Innovations are one of the most important factors in the success of the KARL MAYER GROUP and form the basis of its reputation: the company has been regarded as an influential technology leader in the textile industry for decades. In order to develop its pioneering solutions, the industry leader takes a variety of approaches, including completely new ones, as demonstrated by the example of the collaboration between its Warp Knitting Machines Division and IPEK - Institute of Product Development at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

The joint project combines practical experience and research, and was launched on 12 October 2023 with a kick-off meeting at the KARL MAYER GROUP's headquarters in Obertshausen. The main protagonists are 42 IPEK students, who are working separately in seven teams to develop exclusive solutions to a uniform innovation task set by the company in a compact creative phase. The results - one prototype per working group - are to be presented as early as February 2024. In addition, a wide range of positive impulses are expected for the company's own development activities, because innovations need not only good ideas but also effective methods.



Prototypes, methodological know-how and more

The subject of the task at KARL MAYER is the warp knitting machine. It has to be optimized in a targeted manner so that it meets the user requirements of tomorrow's customers. The future is to be looked at as far as the year 2030.

Knut Wantzen, the internal client of the project, hopes that the view from outside will provide inspiration and learning effects. "We are learning more about the procedure behind a perfect innovation process and about the latest product development methods, and we are getting ideas about what is possible with them," says the head of KARL MAYER's Advanced Features department.

In solving the task set, the youngsters use the latest organizational know-how and modern development methods from IPEK - the institute's main research areas - as well as tried and tested tools from similar projects. The project has been running for 25 years. It runs once a year with a different selected partner, including major companies such as BMW, Bosch, TRUMPF and Hilti. KARL MAYER is looking forward to being part of it in 2023.

In addition, Knut Wantzen and project manager Alexandra Bahnmann are hoping for positive effects in brand-building and in the acquisition of skilled workers. "Only selected, high-performing, top-trained students take part in the IPEK's coveted practical project - a good opportunity for us to present ourselves to them as an innovative employer," says the Innovation Manager at KARL MAYER.



Tried and tested approach to a challenging task

All the work for the challenging objective is in the hands of the students. From the market analysis to the construction of the prototype, everything is being done by the budding mechanical engineers, industrial engineers, mechatronics engineers and electronics engineers - and according to a tight schedule.

At the kick-off event at the KARL MAYER GROUP in October, the future specialists found out for the first time who their client was. They got to know the company during a machine-related tour of the plant, and were able to make important contacts during an evening event. Immediately afterwards, it was back to IPEK for the start of the actual work. In several phases, research is carried out, potentials are estimated, scenarios are developed and trends are analyzed. Ideas and concepts are developed, which are prioritized and concretized in stages after regular milestone meetings with the KARL MAYER GROUP. The decisions for the next step in each case are made by a committee of the client.

"In the end, we have seven prototypes for seven ideas, but also, in addition, numerous other approaches at different stages of maturity that could be of interest to us in the long term," explains Knut Wantzen.

Along the way, the project teams are supported by IPEK scientists in terms of methodology and management. When it comes to questions about the subject of the task, the warp knitting machine, mentors from the KARL MAYER GROUP are on hand to help them. The employees from different areas with a connection to innovation and with branching networks already have many ideas for working with the students.

"The support of colleagues who are enthusiastic about new things is very important to us. This is how we live up to our responsibility for the result," says Alexandra Bahnmann.

The results, seven prototypes, will be presented in February 2024 at a final event with an in-house trade fair at IPEK in Karlsruhe. Knut Wantzen is already looking forward to the new developments. "I'm really excited to see how today's generation of students approaches our topic," says the mechanical engineer with a doctorate, who had already participated in such an IPEK project several years ago, albeit as a student at the time.