Personalities
Mayer & Cie knitting machine manufacturer is one of the most innovative German companies
Mayer & Cie. is one of Germany’s most innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. The knitting machine manufacturer was presented with a Top 100 award on 24 June, entitling Mayer & Cie. to count itself as a member of the German elite in this segment. The long-established company won the award for its innovation management and successful innovation, the latest of which is the spinitsystems spinning and knitting technology. Top 100 mentor Ranga Yogeshwar presented the award on Friday evening in Essen to Benjamin and Sebastian Mayer, representing the family that owns the firm.
Outstandingly innovative
“We are delighted to have been named one of the Top 100 companies in Germany,” said Sebastian Mayer, the Mayer & Cie. director in charge of corporate development. “This accolade confirms that we are indeed fulfilling our claim to be an innovation driver in the circular knitting machine sector.”
In recent years, spinitsystems technology has mostly topped the development department’s agenda. Mayer & Cie. unveiled the series production-ready machine, the Spinit 3.0 E, at the industry’s leading trade fair in 2015. The company has succeeded with this totally new approach in combining the spinning and knitting process in one machine. The Top 100 jury saw this as proof of Mayer & Cie.’s unconventional approach. The jury was also impressed by the tenacity with which Mayer & Cie. pursues its innovation objectives. Top 100 awards are not made for individual products but for a company’s overall performance – and Mayer & Cie.’s overall performance is impressive.
Innovation as part of how the company sees itself
At Mayer & Cie. innovation has always been a part of how the company sees itself. “Always a step ahead of the rest was the maxim of my grandfather Emil Mayer, who ran the company for about 40 years,” said Sebastian Mayer, a member of the fourth generation of Mayers to run the family firm. To do so the knitting machine manufacturer invests five to six per cent of its annual sales revenue in research and development. That is an above-average figure for the industry, and about seven percent of the firm’s employees work in development and design. At the time of writing the company holds or has applied for more than 300 patents. The spinitsystems technology alone accounts for around 50 national and international patent applications.
Innovative in good company
With the Top 100 award Mayer & Cie. is in good company. This year’s Top 100 includes 32 world and 97 national market leaders. Innovations and improvements launched over the past three years account for around 40 per cent of their sales revenue. The average for German SMEs is 6.6 %. Between them the 238 award-winning companies hold over 2300 patents. So it is hardly surprising that this mobility and “restlessness” is reflected in their corporate development. Between 2012 and 2014 the Top 100 companies grew 28 % faster than their respective industry average, according to the Top 100 organisers.
Mayer & Cie. (MCT) is a leading international manufacturer of circular knitting machines. The company manufactures the entire range of machines required for making modern textiles. Fabrics for home textiles, sportswear, nightwear and swimwear, seat covers, underwear and technical uses are made on MCT knitting machines.
Founded in 1905, Mayer & Cie. generated sales of EUR 91 million in 2015 with about 330 employees, according to preliminary figures. In addition to its headquarters in Albstadt, Germany, and subsidiaries in Brazil, China and the Czech Republic, Mayer & Cie. is represented by sales partners in many countries. 2015 Group sales totaled around EUR 100 million, generated by a workforce of about 450 employees.
AATCC announces recipient of New Foundation Scholarship
Radhika Vaid of North Carolina State University (NCSU) was recently awarded the first Kanti & Hansa Jasani Family Textile Scholarship. The USD1500 award is available to students who are Indian citizens with a student visa or with permanent residency, who are attending an American university with an AATCC student chapter and are pursuing undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate studies in the field of textiles. The scholarship was made available through an endowment with AATCC Foundation by the Kanti & Hansa Jasani Family.
Vaid is a graduate student working towards a PhD at the NCSU College of Textiles. Her research has been focused around fiber and polymer science. Vaid is originally from Himachal Pradesh, India, and earned her Master of Technology degree from IIT, Delhi.
Kanti A. Jasani came from India in 1969 to pursue a Master’s degree in textiles at NCSU. He and his family saw a need for students seeking to further studies in textiles from India, which encouraged the family to establish the Scholarship.
AATCC, the Association of Textile, Apparel & Materials Professionals, is the world’s leading not-for-profit association serving textile professionals since 1921. AATCC, headquartered in Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, provides test method development, quality control materials, and professional networking for members in about 50 countries throughout the world.
