Karl Mayer is transferring its successful two product line strategy to its Technical Textiles Business Unit and is supplementing its premium weft-insertion machine with a standard model. In addition to the Wefttronic II HKS, there will also be a TM Weft in future. This new warp knitting machine with weft-insertion facility bears all the hallmarks of the high-end version in terms of its quality and reliability, but its optimised cost:benefit ratio targets a different market.

The right machine for every market segment

This new machine is a machine from Asia for Asia. “Our target market is China and the mid-range segment in particular”, explains Hagen Lotzmann, the Sales Manager of Karl Mayer Technische Textilien GmbH. To score points here, the TM Weft delivers a 50 percent higher cost:benefit ratio than the Wefttronic II HKS. The considerable increase in speed has been achieved by completely redeveloping the machine and modifying the production logistics. The engineering know-how and the core areas of expertise for the TM Weft are being provided by locations in Germany, and all the other work is being done by Karl Mayer (China). This has led to the exceptional quality and operating reliability typical of all Karl Mayer`s machines, and also delivers an attractive performance package for producers of standard goods for the interlining market. With its fine gauge, the Wefttronic II HKS is still the number one machine for producing fine interlinings and high-quality automotive textiles, for use in e.g. sun protection.

Customised technical features

The TM Weft was announced at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2018 in Shanghai and proved to be a hot topic of conversation. “Our customers are extremely interested in our new weft-insertion warp knitting machine, and are already looking forward to the official market release,” says Hagen Lotzmann. This sales expert is expecting that the first orders for this standard model, with its excellent cost:benefit ratio, will be placed this year. The sales release is scheduled for the second half of January 2019. An in-house show will also be held in January at Karl Mayer (China) in Changzhou, where the TM Weft will be demonstrating its features.