Leading builder of warp knitting machines Karl Mayer has reported a full order book for the coming months as it celebrates the shipment of the company’s 100,000th machine, an HKS4 EL high speed tricot machine.

At a gathering of staff, management and members of the Mayer family on 18 February to celebrate the company’s 100,000th machine shipment, Managing Director, Fritz P. Mayer, stressed that: “It was not simply a question of celebrating the successful development of its machines, but also the continuity and staying power enjoyed by the company for more than 60 years.”

Full order book

He was particularly pleased at the timing of the production of the 100,000th machine and said:

“Although the decision to celebrate this event was taken last year, when the order situation was dire and the mood was extremely pessimistic, the order books are now full. Customers have been investing so heavily over the last few weeks that the company can now look forward to the next few months, and hopefully the whole trading year, with quiet confidence.”

The company says that the celebration shows that strong management and a high level of innovation both pay off, especially in economically difficult times. At the event, the 100,000th machine left the production line appropriately decorated and accompanied by loud applause. It then made its way to the dispatch department where it was welcomed by the staff, the management board, members of the Mayer family, officials from the town of Obertshausen, and representatives of the advisory council, who all came together to celebrate the milestone in the company’s history.

The success story of the medium-sized, family run company starts in 1948, when the company’s first warp knitting machine was built. The relatively simple production machine ran at speeds of up to 400rpm and the original machine is now on show in the Karl Mayer Academy at the company’s Obertshausen headquarters. Today, Karl Mayer’s high-tech tricot machines are much more sophisticated and although the principles remain the same, today’s machines run at speeds of up to 4000rpm, a reflection of the enormous progress that has been made in the last few decades.

Staff thanked for commitment

The company said it will now focus on carrying out the tasks that lay ahead and on schedule, whilst adhering to Karl Mayer’s usual high quality standards. Fritz P. Mayer said he was relying on the workers especially to see this through. He thanked them for the great commitment that would be needed, and said that he appreciated the hard work of the company’s staff in the past. Whether they were design engineers or assembly fitters, specialists in the production or dispatch departments, or administrative staff, every single worker at their workstation had contributed to the current success of Karl Mayer and had every reason to celebrate, he said at the end of his speech. He then declared the celebratory dinner open to the tune of the company’s own orchestra.

100,000th machine goes to Taiwan

The focus of attention and the reason for holding the celebration in the first place, is an HKS 4 EL machine, which is scheduled to begin its journey within the next few days. Its destination is Houndey, a Karl Mayer customer in Taiwan. When the 25,000th machine was delivered in 1968, 80% of the company’s production was exported, and the 50,000th machine was shipped to Brazil in 1974.

Karl Mayer currently employs around 2000 workers worldwide, of which approximately, 1300 work in Germany. The Obertshausen site employs 1300. The company operates subsidiaries in Japan, Italy, England, China, Switzerland and the USA, and supplies machines and equipment to customers all over the world. For all of them, Karl Mayer represents the highest level of quality and technology, an image that the company, with its total commitment to first-class workmanship and its constant search for innovative solutions, quite rightly deserves.