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Today, I got my first look inside Cone Denim's massive White Oak plant here in Greensboro. I was working on a broader story about our local economy. But while there I was struck by some impressions of the world of textiles.

Cone Denim, like the rest of the industry, has been through a lot -- layoffs, near failure, and buyout. It's now owned by Wilber Ross' International Textile Group.

Cone Denim is determined to reverse any perception that it's in a dying industry. Every person I meet at the company is committed and focused on doing whatever can be done to survive and thrive.

The energy I found there could apply to just about any "new economy" company. You have to remind yourself that they're talking about textiles. This is no sleepy company.

First impressions are deceiving, however. The factory is in an old section of the city with small mill-town houses all around. It's a nice, well-kept neighborhood with children playing. But I suspect it would have been more bustling 40 years ago when the business was stronger and the plant had more workers.

Head into the factory's administrative offices and it's pretty much the same story -- an older building with conventional office furnishings.

But step inside the main manufacturing building and you'll see how the past meshes with the future. I expected to see old, clunky, dusty machines banging out denim the old fashioned way.

And at one end of the factory floor, I saw that kind of machine. But now it's making "vintage denim", which is considered a high-line product. An old-fashioned technique goes upscale.

These machines could be fixed "with a hammer and a screw driver", they say in the business.

The rest of the floor is filled with 200 machines spread out over several football fields of space. Earplugs are a must, as the sound is like nothing short of a B2 bomber.

On the old machines, you could see every cast-iron gear. The new machines, made by Nissan, look like giant computer boxes with thousands of blue threads working their way through the weaving process.

What I don't know about weaving could fill this blog. So I'll just say that these things are all sleek, computer-driven efficiency.

A "fixer" of one of these machines needs to know as much about software as hand tools.

And while it looks like all the machines are doing the same thing, they're making a vast array of different products. Color, width, weave -- all these factors can be mixed to provide dozens of variations for Cone's customers like Gap, Old Navy, Levi's, and JC Penney, to name a few. In the old days, that floor would have produced maybe two different types of denim. For days at a time.

Not any more. I met a 37-year veteran of Cone on the floor who has to keep moving and stay flexible to produce the variety the company demands.

So next time you drive by a Cone plant, remember that the inside is changing, rapidly, and radically. And cross your fingers for this "old economy" industry searching for its place in the 21st century.