Karl Mayer, a leading warp knitting machinery manufacturer, has reported a successful showcase at the Techtextil trade fair, which took place from 9-12 May in Frankfurt, where the company held 200 high-level conversations. Most visitors came from Germany, followed by Turkey, Poland and India.

“We are absolutely delighted with our participation in the fair. Together with JEC World, Techtextil once again proved to be one of the most important exhibitions for us,” commented Hagen Lotzmann, the Sales Director of Karl Mayer Technische Textilien.

The large number of visitors and their high level of interest confirmed the expectations of the fair of Jochen Schmidt, the Managing Director of Karl Mayer Technische Textilien: “The demand for technical textiles is continuing to grow.” In addition to the good economic situation, Karl Mayer’s stand, with its modern design, accounted for the success of this machine manufacturer at the fair.

New clients

Many existing clients came to discuss projects, customer trials and machine purchases, and some sales contracts were signed, the company reports. The company also made some important new contacts. “Techtextil is a fantastic fair in terms of sales,” said Bastian Fritsch, Karl Mayer’s Senior Sales Manager.

“Many new clients came to visit our stand, including manufacturers from other technology sectors and the clothing industry, who are looking for new end-uses in the field of semi-technical textiles, for example. Many of them already have some new ideas in mind, and are looking for partners to implement them. With our machines and know-how, we were able to help all of them.”

Bastian Fritsch’s many visitors came from India and Turkey, the regions for which he is responsible. However, the majority of the visitors to Karl Mayer’ stand were Europeans.

Future building material

Karl Mayer’s stand at Techtextil was featuring an impressive presentation of a future building material, textile-reinforced concrete. This composite enables lightweight, narrow concrete components to be produced using tough, carbon-fibre grids.

The weft-inserted, warp-knitted textiles for the reinforcement are produced on Karl Mayer’s machines. As an alternative to conventional steel reinforcements, which are liable to corrode, the warp-knitted structures are increasingly attracting the attention of the construction industry – and consequently the textile industry, the company reports.

“The demonstration of our expertise in the field of carbon concrete proved to be a real magnet for the public,” said Hagen Lotzmann. Many manufacturers expressed a specific interest to operate in this sector.

Warp-knitted technical textiles

In addition to the products catering for the construction industry of the future, Jochen Schmidt said that he had had many discussions on conventional, warp-knitted technical textiles, especially geotextiles, coating/backing substrates, interlinings, and reinforcing textiles for plastic composites.

Other important topics were warp-knitted spacer textiles, nets, automotive textiles, and functional textiles for the sports and athleisure sectors. “Functional textiles are still attractive,” said Markus Otte from Karl Mayer’s Textile Product Development Department. Attracted by the various stylish individual pieces on show from current collections, many brand manufacturers came to visit the stand with some interesting questions. “Our stand is a huge meeting point and a source of inspiration for people with specialist knowledge. I had many in-depth technical discussions covering a whole raft of new ideas,” said this textile developer.

Warp preparation systems

Karl Mayer’s machines and equipment for the technical textiles sector also include warp preparation systems, particularly the OPT-O-MATIC manual sectional warping machine for use in the production of woven technical textiles, geogrids and coating/backing substrates, and, among others, the Multitens, a yarn tensioner that delivers flexibility and a reproducible quality and various creels.

A special creel was sold to a French manufacturer at the show. Dieter Gager, the Sales Manager of the Warp Preparation Business Unit, who was delighted with the outcome of the fair, said that he had also held some specific negotiations regarding a project in India.

www.karlmayer.com