Progress through training - especially in the warp knitting sector. Alongside its high-tech machinery, KARL MAYER is also offering its global warp knitting customers extensive know-how and expertise to enable them to optimally use the technical possibilities offered by the machines. This company has been running its own training centre for imparting knowledge and know-how for more than 50 years. The KARL MAYER Academy now operates at locations in Germany, China and India, and is extremely successful. Every year, more than 200 students are trained at the headquarters in Obertshausen alone.

The KARL MAYER Academy moved into its modern training centre at its headquarters in April 2019, and the training courses started up in the following May - with a tried-and-tested concept but at a completely new level. “We are now offering our customers courses to qualify them for manufacturing in a digital world, thus giving them the key to success in the future as well,” says Arno Gärtner, the CEO of KARL MAYER. Furthermore, the KARL MAYER Academy, with its bright, open architecture, is a place that will provide inspiration, “Our guests will feel comfortable here and will be able to get to know each other and exchange ideas,” says Arno Gärtner. Learning will become a real experience and a guarantee of the future success of KARL MAYER’s customers.

Modern rooms, first-rate equipment, the latest technology and up-to-date knowledge

The KARL MAYER Academy welcomes its guests in Obertshausen in a hall covering an area of 755 m², which offers a bright, learning-friendly atmosphere, modern architecture and technical equipment that has taken a quantum leap forward in terms of quality. Three separate classrooms, equipped with top-of-the-range training equipment, are available for efficiently providing training in small groups.

Specially designed high-tech production machines in the HKS series are available for practical training. “We have invested extensively in the machinery. The more the users understand the possibilities offered by our sophisticated technology, the more benefit they will gain from it,” says Christine Wolters, the Head of the KARL MAYER Academy. The training machines all offer the latest high-tech features, especially with regard to the drive, control and patterning technology. They can also be used to demonstrate the possibilities offered by the digital production of warp-knitted textiles.

The new KARL MAYER Academy also gives an insight into the digital features of KM.ON, and these systems extend the possibilities of increasing the efficiency of the customers’ own production processes. The training machines in the Academy are networked via k.ey – an industry PC combined with the relevant software - and provide access to KM.ON’s secure cloud systems.

Top-of-the range technology for learning and testing covers the entire production process, including warp preparation. A brand-new DS OPTO is used to demonstrate the possibilities of synergistically combining sectional warping used in warp preparation for weaving and direct warping used in warp preparation for warp knitting. This universal, hybrid principle provides maximum flexibility and economic viability when processing beams for warp knitting.

The Academy also profits from being close to the KARL MAYER Development Centre. If there is a demand for market-related courses on special machines equipped with the latest technology, the models in the innovation centre can be used for short-term training.

With its overall concept and equipment, the new premises of the KARL MAYER Academy will provide the know-how and expertise on both the theoretical and practical production of warp-knitted textiles for today and tomorrow. The foundations for additional E-training are also laid here.

Being creative – by exchanging ideas and testing in relation to production

The TEXTILE MAKERSPACE is located very close to the KARL MAYER Academy. The company’s own innovation platform is based on exchanging information and exploiting synergistic effects. It is available to creative pioneers in the textile and new technologies sectors, and provides space for testing, developing and lateral thinking. Its aims are to develop new applications even outside the traditional textile machinery sector, to act as the starting point for new ideas, and to produce the first visualisations of products. “Genuine, new textile applications are generated in an efficient, uniform process in our TEXTILE MAKERSPACE – from the initial thought process to the prototype. This enables product developers to arrive at innovative end-uses much more quickly,” says Michael Kieren, the main initiator of the TEXTILE MAKERSPACE. The proximity to the KARL MAYER Academy ensures that ideas are developed to suit the possibilities offered by industrial production. Fabrics with individual and extremely end-use-specific requirements in terms of yarns, patterns and characteristics can be tested on the production machines used for training, using all the company’s expertise

Michael Kieren and the MAKERSPACE community have already put some new developments in motion. Smart textiles, wearables and 3D printed garments have been the focus of various trade fairs and events for some time now.

About the KARL MAYER Academy

The KARL MAYER Academy provides know-how on machine handling, maintenance and textile analysis. Basic and advanced courses, tailor-made to suit the needs of the participants having different levels of knowledge and learning objectives, are available in the relevant subject areas. However, specific requirements can also be taken into account. With locations in Germany, China and India, the Academy also caters for national requirements. A well-balanced mix of theory and practice guarantees sustainable and successful learning. The Academy at the headquarters employs four experienced instructors. The courses are held in English, German and Spanish and last from one to four weeks. The following training courses are currently offered on a regular basis:

• Introduction to the principles of warp knitting (WKB)
• Advanced course on warp knitting machines (WKS)
• Advanced course on multibar raschel machines (WKM)
• Advanced course on ML machines
• Advanced course on double-bar raschel machines (WKD)
• Training courses on warping machines for weaving
• Training courses on direct warping machines for warp knitting (on request)