Sponsored by Mayer & Cie
German knitting machine manufacturer has launched upgrade kits to increase the longevity of existing machines. By Claudia Bitzer and the Mayer & Cie team.
Up to 50% of all the circular knitting machines Mayer & Cie has ever made are still around in the market somewhere. In fact, the oldest known model still in service dates back to 1913.
Wolfgang Müller, head of sales, Mayer & Cie, says: “Such an old-timer is an extreme example, of course. Nevertheless, longevity is definitely a property that our satisfied customers mention regularly.”
Value retention, maintenance and upgrades for existing machines are a key issue for the company – and for the customers who successfully use existing Mayer & Cie equipment. That’s why the company recently launched customised upgrade kits to improve the long-term performance of machines.
Frank Stuhrmann, head of spare parts, Mayer & Cie, adds: “In our development department, we are constantly working on improving existing machines and their components and we would not want to withhold this progress from our existing customers.”
Stuhrmann and his team have found that existing machines have a firm place in the machine park and that operators do not wish to replace them anytime soon. He says: “This means it makes much more sense to help our customers to enhance the properties of their existing machines, rather than to offer them a completely new machine.”
Compared to a new machine, the team says upgrade kits are a low-cost investment that deliver clearly defined benefits. For example, an improved yarn guide ensures a significant increase in the plating safety and output of the machine in question. Other benefits of the upgrade packages also include a perfect fit for individual machines, a long-term security investment and upgrade warranties.
The Mayer & Cie portfolio consists of approximately 50 types of machines, some of which are capable of knitting an entire range of modern textiles. And because every circular knitting machine is a standalone that comes with unique features, most upgrades are customised for individual models.
For the popular OVJA 1.6 EE, for example, the company says there is a speed booster that is based on a more reliable yarn guide and an improved stitch-forming process. For Relanit 3.2 S and 3.2 II models, there is a different upgrade solution: an improved yarn guide. And for S4 machines, an optimised fluff blowing device can be provided. This ensures that less fluff is knitted in, which improves the fabric quality. It also reduces downtime that would otherwise be required for cleaning.
The upgrade kit that is suitable for most Mayer & Cie machines is the edge trimmer, according to the company. This opens a fabric hose before the fabric is rolled up and provides a laying facility for high-quality hose fabric.
In addition to individual upgrade kits, Mayer & Cie also now offers spare parts packages, which again are customised for individual machines. When purchasing a machine, the customer can order a small or a large spare parts package. Selected specially for the machine in question, it contains the most important consumables and spare parts.
Stuhrmann says: “We are all familiar with the situation.”
He adds: “You are in a tight corner and urgently need a spare part that is not available. The best-case consequence is unnecessary stress and the worst case is missed delivery dates.”
The new spare parts packages are designed to limit these situations. And where the contents of the spare parts packages are concerned, the team says customers stand to benefit from the Mayer & Cie service team’s many years of experience.
Spare parts expert Stuhrmann admits that this is more difficult for machines that are over a century old. Indeed, he says the circular knitting machine used to make grandpa’s jumper may have to manage without a matching spare parts package, but the chances are that it will do so successfully.
