Shortly after celebrating its 49th anniversary on 4 February 2011, Japanese flat knitting machine manufacturer Shima Seiki held a send-off rally for its 100,000th computerized knitting machine to be shipped overseas.

The commemorative machine was a 7 gauge NSSG122-SV machine, scheduled for installation at a knitting factory owned by one of Shima’s Hong Kong based customers. The machine is to become one of over 3000 Shima Seiki computerized knitting machines installed by the company.

One of Shima Seiki’s mainstream computerized knitting machines and currently its best-selling model, the NSSG122-SV is a compact machine with a 48-inch knitting width and an ultra-compact double-system carriage and high productivity is realized with the R2CARRIAGE (Rapid Response Carriage) system. WideGauge knitting capability allows a single machine to knit a wide range of gauges for increased flexibility and the NSSG122-SV also features Shima’s renowned DSCS Digital Stitch Control System as standard equipment for assuring production quality and consistency.

Shima Seiki began exporting its SEC series machines in 1984, and quickly found a growing market for its unique combination of creative innovation, user-friendliness and solid reliability worldwide. The subsequent introduction of the SES series in 1989, followed by the SWG series WholeGarment machines in 1995 and the 2006 release of the SSG series has helped Shima to maintain a significant presence overseas as leading computerized flat knitting machine technologist for almost 30 years.