Over 517 exhibitors from 25 countries attended ATME-I 2001, held in Greenville, South Carolina in April 2001. Countries with the largest number of representatives included Canada, Mexico, Solombia, Brazil, and Ecuador. Rather than radical innovations in machinery design, the exhibition demonstrated a conflict in the perceptions concerning the development of North American textile manufacturing. Most machinery manufacturers believe that North American textile manufacture will emphasize greater specialization and high value added apparel and industrial fabrics, but a smaller number of manufacturers contend that survival and growth in North America will require high speed production of commodity products. Loom and preparation equipment manufacturers participating in ATME-I included Promatech, Sulzer Textil, Toyoda, Picanol, Staubli, Michel van de Wiele, Dornier, and Tsudakoma.