Researchers evaluated the use of an intelligent diagnosis system, which is capable of tracing possible causes of loom breakdowns during the fabric inspection process. The intelligent diagnosis system used an expert system and the fuzzy set theory to trace the cause of a breakdown on a water jet loom during weaving. The system identified 18 types of fabric defects and 44 possible causes of the defects. The application of fuzzy logic provided a data set containing two minimal solutions. The loom operator performed troubleshooting based on the provided information and identified the correct cause of the defect. Results indicated that the intelligent diagnosis system recognized and evaluated uncertain linguistic descriptions. Identified advantages to using the system include reduced operator training time, quick response time, flexibility, and use of the system with an inexperienced operator to save on labor costs. 17 refs.