German knitting machine manufacturer exhibits at textile machinery fair in the world’s largest textiles market

From 21 to 25 October 2016, ITMA Asia + CITME will be held in Shanghai, China. As one of the largest textile machinery fairs in Asia the industry event attracted around 1,600 exhibitors and 100,000 trade visitors two years ago. The German knitting machine manufacturer Mayer & Cie. (MCT) is exhibiting this year too. Machines that will be on show in Shanghai in October are the OVJA 1.6 EE and the MSC 3.2 II. Mayer & Cie.’s spinitsystems spinning and knitting technology will be represented by an info stand.

“ITMA Asia + CITME is a very important platform for customers from the world’s largest textiles market China and neighbouring Asian countries,” says Wolfgang Müller, Head of Sales at Mayer & Cie. “One reason why is the fact that Shanghai is much easier to reach for, say, Indian,Pakistani or Iranian textile manufacturers than European ITMA venues. For us, in turn, China is our most important single market, so we are not going to miss out on taking part in the trade fair this year.”

Selected machines on show

The machines that Mayer & Cie. will be exhibiting at ITMA Asia + CITME stand for two different competence areas that the circular knitting machine manufacturer successfully serves in the Asian market. The MSC 3.2 II Single Jersey machine with its technology based on that of the S4 3.2 II, was specially developed for the Chinese market. It is assembled at Mayer & Cie. China in the Chinese Mayer works near Shanghai. The machine’s knitting head and key components come from Germany.

The knitting head, the heart of every machine, comes from Germany. The MSC 3.2 II is finally assembled at the Chinese Mayer works.

The MSC 3.2 II is designed for high productivity and reaches a speed of 35 rpm for a 30 inch diameter. It knits Single Jersey and Single Jersey structures with up to four needle tracks and Single Jersey structures plated, producing fine-gauge E36 fabrics. The MSC 3.2 II thereby keeps up with the trend to fine gauges in the Single Jersey segment.

With the MSC 3.2 II Mayer & Cie. has succeeded in addressing the mid-market segment in China and its immediate neighbours. At ITMA Asia + CITME Mayer & Cie. is exhibiting the machine for the first time on an industrial open-width frame. Rudolf Crass, Mayer & Cie.’s regional sales manager for China and the Far East, says: “We are noticing an increasing overall demand for industrial frames,especially among customers who set great store by productivity. Combined with an open-width frame both the quantity and range of possible further knitwear processing are increased significantly.”

The OVJA 1.6 EE with double electronics for both the cylinder and the dial cam is used all over the world to manufacture high-quality mattress cover fabrics.

The other machine that Mayer & Cie. is showcasing in Shanghai is the OVJA 1.6 EE, a Jacquard machine with double electronics that is much in demand for the manufacture of, for example, highquality mattress cover fabrics, in the creative fashion industry and for knitted footwear. Single needle selection for both the cylinder and the dial cam makes for even more flexible patterns. That in turn makes the production of small lots uncomplicated and thereby profitable. “The production of topquality mattress cover fabrics is a very important niche market for MCT,” Crass says. “In this market Mayer & Cie. can score points in all global markets with its OVJA product family Jacquard machines, and China is no exception.”

The spinitsystems spinning and knitting technology will be represented by an info stand at ITMA Asia + CITME. The Mayer & Cie. team headed by Michael A. Tuschak, in charge of spinitsystems marketing and sales, is accompanying the gradual rollout of the Spinit 3.0 E. In China the Spinit 3.0 E’s official market launch will be at ITMA Asia + CITME. The Spinit 3.0 E is the first machine type to be equipped with the spinitsystems spinning and knitting technology.

Mayer & Cie. China

Mayer & Cie. has maintained a subsidiary in China’s Shanghai province since 2003. It was founded as a service branch but at what is now the Mayer Group’s third production site machines are increasingly assembled for and sold in the domestic market. It began at the end of 2011 with the MSC 3.2, a Single Jersey machine with technology based on that of the S4 3.2. The Mayer Single China, or MSC for short, is now available in the 3.2 II version. Mayer & Cie. CN and its 30 or so employees have been assembling its Double Jersey counterpart, the MDC 2.2, for over a year.

“Around 300 machines – mainly Single machines – will be leaving our factory in China this year,” Rudolf Crass says. ?Our customers are, for the most part, Chinese contract knitters who are increasingly setting up in business in China’s neighbouring countries. That is because Chinese wage costs have risen sharply in recent years. Our largest orders are placed by Chinese customers who then set up their machines in, say, Vietnam or Bangladesh.”

Mayer & Cie. CN and its employees with Benjamin Mayer, Managing Director Mayer & Cie., in the middle of the back row. This is where the MSC 3.2 II and the MDC 2.2 are assembled.