The Textile Magazine
OctoBER 2011
|
97
of technical textiles. The sales fg-
ures also increased as the company
added to its product repertoire.
By 1954, the 1,000
th
warp knit-
ting machine had been produced
in Obertshausen, and by the end of
1990, roughly 75,000 warp knitting
machines had been delivered. This
represented a market share of just
under 70 per cent.
Another factor that contributed
to the success of the company was
its early move towards globalisa-
tion, which began with the setting
up of foreign subsidiaries and the
establishment of a global network of
agents. The frst international sub-
sidiary was set up in Clifton, New
Jersey, in 1955. By operating close
to its markets, Karl Mayer contin-
ues to maintain a leading position
among its global competitors. “We
must export if we want to guarantee
jobs. We can only export if we are
competitive on the world market,”
explained the company’s founder.
Nowadays, exports account for
roughly 90 per cent of the business –
a strategy that gave birth to the com-
pany’s production location strategy.
For example, the company took into
account the shift of the market to-
wards Asia when it extended its fac-
tory in China recently, and it invests
extensively in the Obertshausen
plant to highlight the importance of
its headquarters as a high-tech pro-
duction location and centre for in-
novation.
Karl Mayer has invested mainly in
acquiring the latest production tech-
nology, in structural reorganisation,
in the building of a highly effcient
Logistics Centre, and in the estab-
lishment of a state-of-the-art Devel-
opment Centre.
In particular concentrating all the
creative design and development en-
gineers in one place guarantees that
the company will continue to main-
tain its huge capacity for innovation.
The company has been setting the
technical standard for many years
in this sector by constantly coming
up with new developments and im-
provements.
Karl Mayer currently operates
with the business units of warp knit-
ting machines, warp preparation,
technical textiles and components
production, and employs approxi-
mately 2,000 people worldwide.
This family-run company has a turn-
over of roughly 390 million Euros
and a market share of approximately
70 per cent, and is continuing to
write history.
Recent examples that illustrate the
company’s leading position are the
revamping of its lace raschel ma-
chines by developing a new pattern-
ing system in 2003, and the intro-
duction of lightweight construction
principles on its high-speed tricot
machines in 2007. The 100,000
th
warp knitting machine rolled off the
production line last year.
The celebrations to mark the com-
pany’s 75
th
anniversary will also go
down as a milestone in the success-
ful history of this traditional com-
pany, with its unique ability to be
adaptable.
w
ITMA 2011
[exclusive feature]