Mayer & Cie is a name synonymous with circular knitting machines all over the world. The company is undoubtedly the market leader the world over for circular knitting machines. Mayer & Cie has been in India for well over three decades, and since 1984 the company has been working with Batliboi Ltd. The two enjoy a three-decade-old strong relationship. With over 2,000 Mayer and Cie machines operating across the country, India becomes one of the most important global markets for the company.
“Globally Mayer and Cie sold nearly 1,050 machines during 2012, which is a 15 per cent growth over the previous year. 2012 has been a good year for Mayer & Cie with continuously high level of projects. We have order book for the next 4 months. In 2012, Turkey topped the chart with India, Indonesia and China the other major markets”, says Mr. Marcus Mayer, Managing Partner, Mayer & Cie GmbH.
At India ITME, Mayer & Cie focussed on machines both for the garment sector and for the growing elastic mattress tickings fabrics sector.
Breaking the speed limits
Since 1980s, Mayer’s relative knitting technology with patented stitch pre-forming has been appreciated by the global circular knitting industry. Now the latest version of the ultra high-speed series, the Relanit 4.0 UHS, achieves an incredible speed of 70 rpm on a 30 inch diameter machine whilst producing plain single jersey fabric. With a speed factor of 2100, the machine produces an impressive 1,500 kg of fabric per day.
The Relanit 4.0 UHS’ belt drive is controlled by special servo motors which can be operated from the display of the machine. This guarantees exact yarn supply and avoids fluctuations in the yarn quantity supplied, which in general can appear because of lint and oil accumulation when working with belt drives with quality wheels.
In order to further increase the efficiency of the machine, the Relanit 4.0 has a computer-controlled knit-on aid which increases the yarn tension for the knit-on process automatically for a short time and ‘makes knitting-on a piece of cake’, according to Mr. Mayer.
Striper options and customer advantage
Mayer and Cie has close to 80 per cent market share in the striper segment in India. The company recently concluded an order for 24 machines with Winsome, out of which 15 machines are for striper, says Mr. Abhay Sidham of Batliboi.
“Production quantities so far unreached in the production of single jersey striper fabrics do become a reality now. The new S4-3.2 R II combines productivity and flexibility in a way so far not imaginable. It is the first striper machine in the world being in a position to produce single striper fabrics with 3 or in combination of individual feeders also with more colours, at 3.2 knitting feeders per inch,” Mr. Mayer says of its S4-3.2 II, which was on display at India ITME.
“While the majority of striper fabrics are generally produced with 1.6 knitting feeders per inch (which corresponds to 48 knitting feeders at 30 inch diameter), the absolute limit for 3 colours was at maximum 2.4 knitting feeders per inch for 3 colours so far. The patented Mayer & Cie solution offers the possibility to produce single jersey fabrics with 3.2 knitting feeders per inch for the first time (which corresponds to 96 knitting feeders at 30 inch), and this with up to 4 needle tracks”, according to company sources.
Productivity is said to be up by 70 per cent compared to the current production of 6 colour striping fabrics, and there is also the possibility to use this machine as fully-fledged high-performance single jersey machine with a linear speed of 1.56 m/s (corresponding to 39 revolutions per minute at 30 inch).
Mr. Mayer further says that with this development the high costs traditionally involved in the production of striper goods will in future be reduced noticeably for the customers.
Mattress tickings
Mattress ticking is a growing market in India. Mayer and Cie has a 60 per cent market share globally in the mattress ticking segment. The first machine in India for mattress ticking was sold by Mayer and Cie. Most of the new installations for mattress ticking in India are also supplied by it.
More than 10 years ago the success story of knitted mattress ticking fabrics began – initially in Europe and a little later in the US. The secret of success of these fabrics over wovens or stitch-bonded fabrics is their ability to grip the mattress and stay in place due to the natural elasticity of circular knitted fabrics.
According to Mr. Mayer, the elasticity supports the ideal adaptation of the mattress to the shape of the body and also allows the ticking fabrics to be removed from the mattress at regular intervals for laundering – advantages which woven upholstery fabrics cannot offer.
In recent months, such fabrics are beginning to enjoy increasing popularity in the Indian sub-continent, and accordingly with the OVJA 1.6 EM, Mayer & Cie presents its ‘best-seller’ in the mattress ticking fabrics industry. With a top speed of 24 rpm at 38 inch diameter, this is said to be the fastest mattress machine in the world.
Mr. Mayer further observes: “At the same time, the proven number of knitting feeders (1.6 feeders per inch) allows a maximum degree of flexibility for all fabric qualities presently in demand. Both features together make this machine the worldwide top-selling mattress machine of the past years.”
At ITMA Barcelona, Mayer and Cie displayed the revolutionary SPINIT systems which can spin and knit in one go. These machines have been undergoing trials for the last couple of years and will get into field tests now. “We will launch the machines once the testing is done. We are talking to customers in India for these machines. We have given some samples and customers are quite keen. We are doing a comprehensive evaluation and test. India being a big spinning market we want to offer the best product for this market”, he adds.
The success or failure of any machine largely depends on the after-sales and service support. Batliboi has been providing very efficient support through its service and spares centers in Delhi, Mumbai, Ludhiana, Kolkata, Tirupur and Coimbatore. Batliboi has nearly three decades of experience in servicing Mayer & Cie machines, which has been an important reason for success of the machines in India.
In fact, Mayer and Cie has created a platform called the competence team which comprises people from R&D, marketing, service and support divisions, including chief technicians and technical people from key markets. This team meets once every year to get ground level information and customer feedback and expectations, which are then utilised for further product development.
Mayer & Cie looks to India as an important market for future growth.