The Albstadt-based circular knitting machine manufacturer Mayer & Cie. (MCT) has been named one of Germany’s most innovative SMEs for the second time. Last week, Benjamin Mayer, Marcus Mayer and Sebastian Mayer collected the Top 100 award.

Host Ranga Yogeshwar handed over the prize during the SME Summit in Ludwigsburg. Mayer & Cie. received the prize for its innovation management and success, the most well-known example of which is currently its spinitsystems spinning and knitting technology.

“We are delighted to have been named one of the most innovative German SMEs for the second time already,” said Mayer & Cie. executive Marcus Mayer. In the executive board, he is responsible for research and development. “For us, it is part of our self-understanding to advance in the market and think in terms of new solutions. This requires us to take the long view in business – but also to show courage, as not every idea manages to become an innovation.”

One step ahead

The circular knitting machine manufacturer has been operating in the market for more than 100 years, with over 75,000 machines sold worldwide since the company’s founding. The company invests five to six percent of its turnover each year into research and development. Around 7% of the employees are engaged in development and construction.

Mayer & Cie. keeps a close ear to the, with 80 representatives around the world. “We want our customers to be able to maintain their market advantage with the help of our machines”, said Benjamin Mayer of the executive board referring to the claim of the medium-sized family company. “We take customer’s wishes very seriously, whether in the individual configuration of existing machines or in the development of entirely new solutions.”

Knitting today with a view to tomorrow

“The most current and concise example of the consideration and application of new ideas is the spinitsystems technology,” the company explains. A compact machine with the dimensions of a conventional knitting machine, it combines two previously separate processes, spinning and knitting. This saves a great deal of time, space and energy.

True to the company philosophy, the Swabian SME already has another coup up its sleeve, which it will present at the ITMA, the industry’s leading fair, to be held again in 2019.

Award with weight and tradition

The Top 100s have been awarded for more than 25 years now. The focus of the award is on a company's innovation management. It is the goal of the organisers to offer companies a benchmark in this respect. Whether a company is accepted into the Top 100 club or has its place reconfirmed – is decided upon by a jury drawn from the fields of politics, economics and research, under the chairmanship of Professor Nikolaus Franke, Chairman of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU).

For this year’s competition, Franke and his team examined more than 470 applications. 288 companies were successful in three classes, including 120 global market leaders.

www.mayerandcie.com