#Knitting & Hosiery

2022-06-30

Ranga Yogeshwar presents third Top 100 award to Mayer & Cie.

Albstadt-based Mayer & Cie. has been named a Top 100 award-winner for the third time as one of Germany’s most innovative small and mid-range businesses. The jury made special mention of the circular knitting and braiding machine manufacturer’s innovative processes. At the centre of the family firm’s further digital development is on the aim to boost its customers’ productivity.

Top circular knitting and braiding machine manufacturer

Last Friday, members of the Mayer & Cie. management received the award from the science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar at the SMB summit in Frankfurt am Main.

Benjamin Mayer (left) and Sebastian Mayer (right) are receiving the award from Ranga Yogeshwar in Frankfurt/Main on Friday (c) 2022 Mayer & Cie.

Claim to leadership a deliberate decision

“We are delighted to receive the Top 100 award for the third time this year,” said Sebastian Mayer, Chief Digital Officer and member of the Mayer & Cie. management. “2019 and 2020, characterised by a slump in demand and the pandemic, were not easy years for our company. Yet we deliberately worked on improving our processes in order to hit the ground running once the market recovered. We thank all of our employees for supporting this development and driving the change forward.”

Progress is digital for SMBs too

For some time now, the focus of development work at Mayer & Cie. has been on lean management in assembly processes, on optimisation of aftersales service, including setting up an online shop for spare parts, and on product lifecycle management, or PLM, which stands for a concept of seamless integration of all the information that arises during a product’s lifecycle.

A clean data structure is the basis for these measures. Sebastian Mayer likes to call it the “digital backbone”. “Basically, what it means is that all product data is processed in he same database and all information is available only once and can be downloaded immediately,“ he explains.

Boosting the customer’s productivity

Customer benefit is the sense and purpose of Mayer & Cie.’s digital development work. “Our aim is to boost the productivity of customers who work with our circular knitting machines,” as Sebastian Mayer puts it. Their main point of access to the company’s development work is the “knitlink” IIoT platform, where machine data is to be recorded and evaluated. Spare parts sales is then automated via the online shop and support is available from the platform round the clock. In future, a 3D model of every machine – a kind of digital twin – is to be available on “knitlink”.

The development department at Mayer & Cie. in Albstadt-Tailfingen: with around 50 of the firm’s 400 employees Sebastian Mayer drives the SMB’s digitisation forward. Photo: Ralph Koch for Mayer & Cie.

Mayer & Cie. in award-winning company

In all, 436 companies, including about ten per cent from machinery and plant engineering, competed for the Top 100 seal of innovation this year. Nearly 300 were successful and were congratulated in person by Ranga Yogeshwar at the SMB summit. He noted that the award winners set a role model example. “Innovators are thought leaders; they are always pioneers too,” said Yogeshwar, who mentors the competition. “They put their products to the test and ask themselves what an ecological society and a climate-oriented world will require of them. And they check the opportunities and challenges that increasing digitisation will bring for forms of cooperation, social relationships and, with them, for employee retention.”

The Mayer & Cie. assembly line in Albstadt-Tailfingen Photo: Ralph Koch for Mayer & Cie.

Closing completed – Mayer & Cie. Global starts business operations

The future of the Mayer & Cie. brand has been secured: Following the successful completion of the purchase agreement for assets in the circular knitting machinery segment of the German traditional company Mayer & Cie., which was signed in February this year, the brand will continue to exist. The transfer of these assets to the new owner, Xu Hongjie, was formally completed yesterday afternoon. This clears the way for the resumption of business operations at the Albstadt site.

Huixing acquires insolvent Mayer & Cie.

Insolvency proceedings for the circular knitting and braiding machine manufacturer Mayer & Cie. were opened on December 1, 2025. Immediately following the opening of proceedings, the complete cessation of business operations was initiated. Most employees were subsequently given notice effective the end of February 2026. The production of the remaining orders in the circular knitting segment is expected to be completed by the end of the month. As early as December 2025, Mayer & Cie.’s braiding machine division was sold to an Italian investor.

Mayer & Cie. to shut down after failed search for investor – 270 jobs affected

Mayer & Cie., the long-established German manufacturer of circular knitting and braiding machines, will cease operations after its international search for an investor ended without success. The company, based in Albstadt-Tailfingen, had been undergoing insolvency proceedings in self-administration since its filing on 23 September 2025. As Schwarzwälder Bote reports, the insolvency court has now formally opened the proceedings, triggering the decision to wind down the business in an orderly process.

Techtextil 2026: KARL MAYER impresses as an innovative sector partner

KARL MAYER looks back with satisfaction on its participation in Techtextil 2026. From April 21 to 24, the international industry leader used the trade show in Frankfurt to meet with numerous key customers at its booth and, at the same time, establish many new contacts. Most visitors came from Germany, followed by major markets such as Poland, the United Kingdom, Turkey, France, and Portugal.

“We Believe in the Value of Textiles”: Successful Opening of the KARL MAYER TEXTILE INNOVATION CENTER

KARL MAYER inaugurated its new, state-of-the-art TEXTILE INNOVATION CENTER (TIC) with a four-day opening week from April 21 to 24. The highlight of the week was the grand opening on Thursday, which drew a strong turnout from the international textile industry: around 220 customers, brands, and partners from across the textile value chain came to the company’s headquarters in Obertshausen for a first-hand look at the new high-tech development environment and lively exchange with industry peers.

KARL MAYER strengthens partnerships in the composites industry at JEC World 2026

KARL MAYER further strengthened its role as a reliable and competent partner to the composites industry at JEC World 2026. The global market leader in textile machinery manufacturing used the trade show to meet key customers, establish numerous new contacts, and engage in in-depth technical discussions.

BTMA backs global growth while investing in future UK leaders

As one of a number of new initiatives launched this year, the British Textile Machinery Association (BTMA) is launching the UK-India Textile Machinery Coalition. The UK-India Free Trade Agreement, signed in July 2025, has implications that extend across sourcing, competitiveness and long-term trade dynamics, believes BTMA CEO Jason Kent.

China projected to increase cotton production, yields, and imports in 2026/27

World cotton production in the 2026/27 season is projected at 25.9 million tonnes, exceeding global consumption of 25.2 million tonnes, according to the May 2026 issue of Cotton This Month. That means both production and consumption are expected to remain close to current season levels, while global cotton trade is projected to decline by 2.7% to approximately 9.6-9.7 million tonnes.