AATCC Foundatio was established in 1997 and operates in the furtherance of the charitable mission of the Association. The foundation promotes the science and knowledge of textile design, coloration, materials, processing, and testing through research and education and seeks ways to develop and promote quality standards throughout the world.
www.aatcc.org/foundation/index.htm
Junior engineers bestowed with VDMA Textile Machinery prizes
On the occasion of the VDMA Textile Machinery Forum at the headquarters of the circular knitting machine manufacturer and technology leader Mayer & Cie. in Albstadt, the Foundation of the German Textile Machinery Industry honoured six successful young engineers
Peter D. Dornier, chairman of the Lindauer DORNIER Board of Management and chairman of the Walter Reiners-Stiftung (Foundation), honoured the laureates in the presence of more than 50 industry representatives. In his celebratory speech, Dornier underlined the high importance of practical orientation in research and teaching for German textile machine manufacturers with respect to the implementation of the Bologna Process, the support of which is a particular focus of the Foundation’s work.
Focus on lightweight construction and energy efficiency – Promotion prizes in the dissertation and master categories
This year, the promotion prizes in the dissertation category were awarded to Dr. Daniel Denninger, TU Chemnitz, and to Dr. Adil Mountasir, ITM Dresden.
With his work, Denninger creates the basis for the wider application of the braiding technology in the field of fibre composites.
The subject of Adil Mountasir’s dissertation was development of a flexible weaving technology for the manufacturing of fibre reinforced components.
With their works, the award winners demonstrated practical relevance. The economical production of fibre composites is required for their comprehensive application, for example, in car body construction, for lighter vehicles and hence for lower fuel consumption.
The approach of Mario Gollasch, who was awarded the promotion prize in the category master thesis, was also to minimize consumption. In his work, which was written at ITA Aachen, Gollasch developed a weft insertion system for weaving looms, which allows up to 60 per cent of energy savings, unlike conventional systems.
Demanded creativity – rewarded with scholarships
Development of innovative technologies cannot be achieved without creativity. Therefore, the Foundation of the German VDMA Textile Machinery rewards clever inventions or creative engineer achievements in the form of seminar or semester papers with creativity prizes. The winners of the creativity prizes 2016 were Denis Gholami Bajestani, ITA Aachen, as well as Erik Dahrmann and Martin von Zuben, both from ITM Dresden. The creativity prize is endowed with a scholarship for two semesters; students who are about to finish their studies received an equivalent financial award.
Award-winners of the Foundation of VDMA Textile Machinery 2016
Creativity prize (scholarship for 2 semesters): Denis Gholami Bajestani, ITA Aachen, „Selection of process models for the radial braiding process in terms of self-optimisation” (bachelor thesis)
Creativity prize (scholarship for 2 semesters): Erik Dahrmann, ITM Dresden, „Development and improvement of an assembling step of a filament wound aerospace structure using vacuum assisted resin infusion (VARI) with the objective of successful introduction into serial production” (project thesis)
Creativity prize (scholarship for 2 semesters): Martin von Zuben, ITM Dresden, „Development of technology demonstrator for fixation of stitch free multiaxial non crimp fabrics using adhesive application” (student research project)
Promotion prize category Master (EUR3000): Mario Gollasch, ITA Aachen, „Development of components for a magnetic weft insertion system for weaving looms” (master thesis)
Promotion prize category Dissertation (EUR 5000): Dr. Daniel Denninger, TU Chemnitz, „Process-oriented synthesis method using the example of the new laying technique “D-3F2” for over-braiding with three yarn systems” (dissertation)
Promotion prize category Dissertation (EUR 5000): Dr. Adil Mountasir, ITM Dresden, „Development of a flexible weaving technology for integrated manufacturing of 3D woven preforms for fibre reinforced components with complex geometries” (dissertation).
With the Walter Reiners-Stiftung, VDMA Textile Machinery Association is actively engaged in promoting junior engineers. Every year, the Foundation grants promotion prizes for outstanding dissertations and master or diploma theses as well as creativity prizes for clever semester and seminar papers. Students regularly gain an insight into practice with excursions to member companies and to the leading textile exhibition ITMA, which are financially supported by the Foundation.
You can find more information about the occupational field of the textile machinery industry, the activities of the Foundation as well as excursion reports of the students on the homepage of the Textile Machinery Association http://txm.vdma.org/ingenieurnachwuchs