MAHLO Celebrates 75th Anniversary
For 75 years Mahlo GmbH + Co. KG from Saal on the Danube has been setting worldwide standards in the measurement and control of web-shaped goods. In spite of the ‘old’ age, the machine manufacturer never tires of constantly developing in order to be one step ahead of the challenges of their customers
“My grandparents laid the foundation for Mahlo’s success. Our task now is to lead the company towards an equally successful future without forgetting our core values. Mahlo is a family business that takes responsibility for its employees and values fair and respectful treatment of customers and business partners.
– Ralph Greenwood-Mahlo, owner of Mahlo
Mahlo GmbH + Co. KG belongs to the worldwide leading manufacturers of measuring, control and automation systems for the textile and finishing industry as well as the coating, film and paper sector. Mahlo is located in Saal on the Danube in lower Bavaria but operates worldwide – five branch offices in Italy, Belgium, Spain, China and the US serve as support stations for the key markets. Numerous international agencies and service stations offer customer support throughout the whole world.
If Dr. Heinz Mahlo could see what has become of his small company, which he founded in 1945 after the end of World War II, he would certainly be very proud. As a visionary engineer with a flair for technical innovation, Dr. Mahlo focused early on the development of measuring and control systems for the textile industry. His work culminated in the patent for the first automatic weft straightener at the end of the 50s and established Mahlo’s position as the world market leader in the industry. Today the name Mahlo is not only synonymous with straightening machines, but also describes quality and reliability.
Mahlo’s weft straighteners and process control systems for textile finishing can be found in all the important markets. Countless products of many large and well-known brands have passed through a ‘Mahlo’ during their production. Says Ralph Greenwood-Mahlo, owner of Mahlo: “My grandparents laid the foundation for Mahlo’s success. Our task now is to lead the company towards an equally successful future without forgetting our core values. Mahlo is a family business that takes responsibility for its employees and values fair and respectful treatment of customers and business partners.”
Quality Control
In spite of an indescribable success story in the textile sector, the think tank from Lower Bavaria proved early on that it had the foresight not to rest on past laurels and its own showpiece product. In the mid-nineties, engineers at the company, who carried on the innovative spirit of the late founder, developed the Qualiscan QMS quality control system. The system enabled the nonwovens, plastics and paper industries to measure and control critical process parameters such as moisture, basis weight or layer thickness. It was a trend-setting decision. These markets are becoming increasingly important.
How strong has been proved in this ‘special’ year in which the nonwovens industry is growing but the textile industry is shaken by the crisis. This makes it all the more important for a company not to stand on just one mainstay. Elaborates Rainer Mestermann, CEO, Mahlo: “Our 75th anniversary marks an important milestone in the company’s history. We see it as a confirmation of the continuous development of the company and at the same time as an incentive to further increase the competitiveness of our customers with technologically leading products and tailor-made services.”
Industry 4.0
Changes are not only occurring in the markets, but also within industrial plants. The networking of production is progressing in giant steps. Mahlo has therefore developed a digitalization concept that opens the doors to Industry 4.0 for customers. The data generated by the systems can thus be called up at any time to optimise processes and control equipment online.
International Presence
Technical know-how combined with renowned products and high service quality has bonded Mahlo with customers all over the world. In order to serve the international markets as reliably as its home country, the company has set up branches in the USA, Italy, Belgium, Spain and China in addition to the headquarters in Saal. In addition, Mahlo works with service stations and sales partners in over 100 countries. Despite the worldwide business, Mahlo’s focus has always remained in Germany, or more precisely in Bavaria. All machines are developed and built at the headquarters with motivated, mostly self-trained employees. This guarantees the ‘Made in Germany’ quality and also creates independence from supply chains, which can be of great importance in times of bottlenecks.
Company Spirit
But what would have pleased company founder Dr. Mahlo even more than the economic success is the fact that the family spirit that he planted right at the heart of his company is growing stronger than ever. Mahlo is still family-owned today and the cooperation between owner, management and staff plays a major role. Mahlo is more than just a workplace. It is precisely this combination that creates the best conditions for writing the next successful chapters together.
