Stewarts: How a 150-Year-Old Company Reinvents Precision

“Our approach is to maintain a balanced strategy: Continuing to evolve toward greater connectivity in advanced systems while preserving the simplicity and durability our auxiliary equipment customers rely on,” says Jackson.

Joining the packaging community 

A typical perforating nip with a pinned roller against a brush anvil roller, with the material sandwiched between the two.StewartsStewarts’ decision to join PMMI reflected a deliberate move to deepen its engagement with the broader packaging and processing industry. As the company expanded beyond traditional textile markets into packaging and converting, it needed a platform to better understand evolving market needs, regulatory trends, and emerging technologies, and to connect with the OEMs and end users shaping those trends.

The alignment extends to workforce development. Stewarts serves on the advisory boards of Greenville Technical College and the Golden Strip Career Center vocational school both located in Greenville, South Carolina, helping to shape programs that prepare the next generation of manufacturing talent. The company operates an apprenticeship program designed to bring promising candidates from those institutions directly into hands-on technical careers, pairing them with a seasoned team that includes retired engineers and machinists from major regional manufacturers.

That investment in people shows up in tangible ways. Stewarts is among the approximately 3% of South Carolina companies that provide 100% employer-paid health insurance, and it fully funds life insurance for every team member, benefits that Jackson views not as overhead, but as competitive tools for attracting and retaining the skilled talent a precision engineering operation requires.

When the spec changes mid-project

The real test of an equipment builder isn't just what they deliver; it's how they respond when things get complicated. For John Michaud, President of American Custom Converting (ACC), a recent project with Stewarts put that responsiveness to the test more than once.

ACC had identified an opportunity to perforate web materials for a sustainable flexible paper packaging product, the aforementioned paper mailer that millions of consumers now receive on their doorsteps, replacing traditional plastic. The application required precise micro-perforation: sufficient breathability to allow high-speed sealing without trapping air, yet tightly controlled enough to protect the contents.

The project began as an add-on: a perforation system to be integrated betweenA close-up of nipped material between a pinned micro-perforating roller and a brush roller.Stewarts the unwind and rewind of an existing asset. Partway through planning, ACC decided to invest in a brand-new rewinder, a more significant capital commitment, but one that would give the line the performance it needed. Stewarts of America applied ACC's existing deposit toward the revised scope and adapted the machine design to integrate with the new OEM-built rewinder, coordinating closely with the rewinder manufacturer during installation.

Then ACC's customer changed the specification.

Rather than treating the revision as a setback, Stewarts of America absorbed it. The machine was shipped back to Stewart’s facility in Simpsonville, where the team worked through the changes with an urgency that Michaud hadn't expected. "They worked overtime—guys came in off vacation, worked overnight—and within two or three days they shipped the machine back to us," he recalls. "They didn't even change the schedule."

The machine now runs extensible kraft paper at the speeds required by the major national retailer. Demand for the sustainable packaging product is so strong that supply of the specialty paper can't keep up; when material arrives, ACC runs it.

“They go above and beyond and are very easy to work with,” adds Michaud, calling Stewarts of America “a great company.”

Looking ahead

For Stewarts of America, the ACC project is emblematic of the model the company has carried forward through 150 years in business: solve a hard problem under pressure, build a relationship that extends beyond a single order, and apply foundational engineering expertise to whatever the market brings next. The company's growth strategy is measured and demand-driven, with ongoing investments in machining capability and digital infrastructure designed to expand output without compromising the precision that has defined the Stewarts name since 1874.

The technology has evolved considerably since the first precision pins were straightened and ground for the textile industry. The commitment to getting the application right, has not.