LONDON – With the advent of the computer age, the fabrics industry, like many others, is forever changed. Ultimately, companies are trying to satisfy the consumer who demands goods sooner and sooner. Some companies have automated their warehouses and networked them with factories. Factory managers can see what's going out the door while it's on its way instead of waiting for inventory reports. CAD printing has resulted in increased and accelerated fabric production. More high-quality products from new companies are flowing into markets worldwide. Relationships among industry components like mills, specifiers and converters are in a state of flux. Amidst the frenzy of change, the Internet is defining itself as an integral tool for doing business in the coming century. Websites by companies in the industry are becoming more frequent, and while many are unsure just how to obtain a synergy between sites and sales, these on-line forays should be significant to the industry and how it does business in the next year or so.

''The pace of change has increased, due especially to the new computer technology,'' said Sijen communications director Simon Atkinson. Sijen is an independent Internet consultancy firm retained by the Decorex exhibition. ''Customers won't wait four months for a table anymore.'' Subsequently, businesses are forced to evolve and for many, this will likely mean embracing Internet technology. ''It's not good enough anymore to know the faces of all your customers. Of course it's still important, but when [the one who knows the customers] goes away, there has to be a company employee left behind who can process orders and fulfill demands. And that person must respond quickly,'' said Atkinson. ''The reality is that people will do most of their selling without personal contact.''

For the moment, the trend for companies in the fabrics industry is to market rather than sell products on the Internet. No matter how greatly computers accelerate the speed of doing business, the fabrics industry remains a touchy-feely one. ''We explain [to companies] that they need to sell themselves on the Internet, maybe not the product itself,'' said Atkinson.

In an increasingly competitive global market, companies are being pushed to capture consumers' attention before a new range or product is for sale. ''Ten years ago,'' Atkinson said, ''you wouldn't discuss concept and development unless you'd had too much champagne at a party. Now, it's so competitive at the early stages that you try to generate interest in the design stage. There is already more on-line competitive shopping. Even business-to-business ordering will be done on-line.''

Despite the change, buyers will continue to do business with companies with whom they can communicate easily. But because new technology facilitates faster change, those whose voices are loudest today may be struggling to learn a new language tomorrow. ''The irony is that some of these high-rollers are poor communicators.''

While building a Website is an effective way for a company to make itself more visible in the market place, it requires the planning any marketing concept does. Companies who race to get on-line without planning for life afterward seem lost. At trade shows, companies unprepared to reap the fruits of their own on-line labors, hand out press releases with Website addresses missing. Other companies establish Websites and then fail to update them, rendering them wastelands of misused energy and stale information.

Atkinson tries to engender in his clients an understanding of the technology. ''I spend 30 percent of my time in expectation management,'' he said. For companies in the fabrics industry, it may be more like 60 percent. ''They want their sites to reflect the touchy-feeley aspect of a product, but you can't give an experience on the Internet, and you will waste time if you try to.

''To design a site and walk away can be a disservice. We ask them what they are trying to do as a business and who they're selling to. We profile them as much as possible,'' he said.

On the other side of the coin, some people in the industry are too quick to slam the door on the Web. ''The Internet seems passive and cold, but it's not the creative side of the business,'' Atkinson explained. ''It's a means of doing business.

''[Interior designers] may not let Internet technology impinge on their creative work, but more and more, they will find they need the Web to do business.''

Despite growing pains, companies are making the Internet work for them. Companies in this issue of F&FI, such as Crowson, Borås Cotton, Jane Mosse Designs and others are proof. While the Internet as business tool is in its infancy, one thing is certain: It provides the critical element of speed. F&FI