A company shows its colours
Georg+Otto Friedrich – KARL MAYER‘s first warp knitting customer and a consistent advocate of quality and sustainability
The KARL MAYER GROUP is proud of its long-standing partnerships. Some of them have been in existence since the very beginning, and one of them recently celebrated a round anniversary: the first warp knitting machine produced by the innovative textile machine manufacturer based in Obertshausen was sent on 10 September 1948 to Georg+Otto Friedrich, a leading producer of warp-knitted digital printing fabrics and technical textiles in the neighboring town of Groß-Zimmern. As a token of its solidarity, the loyal customer has donated an old treasure – the seventh machine built – to KARL MAYER’s Academy.
Setting trends in warp knitting
After the first investment 75 years ago, the two companies have grown continuously together and have advanced warp knitting. Georg+Otto Friedrich has tested many new KARL MAYER models in live operation in its workshops, thus helping them to be successful. In addition, valuable impulses for further developments came from the resourceful textile producer. “280″ were considered technically unfeasible for a long time. Today KARL MAYER builds even wider machines,” recalls Managing Director Kai Trippel of an example of this.
Today, Georg+Otto Friedrich is the largest customer of the model of KARL MAYER’s most modern generation of tricot machines, the HKS 3-M ON. Just in December 2022, the last machines of an extensive investment project were put into operation. The company produces around 650 tons of warp-knitted fabrics per month at its sites in Groß-Zimmern in Hesse and Limbach-Oberfrohna in Saxony.
In Neresheim in Baden-Württemberg, there is a separate company for textile finishing. Thanks to the high technical level of the machines and the know-how of the employees, the textile products made by Georg+Otto Friedrich are of the highest quality.
Leadership position obligates
In addition to high quality, the company focuses on sustainability. “As the leading manufacturer of textile solutions in Europe and as the world market leader in the field of digitally printable warp-knitted polyester fabrics, we have a special responsibility for environmental and social issues,” explains Philipp Seubert, Managing Director of GOF Industrial. Georg+Otto Friedrich, for example, was a pioneer in the processing of recycled materials, starting with the first processing tests around ten years ago.
It then took a good five years to develop the market for this new material. “We first had to explain a lot why a PET recycled in Europe has a much smaller carbon footprint and what effort is involved in collecting, sorting, cleaning, etc,” says Philipp Seubert. Today, complete product lines and diverse articles made from recycled post-consumer PET are offered. Of particular note here is DecoTex Blue, a sustainable textile developed by Georg+Otto Friedrich together with the SEAQUAL® initiative.
The fabric consists of over 60% SEAQUAL® polyester fibers, made from recycled marine plastic. By participating in the PLANT-MY-TREE® reforestation program, the manufacturer also aims to completely offset the CO₂ footprint of its recycled textiles within a few years.
By August 2023, around 6,000 trees had already been planted.In addition to recycling, Georg+Otto Friedrich focuses on the topic of energy. “The solutions to many of today’s problems require energy. It is important to us to save electricity and use renewable energy”, emphasizes Jonas Menzel from Purchasing. Looking over the hall roofs in Groß-Zimmern, it becomes clear that the company is serious about this: solar cells on the buildings as far as the eye can see. Around 30 % of the energy required comes from the company’s own generation. The installed capacity can supply 800 households.
Georg+Otto Friedrich is therefore well positioned for the future. KARL MAYER Sales Manager Julian Schubert is looking forward to a continued bilaterally successful cooperation. He particularly appreciates the exchange at eye level.
