob Payne, Vice President and General Manager.

Sturges Upgrades Flame and Heat Resistance Testing

Why would a weaving company who has been around as long as Sturges go out and buy a standard washer and dryer?  Because it’s all part of the process to insure that Sturges Nomex® and Kevlar® webbings will indeed pass the rigid NFPA requirements that call for testing both before and after laundering.  While weaving those materials almost guarantees passing the tests, we choose to go the extra mile and test so we can rely on hard data tied to specific lots.  Our Nomex® and Kevlar® webbings all go out with a Certificate of Compliance and we have the test reports to back that up.  “We certainly understand the importance of these materials to those people out in the real world dealing with fires and life threatening situations and we are committed to only supplying material in which we have absolute confidence”, according to Tyler Griffith, Market Development Specialist.

Sturges Continues to Add Engineered Products Replacing Commodity Items of the Past

Sturges Weaves an 85,000 pound Tensile Strength Webbing

In 2004, Sturges developed its first webbing exceeding 50,000 lbs tensile strength.  While the initial design produced a 65,000 lb tensile strength, our customer really wanted to get close to 80,000 lbs tensile. While that was certainly a challenge, the weave department rose to the occasion and after 15 iterations on our development loom, hit just over 85,000 lb tensile.  During the process, we kept a sharp eye on the efficiency of the yarn, that is how close we came to reaching the theoretical maximum combined strength of all the yarns making up the webbing.  We were especially gratified to hear the praises of the yarn manufacturer who advised our customer that the 65% we did achieve was truly an outstanding result.

Customer Satisfaction Reaches All Time High

The results are in on the annual Sturges Customer Survey and the Customer Satisfaction Index has reached an all time high.

Fifty-one customers replied to the survey mailed to a total of one hundred and forty one, a 36 percent response rate. Almost half (49%) of the respondents ranked Sturges as "Excellent" for all categories!  The breakdown follows:

Category        Score out of a possible 4.0    
Delivery        3.66   
Quality 3.92   
Price   3.58   
Ability to Solve Customer Problems      3.77   
Ease of Doing Business  3.74   
Customer Satisfaction Index     3.73   

The survey is sent to the top one hundred customers including multiple contacts at the same customer in order to gain opinion from various perspectives. Further, it is sent to any customer who may have had a complaint in the past year to determine how well Sturges resolved that complaint. 

In addition to the objective answers, customers are asked, "What one thing could we do better to serve you?" Each of these is addressed individually to improve the process to that particular customer.

While we are tremendously pleased with the results this year, we further understand that the bar has been raised and we must continue to strive even harder to raise the Index again next year."