New Ahmedabad plant’s special focus on product quality
Many European textile companies have posted good growth in recent times, with a considerable increase in sales as well as exports. Karl Mayer is one such company that registered exceptional growth in 2014 and foresees brighter prospects in 2015.
The German textile machinery brand, Karl Mayer is a world leader in manufacturing warp knitting machines for more than 75 years. Through innovation for customer specific needs, the brand provides high-quality machines for a wide range of warp-knitted textiles.
Karl Mayer India recently launched the all-new MJ 59/1B, a brand new warp knitting machine specifically designed to meet the Indian requirement. The new machine, with its unique working width of 210”, is an ideal choice for lace manufacturers of Surat and Amritsar.
The production facility in Ahmadabad was inaugurated in May last year, and the first machine rolled out in January 2015. This move offers Indian buyers all the advantages of a locally-produced machine, namely, shorter waiting period and huge cost savings. The first machine from the plant was a DS21/30 EC 2 Warper which was sold to Pasupathy Textiles of south India.
Karl Mayer India was started in 2009 as an aftersales and service entity to cater to its existing Indian customers. But as demand for KM machines picked up in 2010, the company realised the importance of this market and started groundwork for setting up a production facility.
During the launch, we interacted with Mr. Amo Gartner, CEO of Karl Mayer, who gave a deep insight into the company business in India. “6-7 years ago, the Indian market was not so important for Karl Mayer, and we were selling only 5-6 machines a year. Today, the Indian market is the second most important one for the company”, he said.
Karl Mayer’s journey in the Indian market dates back to the early 1960s. For nearly five decades the company was patient enough and was hoping to explore to the true Indian market potential. Success came in 2010, and since then there was no looking back for this German textile major.
A.T.E., the Indian textile giant, has been closely associated with Karl Mayer for more than 50 years, handling both sales and aftersales service for the German brand. KM’s Indian service team consists of more than 50 engineers strategically located at centres such as Surat, Amritsar and Silvasa catering to the vast customer requirements.
Karl Mayer has been doing good business on the Indian since 2010, having grown at a rate of 30 per cent in the last five years and registering a topline of 500 million Euros for last year.
Warp knitting business contributed to 70 per cent of the company’s total turnover. The company had a record sales in India last year exceeding more than 200 machines, and is confident of doubling the number this year. Weaving preparation is a smaller division but still considered a growing business for Karl Mayer in India.
Asked whether Karl Mayer’s acquisition of LIBA had a role to play for the success in the Indian market for 2014, Mr. Gartner said: “The acquisition of LIBA has nothing to do with our 2014 success story. LIBA had a small presence in warp knitting. The acquisition was intended mainly to gain exposure to the Technical Textile Division wherein LIBA was a strong player.”
The company is now striving to ramp up the current plant utilization level at the new Ahmedabad facility.
Referring to the progress of the plant, Mr. Kevin Socha, Director – Indian Operations, Karl Mayer, observed: “Reliability and quality of our products is of utmost importance to Karl Mayer. The Indian production site will follow the same quality parameters as in Europe. Hence we are focusing more on establishing a reliable vendor base here to maintain the Karl Mayer quality.”