Patrick Moser, Head of Braiding at Mayer & Cie., sees great potential for the braiding sector

Patrick Moser began his career at Mayer & Cie. as a service technician – and still benefits from the valuable insights he gained during his assignments around the globe. Today, these experiences help him tackle the wide range of challenges in his current role, which spans design, assembly, and logistics for Mayer & Cie.’s braiding machines. Although these machines also produce a circular end product, they operate on entirely different principles than circular knitting machines. All the more fascinating for Patrick Moser is the fact that similar processes are applied on both sides. He considers this approach “highly efficient” – and values Mayer & Cie. for its “enormously innovative environment,” which provides fertile ground for progress in his field.

How long have you been with Mayer & Cie. and what are your tasks?

I started at Mayer & Cie. in July 2006. Strictly speaking, this was Mayer Braidtech, the sales and service company for braiding machines, a subsidiary of Mayer Industries. At that time, there was still Mayer Industries, based in Orangeburg, South Carolina, USA, which was responsible for production. Sales, service and spare parts sales were in the hands of Mayer Braidtech.

How has your area of responsibility changed over time? At the latest with the relocation of braider production to Albstadt, the structure has changed from the ground up, right?

I started as a service technician and then successively took over service and project management. Since 2018, I have been in charge of the braiding machines division, first as Managing Director of Mayer Braidtech and from 2021 as Head of Braiding at Mayer & Cie. My tasks are enormously diverse: they include assembly, development, service, materials management, and sales/marketing. Rainer Schmid is in charge of machines sales as head of department.

That’s a wide range of tasks! Do you have a hobbyhorse?

Not in itself. In terms of training and career, I am of course most deeply involved in technology, i.e. assembly and service, as well as in technical sales.

To this day, I benefit enormously from my time as a service technician, when I was on site with customers for several weeks at a time to install or maintain machines. In the process, I not only got to know and understand our own machines down to the smallest detail, but also upstream and downstream machines as well as braiding machines from other manufacturers.

How would you describe the relationship between braiding lines and circular knitting machines at Mayer & Cie.?

We are a company within the company, an independent area within a larger construct. It is interesting that we work with the same process landscape as the circular knitting machines in the production of braiding machines. The products have nothing in common with each other, but the process in the house is still the same. This is highly efficient.

The market for braiding machines is much smaller in volume than the circular knitting machine market. We only work with representatives in selected countries if there is a certain market volume or if direct sales do not make sense due to language barriers or cultural aspects. In exceptional cases, we also “share” a representation with the circular knitting sector, such as Batliboi in India.

The largest market for braiding machines is China, where more than 50 percent of the hydraulic hoses manufactured worldwide are produced. The USA and Italy are also large markets. In itself, our business is rather project-driven; where such a project is realized geographically is then secondary.

What excites you about your work?

The variety and the daily challenges. I mean it the same way: On Monday, the designer has an issue, on Tuesday a part is missing in materials management, and on Wednesday we have a service issue. Of course, I hope that not all “crises” happen on Monday – but you can get that sorted too.

What are your highlights?

Relocating production from Mayer Industries to Albstadt was a major undertaking due to its sheer scale. We had to start from scratch – determining how much space the production line would require, what equipment was needed, and how to transfer the know-how and expertise from the U.S. to Germany. To ensure a successful transition, we sent our technicians to Orangeburg for several months. The experience and insights of our service team – including my own – played a key role in making the project a success.

In addition, an entirely new supply chain had to be built from the ground up. It proved beneficial that production continued in both the U.S. and Germany for around nine months. While this parallel operation wasn’t initially planned, the strong order situation made it necessary – and it allowed us to source parts from the U.S. when needed and resolve a few open questions along the way.

Did you “transfer” the American braiding machines 1:1 to Germany or did you have to make adjustments?

It made sense to make adjustments: every part and every step was put on the table. In the course of the relocation, we immediately made technical improvements, such as the servo motor and an improved soundproof cabin.

What do you appreciate about Mayer & Cie.?

I value the structure of a family-owned business – the personal connections among colleagues and the strong sense of responsibility shown by the owners.

In our day-to-day work, I especially appreciate the short decision-making paths and the fast response times. Innovation is a top priority at Mayer & Cie.: we continuously invest in modern systems and processes, and our production is highly automated. In circular knitting, for example, we’ve been using induction hardening for several years. In braiding, we rely on dynamic simulation – a key factor in the successful development of the MR-11 with 48 carriers.

How do you assess the further development potential of the business unit?

As very good. We recently launched the 48 carriers, an important milestone that we are proud of.

We are seeing more and more requests for interlinked systems and in-line processes, where other units are to be integrated into the braiding line. It is also conceivable that the portfolio could be expanded to include other types of braiding machines.