Changzhou - The Karl Mayer Group has welcomed the strong interest shown in its recent open house event in Changzhou, with the new showroom and TexLab launch providing a fresh launchpad for Stoll’s flat knitting technology in the key Chinese market.
The event at Karl Mayer (China), which began the day before the recent ITMA Asia + CITME exhibition, attracted a small, but high quality audience of more than 140 visitors, mainly with technical and management responsibility.
One of the key highlights awaiting the guests from the flat knitting industry was a new showroom offering solutions from all Karl Mayer technology areas. This was also complemented by the official opening of the new Stoll TexLab.
Summing up the event, Rene Ludvigsen, chief sales and product Asia at Stoll, commented: “This was the first time for Stoll to arrange a in house show this idea needs to be further developed although in general the response was very positive.
“The TexLab in particular was a crowd-puller.”
The TexLab for the flat knitting industry is described as an exhibition space, meeting point and experience centre. It offers everything needed to make contacts and develop concepts, try out new yarns and develop innovative patterns.
The TexLab includes modern machinery, textile innovations full of inspiration, futuristic fashion items, such as the latest Stoll Trend Collection, and an experienced team of Stoll application technicians.
“The concept was convincing, the design and in particular the general equipment were impressive; the different Stoll machines in various gauges and the new sample collections that were created on them, were certainly the highlight of the in-house show,” Ludvigsen said, adding that the he was delighted with the numerous in-depth technical discussions.
The top topics, he said, included proven Stoll technologies such as knit and wear, as well as the high machine gauges for which Stoll is known.
For the development of fine, high-quality articles, for example, the Stoll TexLab is equipped with a CMS 530 in the new gauge E20.
Over the course of the in-house show, Ludvigsen and his team were able to sign various contracts and launch new projects for the coming years. He also learnt more about future developments in the flat knitting sector through discussions with customers.
“The main trends are towards digitalisation, smart factories, AI technologies and the production of knit and wear items,” he explained.
“Customers are looking for innovations and are generally optimistic, but are concerned about the high price pressure in their markets. Own brands and the players in the cashmere business are less affected by this and can expect stable growth in the coming years.
“Stoll will continue to support them all with its expertise, innovative machines and useful service solutions.”