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“Our 75th anniversary marks an important milestone in the company’s history. We see it as a confirmation of the continuous development of the company and at the same time as an incentive to further increase the competitiveness of our customers with technologically leading products and tailor-made services.
– Rainer Mestermann, CEO, Mahlo
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S Rajendran, Senior Vice President, Textile Engineering – Processing, Accessories and Customer Support, A.T.E Enterprises
During the year 2006 we started working on providing a one-stop solution for processing. We mapped the gaps in our product portfolio and we started working for filing up the gaps by bringing in the market leaders. We signed an agreement with Mahlo during the year 2008 and started working on strategies for improving the business in India. We realised that there was scope for improving the after-sales services and we decided to focus on it. We trained our engineers at Mahlo, Germany and implemented many process improvements for strengthening the after-sales services.
At the moment, we have nine well-trained engineers across India who can provide services for Mahlo products. We conduct customer satisfaction surveys which confirm that all of our customers are highly satisfied with our services. We have established the business of weft straighteners and process control equipment very well across the Indian market. We have overall increased the population of Mahlo products in India, many of our products are being used for processing woven apparel fabrics, home textiles, knit fabrics and nonwoven finishing.
Mahlo is known for innovation. They introduced the concept of weft straighteners and they keep upgrading their products regularly for retaining market leadership. The Indian market is looking for suitable equipment for improving productivity as well as conserving energy. Mahlo has a package of products by which we can offer a perfect solution to our Indian customers. The team of Mahlo is very supportive and they have complete knowledge about the Indian business which helps us to meet the requirements of our India-based customers. It has been proved that the partnership between Mahlo and A.T.E has created a positive impact on business.
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Customer Testimonials
Here is what some of the long-standing customers of Mahlo have to say about their products and after-sales service:
Amit Bhandari, Senior Vice President, Welspun India
Welspun has been using Mahlo products since the very beginning of our operations at Anjar around 2004. We have used various solutions including moisture-sensing equipment, PCS camera systems, weft correction systems for our terry towel, bed sheeting, carpets and nonwoven divisions, beta gauges for web thickness measurement and systems for energy conservation and steam saving on our drying ranges. They are a supplier of repute who can offer customised solutions for all kind of measurements and problems. The team led by Thomas Hoepfl has always been diligent in understanding the technical issues underlying every problem and have always come up with a proper scientific approach to solutions. The service levels are great and we do enjoy a very special relation with Mahlo since many years that has been fruitful to both the companies.
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Mohit Jain, Managing Director, Indo Count
We have been associated with Mahlo ever since we started our processing facility in 2006. All our stenters are equipped with weft straighteners and moisture controllers from Mahlo. We also have temperature and moisture controllers from Mahlo on our VDRs. Mahlo products have certainly contributed towards achieving the high quality standards that we at, Indo Count, have been able to maintain over a period of time. We are very happy with services from Mahlo’s Indian agent, A.T.E. Enterprises. They are responsive and quite customer-oriented.
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Rajarshi Ghosh, Vice President-Operations, Arvind Limited
We have been associated with Mahlo since the last 25 years and have had a very satisfying experience. We have been using weft straighteners and process control equipment like moisture controller on different machines and setups. Mahlo product offerings are wide, versatile and capable of handling a wider range of products like coarser to finer fabric, high GSM to low GSM fabrics, different weaves and structures. Mahlo has been providing very satisfying performance in products like yarn dyed checks, prints, solids, voiles, etc. It has been a great experience with Mahlo weft straighteners. Continuous innovation and refinement of technology keeps Mahlo ahead of competition.
We have started with hydraulic RVMC 9 and now are using electronic RVMC 15 with especially loaded software to handle finer fabrics with more accurate control of bow and bias. The combination of weft straighteners with front scanners at exit end of the stenter frame is a great help to control and deliver right quality products. The two-roll weft straightener at sanforiser helps to deliver the final product with more precision. The reliability and reputation of Mahlo is augmented by good technical support and service of A.T.E India starting from installation, commissioning to trouble-shooting. A big round of applause for Team A.T.E!