Business development trips are a regular item on Germany’s VDMA textile machinery association’s events calendar. And for the circular knitting machine manufacturer Mayer & Cie. they are also a feature of every annual plan. Last spring, for example, the company joined a delegation of the VDMA’s textile machinery association to Ethiopia.

Contactless contact fairs

Events of that kind being out of the question this pandemic year, the Association has launched online alternatives. The latest of these virtual excursions was arranged jointly with the Federal Economic Affairs Ministry’s Medium-Sized Business Initiative and the Spain and Portugal German Chambers of Foreign Trade. It took participants to the Iberian Peninsula on 23 and 24 November. Mayer & Cie. regional sales manager Horst Maier shared market insights and expertise along with information about the company’s portfolio of machines with an online auditorium. Attendees were, as in ‘real life’, textile companies from Spain and Portugal.

Networking with a difference

“Giving a virtual lecture is not the same, of course, as standing in front of an audience, but we all know that now,” Horst Maier says. “Where you really have to adapt, however, is in my opinion in networking now that coffee breaks and evening meals are no longer on the agenda.”

Horst is positive about the fact that such a widely based exchange is possible once more. “The representatives of the chambers of commerce with Spain and Portugal dealt in detail with the local market for textiles, as did manufacturers on developments and their market assessments. The result was a comprehensive and relevant picture from which attendees were definitely able to benefit.”

Highest productivity for interlock and mattress fabrics

In his presentation the Mayer & Cie. circular knitting machine expert dealt with the circular knitting applications that are currently most in demand, especially in Spain and Portugal. They include high-quality mattress cover fabrics and interlock fabric for underwear, sports- and leisurewear.

For both areas he presented, what Mayer & Cie. says are the most productive circular knitting machines in the market. The OVJA 2.4 EM knits up to 30 kg of mattress cover fabric per hour and is especially suitable for the trend toward fabric weighing less than 300 grams per square metre.

Where interlock is concerned, no circular knitting machine is more productive than the D4 2.2 HPI, the company says. It specialises in cotton yarns and polyester, processing them into fabrics with gauges ranging from E20 to E32.

Mayer & Cie. Website