A presentation at the 24th annual technical conference of the American Association for Textile Technology addressed future wet processing technology and its related control systems, and included overviews of preparation (including chemicals, equipment, and process control systems), dyeing (including colorant evaluation and selection, colorant formulations, color and chemical weighing, in process shade control, and dye equipment or control instrumentation), batch dyeing (including continuous dyeing, jet dyeing, and pad-batch dyeing), printing (including computer color matching, color dispensing, and screen printing), finishing (including lower wet pickups, reduced drying costs, and resin), catalyst systems for durable press finishing with lower levels of formaldehyde, newer vacuum extraction equipment, shade sorting, color communications, and computerized design reproduction. In the coming decade, wet processing technology will be characterized by more automation, computer monitoring, and closed loop control, as well as improved technology to produce high quality fabrics and end products more consistently.