Raschel lace machine manufacturer Karl Mayer is to participate in a specialist conference on machine produced lace in Plauen in the Vogtland region of Germany on 27 October 2011.

"For more than 150 years the Vogtland area has been an important centre for machine-produced embroidery. In addition woven and knitted goods have put their stamp on the frontier area of the three German Bundesländer Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia. Machine lace in particular plays an important role in the industrial landscape of the region which has been shaped by textiles," Karl Mayer said.

"The importance of machine-produced lace for the development of the Vogtland area is today acknowledged in terms of the German Innovation Centre for Embroidery and the Association for the Textile History of Vogtland in Plauen," the company said.

 These two institutions are drawing attention to the subject with exhibitions, workshops and, shortly, with a special conference on industrial lace production.

The event will be entitled 'Machine lace on the cusp of tradition and innovation.' It will be held in Plauen on 27 October and European centres for embroidered, woven, machine bobbinet and raschel lace are invited to the dialogue.

A wide-ranging programme which will both go into the history and traditions of the sector and introduce new production technologies awaits visitors. In addition there will be a discussion of the strategies which the companies in the lace-producing regions will use to survive modern competition.

One answer to this will be given by Stephan Jung from Karl Mayer. The course tutor from the company's in-house academy will introduce details of its cooperation with the lace manufacturer Spiga, and hence cooperation with technical progress, under the heading 'Acting successfully in Europe with partnerships.'  In addition Mr Jung will give an overview of the milestones in the development of raschel machines and on the production techniques available today for the efficient production of warp-knitted lace.