Industry Analysis The textile industry has been around for thousands of years. Technologically speaking, weaving looms, and textile production in itself was one of the first industrial accomplishments. Prior to the mechanized manufacturing, textiles were produced in the home. As early as 4000 BC, people in the Middle East, China and Africa were producing several varieties of textiles (FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHY BRINGS COLOR BACK TO ANCIENT TEXTILES, http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/textiles.htm). The process of producing textiles has changed dramatically in the last three hundred years. Textile Mills provided a streamline, more efficient way of producing large quantities of affordable textiles. The industrial revolution aided in the development of new factories. From that point on the majority of textiles were produced in mills as opposed to individual homes. Mills originally employed a great number of weavers that produced textiles by hand. The Industrial Revolution spawned a number of new inventions that would revolutionize the textile manufacturing industry. The introduction of steam powered machinery, and the inventions like the flying shuttle, triggered dramatic increases in production capacity and eventually lead to the replacement of hand-weaving. (Business and Economics. Leading Issues in Economic Development, Oxford University Press US.)These inventions made manufacturing more efficient and less expensive to produce. One of the current challenges facing the industry is the increasing outsourcing of labor. Unions have provided their workers with quality of life and higher pay; however their efforts have been costly to employers. “The Race to the Bottom” seems to perfectly classify the textile industry. Employers/Mill owners are aware that overseas labor ...