Text B The Nature of the Industry

Textile mills make yarn and fabric for clothing and many other items that keep us warm, safe, and in style. Although most people associate textiles with cloth for apparel, the industry also manufactures such products as carpeting, towels, cord and twine, automotive upholstery, reinforcing materials, bulletproof vests, and decorative braids.

Although a large share of textile products is used in the production of apparel, nontraditional uses, such as in highway construction and the manufacture of fire resistant housing panels, are growing rapidly. Textile mills are classified by type of product or process. The major processes of textile production include yarn spinning, weaving, knitting, and tufting.

Weaving finishing, yarn, and thread mills employ more than half of all workers in the industry. Workers in weaving mills use looms to transform yarns into cloth, a process that has been known for centuries.

Yarns form the basis for most textile production and are made of such natural fibres as cotton, wool, cahemere, camel hair, linen, silk or such synthetic fibers as polyester, polyamid, acrylic, dacron, etc. Yarns also can be made of thin strips of plastic, paper, or metal.

Knitting interlocks a series of loops of one or more yarns to form familiar goods, such as sweaters. However, unlike the knitting done with hand-held needles. Knitting in the textile industry is performed on automated machines. Many consumer items, such as socks, panty hose, and underwear, are produced from knitted fabric. Knitting mills account for one-fourth of employment in the industry.

Regardless of the process used, mills in the textile industry are rapidly modernizing, as new investments in automation and information technology have been made necessary by growing domestic and international competition. Finns also have responded to competition by developing new products and services. For example, some manufacturers are producing textiles developed from fibers made from recycled materials. These innovations have had a wide effect across the industry. Advanced machinery is boosting productivity levels in textiles, costing some workers their jobs, while fundamentally changing the nature of work for others. New technology also has led to broad and increasingly technical training for workers throughout the industry. The emphasis in the industry is shifting from mass production to flexible manufacturing. Firms are concentrating on systems that allow small quantities to be produced with minimum lead-time. This flexibility brings consumer goods to retailers significantly faster than before. Information technology allows the retail industry to rapidly assess its needs and communicate them back through the apparel manufacturer to textile firms.