Shelby Elastics: Defying the Odds—Thriving in a Lousy Economy

Shelby Elastics is defying the national recession—the company is busy, busy making some 1,000 plus different styles of elastics used in medical products; so busy they recently added a shift. How are they doing it?

Many things are coming together for the 58-employee plant that manufactures products that are a part of abdominal binders and fetal monitor belts. One significant factor is the recent achievement of ISO 9001 registration, an international quality management standard that helps in exchanges of goods and services.

“Achieving ISO certification was a dream that makes us stand out in the industry. It gives us a better chance for success; none of our primary competitors are certified,” explained Art Rogers, co-owner of Shelby Elastics.

Employees of Shelby Elastics celebrated this international standard achievement by sharing their process and placing a banner on their building. Several other people helped them celebrate, including representatives from the Shelby Star newspaper, North Carolina Senator Debbie Clary, Gary Harris, NC State Industrial Extension Service (IES) regional account manager, and David Boulay, deputy director for IES.

Partners in the Process

The company worked closely with NC State University to prepare them for the actual ISO audit; they selected NC State due to previous experience with them and their desire to conduct the process in their plant. The company received an Incumbent Workforce Grant to help defray expenses. “Due to our size and the longevity of our employees, we wanted to tap into all our resources, so it made sense to do the training here,” said Craig Wood, president.

NC State extension specialist Sonja Hughes led the process, helping the five member company team in many ways. She spent a very full day at the plant once a month, leaving the team with lots of homework. “Sonja helped us break down the formalized language into understandable concepts we could use. She was never condescending, very knowledgeable and patient, as long as we did our homework,” said Wood. “Her manufacturing background gave us excellent real life examples.”

Stacy Beaver, human resources manager for Shelby Elastics, championed the process, keeping everyone on track. She and her four team members met once or twice a week. Beaver assured that all the information they discussed filtered out to employees and the owners.

“The hardest part was getting the knowledge from everyone’s head and getting it on paper,” she explained. “Once we did that, then we had to transfer all that into procedures.”

Excited Employees Make the Difference

Beaver saw that employees got excited when they realized how all the procedures fit into their day-to-day activities. “Now they all understand and they appreciate it. New people like our formalized process, it helps them get up to speed more quickly with first rate quality,” she said.

Achieving certification is more than a banner on a wall and improved processes—in Shelby Elastic’s case it means more business. In fact, last year two of their largest national customers served notice to conduct internal audits to continue working with the company. Receiving ISO 9001 registration eliminated that need, smoothing the way for continued business. The company serves customers in China, Spain, U.K., and Mexico, along with substantial U.S. business. This registration makes it simpler to work with both national and international customers.

“Now we have a user-friendly system that is process oriented; one that helps us improve and refine our quality focus now and in the future. We’re closer to our customers and the results show. Without the help of NC State University, especially Sonja, we wouldn’t be here,” said Wood.

What’s ISO 9001?

ISO 9001 (International Organization of Standardization) provides quality management standardization of activities that help international exchange of goods and services. Receiving certification means that processes are fully documented and consistent, and that there is a self-auditing component to assure long-term sustainable results.