North Carolina textiles: preparing for the future.

• Position: Special Advertising Section - Industry Overview

North Carolina has been home to more textile mills and workers than anywhere else in the nation. But these days, when industry leaders talk about the challenges confronting them, they speak of places beyond the state line and across national borders.

To survive and thrive, they say, North Carolina's fiber, textile and apparel manufacturers must be "world class."

"World class is a journey, not a destination," says Henry "Buster" Humphreys, president of the North Carolina Textile Manufacturers Association. "It's becoming equal to or better than any other textile company in the world."

That's why the association is sponsoring seminars on "Road Map to World Class" in which companies share what they're doing to be the best. "I can read how Michael Jordan plays basketball, but I can't play like him," says Humphreys, president of Washington-based National Spinning Co., the nation's largest spinner and dyer of acrylic yarns. "Maybe if I practice with him some, I can play better."

It's not a new concept. "All my career I have responded and collaborated with other companies," says Humphreys, whose company sells 100 million pounds of yarn a year. "That's because I believe we are more allies than competitors. I think we can make this the best textile industry in the world."

Humphreys has a four-part formula for success: "have state-of-the-art equipment, have computer-integrated equipment throughout the company, have a dedication to quality -- and that means more than with your product. It means how we treat each other, how we do everything in the company. The fourth thing is education."

Becoming world class means something different to each company. When Greensboro-based Burlington Industries made the commitment to world-class manufacturing five years ago, it set goals for employee involvement, product quality, technology, including computer-integrated machinery, and employee education.

Burlington is one of the most diversified textile companies in the world, with 39 plants in the Southeast and three in Mexico. In North Carolina, 29 plants employ 13,000. One of the employee-education programs the company started was at its Williamsburg plant in Caswell County, part of the Burlington House Decorative Fabrics Division, which makes upholstery and drapery fabrics and mattress ticking.

"Over 80% of our employees had to use computers in their jobs," Plant Manager Robert Sills says. "Technology was changing at such a rapid rate that we recognized the need to...