“Turkey is One of the Single Most Important Markets For Mayer & Cie”
Mayer & Cie. (MCT), a world-leading manufacturer of circular knitting machines, is one of Germany’s most innovative enterprises. In Turkey Mayer & Cie. machines have been held in high regard for decades, and that is reflected especially in the sales figures.
Founded in 1905, the family firm is now managed in the fourth generation by Benjamin Mayer, Marcus Mayer and Sebastian Mayer. It has a payroll of about 500 employees and, in addition to its headquarters in Albstadt, Germany, and its subsidiaries China and the Czech Republic, is represented by sales partners in around 80 countries.
In Turkey Mayer & Cie. machines have been held in high regard for decades, and that is reflected especially in the sales figures. This great success is due in no small measure to its good and longstanding cooperation with local representatives Mayer Mümessillik.
We interviewed with Stefan Bühler, Area Sales Manager for Turkey, Africa, Russia and East Europe of Mayer & Cie. for Tekstil Teknoloji magazine. We talked to Bühler about the new trends in the knitting machinery sector and 2020 plans of Mayer & Cie.
What trends are your company currently witnessing in the knitting machinery industry?
In the circular knitting world, sportswear is an important topic. Our fabric is well suited for manufacturing sportswear, due to its wide range of functionalities and its elasticity. That makes it comfortable to wear and, of course, ensures extra freedom of movement. Viewed from the angle of production technology, circular knitted goods deliver a cost benefit.
In the sportswear segment, we see three promising areas. The first is athleisure wear such as hoodies and leisure shirts. If we think in suitable machines, there is our MBF 3.2. Secondly, there are mesh and body mapping structures for light shirts and underwear. Shoe uppers are a third area in which circular knitted fabrics offer a wide range of structures.
Apart from these trends in applications, we have to bear in mind the situation in the textile machinary market which is likely to remain challenging.
What developments have your company achieved in the knitting machinery market over the past 12 months?
Having mentioned sportswear, let’s look at our new machine types for this field. The MJ 3.2 E is a 3-in-1 machine. It is a specialist for both mesh and bodymapping which it produces using 2-way technology and 3.2 feeders per inch. With the same set-up, it achieves peak productivity for full jacquard. Customers looking for maximum flexibility and pattern variety run the MJ 3.2 E with 3-way technology and 1.6 feeders.
A perfect choice for shoe uppers – and much more – is our new permium machine OVJA 1.1 EETT. This machine pairs double electronics with bi-directional transfer and can thus knit virtually any conceivable pattern, including multi-coloured spacer fabrics with a 3D effects as well as wide range of hole structures.
New to our portfolio is the OVJA 2.4 EM, too. It is the most productive mattress ticking machine in the market reaching a speed factor of 950.
What role does your company play in the Turkish textile machinery market?
Turkey is our biggest market in the Middle East and has been so for many years. In fact, it is one of the single most important markets for Mayer & Cie. With our Turkish representation Mayer Mümesillik, we have a long-standing and very fruitful relationship. They are the direct contact for many loyal clients. This, in turn, leads to Mayer & Cie. machines be prevalent in many Turkish knitting mills.
When talking about popular machine types, our Relanit models are definitely worth mentioning. Customers appreciate their productivity and extraordinary reliability in single jersey production, particulary when working with elastomeric yarns. On the double jersey side of things, our D4 2.2 II, D4 3.2 II and the OV 3.2 Qce speak for themselves.
What are your plans for the next couple of years?
For one thing, we will push knitlink. With this digital platform, you will soon be able to gather and evaluate production data of your Mayer & Cie. circular knitting machines. knitlink will include digital services such as options for remote services and easier collaboration over great distances. A webshop will also be part of knitlink.
In terms of machines and technologies, we will further develop our Weftnit. We presented its machine study at ITMA. İn contrast to all other Mayer & Cie. machines working with latch needles, Weftnit knits with bearded needles. They can be expected to have a longer service life, are easier to handle and make knitting fine gauges simpler. Along with our development partner Groz-Beckert we are working on reaching suitable speeds. In single jersey production, the benchmarks, many of them set by ourselves, are high.
Which innovations will you exhibit at ITM 2020?
ITM is a very important fair for us, second only to ITMA. In the past, we exhibited two to three machines at this venue. We continue our works on which machines we will show in Istanbul in June.
Interview: Dilek HAYIRLI