Döhler from Brazil visits Mayer & Cie., “manufacturer of reliable, precise and failsafe circular knitting machines” for mattress ticking and shoe uppers.

At our facilities in Albstadt, we welcomed a delegation from Döhler, a well-known and long-established Brazilian textile company based in Joinville. With Ramon Puff, project analyst, and Lucas Döhler, managing director of Döhler, we had a chat in “Portañol” (a mix between Spanish and Portuguese, soon expanded to also include German and English) on their line of business, different industry segments, and Mayer & Cie. circular knitting machines to foster their product lines of mattress ticking and shoe uppers.

Lucas, would you please introduce your company and your line of business?

We are a family-owned and family-run company, just like Mayer & Cie. We’ve been in the textile business for 142 years now. We have about 3,000 employees and our headquarters are based in Joinville.

We serve three segments; firstly, there are home textiles for domestic consumers. That covers bath towels, tablecloths, bed sheets, kitchen and curtains. We also serve institutional customers, providing towels and bed sheets for the hospitality sector, with high requirements. For business users, we offer fabrics for furniture, blinds, mattress and shoes industries. For these last two market segments we use Mayer machines.

What do you appreciate most in a Mayer & Cie. machine?

Lucas Döhler: I consider Mayer & Cie. a very good supplier, I have a strong confidence in their machines. We’ve been working with Mayer for many years. They are very low maintenance, and the products we get from the machines are of very good quality. For shoe uppers, for producing the butterfly, the machine needs to work very precisely, strictly following the required pattern. With Mayer & Cie. we’ve never had any issues there.  

I can add that the Mayer & Cie. agent in Brazil is very helpful. They have a knowledgeable technician. He’s given us valuable support many times and we’ve profited from his experience.

Ramon Puff: Just like Lucas, I’m impressed by the machines’ precision. This becomes obvious in the fabrics that these machines produce. Besides, I like their durability and the fact that they are easy to handle.  

What can we do better still?

Ramon Puff: The more productivity the better. Also, it’s always good if one single machine can do as many different designs as possible. 

Lucas Döhler: An attractive price-performance ratio is a convincing argument. Mayer & Cie. no doubt offers first-class technology. In the future, the connectivity of the machines will become crucial. So far, we’ve been working with a “human interface”, but we need to integrate our machine park with our planning and control systems. 

What’s your perspective on the market for the future?

Lucas Döhler: Mattress ticking and shoe uppers are growing segments. We changed our system to SAP last year, so we are in the phase of adapting right now and are prepared to grow. In comparison with competitive products, we stand out through – customized – design and proximity to the customer. Mayer & Cie. machines provide us with the flexibility we need to do so.