KARL MAYER will be presenting its latest innovations at ITMA ASIA + CITME, which will be held from 15 to 19 October 2018. This global player is using its latest developments to tackle the changes taking place in the world today.
“The mega trends of digitalisation and sustainability are changing the world as we know it. As an innovative global market leader; we see these changes as an opportunity for our customers. At ITMA ASIA+ CITME, we will be showing our visitors how KARL MAYER is implementing these strategic themes; digitalisation and sustainability by delivering integrated solutions offering a wide range of advantages”; says KARL MAYER’s Managing Director, Arno Gärtner.
KARL MAYER will attend in the Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai on stand B 11, hall 4, where a new umbrella brand will be launched, offering innovative digital solutions known as the KARL MAYER Digital Factory, which was introduced last year. A look at KARL MAYER’s CLEANER.PRODUCTIONS will also be on the cards. Other highlights include a performance show of the latest generation of machines, a fashion show showcasing decorative, trendsetting fabrics, and a presentation of the Technical Textiles centre of excellence. An in-house show at KARL MAYER (CHINA) in Changzhzou will also be held at the same time as the fair, scheduled for 15 to 18 October.
Digitalisation and Sustainability: development of the best digital solutions
As a pioneer in textile machinery building, KARL MAYER is following a broad digitisation strategy. An important element of this strategy is to support its customers with new digital solutions at a market leader level.
The initiatives for this strategy are being coordinated by Antonia Gottschalk; the Head of Digitisation. The expertise for doing this is based on an efficient network. Since March 2018; KARL MAYER has been part of ADAMOS, an alliance made up of industrial and software companies. At the end of 2017; KARL MAYER also set up its own start-up company in Frankfurt, known as the Digital Factory, for developing new, innovative digital business models, products and services. In future, these will be combined under a new umbrella brand, which is being launched at ITMA ASIA + CITMA. “Management is focusing on the KM Digital Factory. Together with our involvement in ADAMOS; the new company will enable us to quickly make the best digital solutions available for delivering maximum benefit to our customers,” says Arno Gärtner.
Networked machines
Knowing what is going on and being informed at all times; regardless of where we are – mobile digital solutions have been making inroads into out daily life for many years now and, have changed our perception of what is current.
For the first time, KARL MAYER will present its own solution for networking its machines. This digital solution will provide its customers with transparency in real time regarding the performance of their machines; and can be used in the company’s own network with very little modification.
Integrated sustainability
“We care about your future” is what KARL MAYER is all about. Its philosophy is to take responsibility also for future generations. What KARL MAYER is doing to promote sustainability will be on show at the fair and on the internet at www.CLEANER.PRODUCTIONS.
The environmental aspects of this include the LEO® Low Energy Option, which should enable energy consumption during machine operation to be reduced by between 9.5 and 13 %, depending on the type of machine. Costs and CO2 emissions should be reduced at the same time.
Intelligent, end-use-applicable concepts should also reduce environmental loads, as a technology transfer project being carried out by the central government and regional authorities in Wujiang Shengze, China, is demonstrating. One of the aims of this project is to replace the environmentally harmful looms in this industrial area with KARL MAYER’s warp knitting machines offering a comparable product portfolio. The TM 3, with its broad product portfolio, is a particularly good alternative. This tricot machine will be shown in operation at the exhibition, together with examples of its uses.
87% less energy
KARL MAYER will be showing the TERRY.ECO concept for the environmentally friendly production of terry goods, the core element of which is the TM 4 TS-EL machine. Depending on the type of product being produced, this cotton terry warp knitting machine can produce up to 250 % more fabric and consumes approximately 87 % less energy per kg of textile than air-jet looms. Sizing can be dispensed with; which reduces energy; water and effluent loads. The TM 4 TS-EL will be on show at KARL MAYER’s in-house show in Changhzou.
With its PROSIZE® sizing machine; KARL MAYER is offering weaving companies involved in the production of terry goods a sizing machine based on the concept of sustainability. With this machine, the sizing agent is applied by a highly efficient, intelligent process. Compared to conventional methods, this reduces the consumption of sizing agents by up to 10% and reduces bath volumes. A reduced size consumption also means less energy consumption when preparing the chemicals and for desizing. Also, less effluent is produced. The core element of the PROSIZE® system; the VSB Size Box, will be on show in Shanghai.
The latest generation of machines
For the first time, the widest high-speed tricot machine in the world, the HKS 3-M, 280″ will be demonstrated to the public in operation at the exhibition. This new machine delivers maximum flexibility for the usual product repertoire. Unlike previously; articles of different widths and also more fabric webs can be produced simultaneously on just one machine. The unique performance of this machine will be demonstrated as it produces a velour fabric in a gauge of E 32.
The first TM model with KAMCOS® 2 facility is also being showcased. KARL MAYER’S TM 3, 186″; equipped with the next generation of the KARL MAYER Command System, retains the tried-and-tested features of the HKS version. These include an operator interface with functions based on smartphone technology and an integrated laser stop system as well as data access via mobile devices using the KARL MAYER CONNECT app. In Shanghai; this efficient, flexible production machine will be producing a tough fabric in a gauge of E 32 with ecological benefits. This textile can be used as a substitute for fabrics produced by water-jet weaving, with its high effluent loads.
VSB Size Box
For the warp preparation sector, KARL MAYER will also be showing the innovative VSB Size Box at the fair. Instead of the usual immersion and bath application process, the PROSIZE® operates with three; highly turbulent, homogeneous application zones, spray bar technology and a subsequent application/squeeze roller system. This reduces the volume of the size bath and sizing additives, thus decreasing the environmental loads. Other benefits include an extremely uniform size film and less fibre dust – guaranteeing maximum weaving efficiency – and a 20% larger yarn coating zone.
KARL MAYER will also be showcasing the ISODIRECT direct warping machine – a world first with a unique cost:benefit ratio. This all-round machine can process every type of staple-fibre yarn and produces high-quality beams at warping speeds of up to 1,000 m/min-1.
Textiles with trendsetting features
This demonstration of KARL MAYER’s technology and strategies will be complemented by a presentation of the wide range of applications of warp-knitted fabrics. Seductive lace, high-performance fabrics for sportswear; original creations for athleisure wear, and apparel fabrics with a certain pizzazz – KARL MAYER’s textile innovations show the wide variety of warp-knitted textiles available and are setting the trend in every sector.
Building on textiles
KARL MAYER has the right technology and expertise to cater for a wide range of applications in the technical textiles sector. The company’s weft-insertion, biaxial and multiaxial warp knitting machines can be found in the plants of manufacturers of inlays; tarpaulins and advertising substrates, as well as in those of producers of geogrids, composites and automotive fabrics. The focus of the exhibition at ITMA ASIA + CITME will be on textiles for the construction sector. The Chinese construction sector is one of the growth areas in the country but, unlike the construction industries in Europe and America; for example, the Chinese building industry focuses on conventional materials. Textiles can offer the construction sector many advantages, especially when used in concrete components. By replacing conventional steel reinforcements with carbon- or glass-fibre textiles; the amount of concrete used can be reduced by up to 70%.
Other promising applications for warp-knitted structures are; in tear-resistant plaster grids for increasing the tear resistance within the plaster, self-adhesive tape for repairing holes and cracks in walls, cost-effective, flexible roof canopies and bitumen roofing materials with excellent mechanical properties. Examples of these types of textiles will be used to illustrate the advantages of warp-knitted building textiles during the exhibition.