On 25th July, flat knitting machine manufacturer Stoll, a business unit of the Karl Mayer Group, opened a new customer centre in Reutlingen-Betzingen, completing its move to the new location in the west of its hometown of Reutlingen. The first part of the production was relocated from the city centre back in 1987, which was followed in 2004 by the remaining part of the production, and in 2020 by the move into a new development centre.
For the time being, the ceremonial opening of the new building took place in a closer regional setting. Among the guests were Finance and Economic Mayor Roland Wintzen and Economics Minister Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, as well as members of the Stoll family, the architect and general contractor of the project, and the neighbours. The inauguration for customers, other business partners and the workforce is planned for 2023. It is to crown the celebrations of the German company’s 150th anniversary.
The doors of the new building are already open for exchanges with interested industry players, Stoll reports. “The new customer centre is intended to be an inspiring meeting place for partners in the textile value chain. Through exchange and joint projects, we want to drive relevant innovations related to flat knitting,” said Andreas Schellhammer, Head of the Stoll Business Unit during his welcome speech.
Cooperation within the textile industry is nothing new for Stoll, but what is new, however, are the possibilities offered by the modern customer centre. Workshops, a showroom with the latest Stoll trend collection and an extensive sample archive invites visitors to experiment, research and inform themselves.
State-of-the-art equipment is available for training courses to impart knowledge. There is also a well-equipped machine park with up to thirty flat knitting machines, finishing technology and digital tools. Experts in machine and software development and in the field of textile applications provide technical support.
The know-how and machine technology are also available to existing and entry-level customers for implementing their own ideas through to the finished textile solution. The offer is part of the Karl Mayer Group’s new TexLab format, which will be worldwide in the future. “Customers can get an idea of Stoll’s innovative strength here. The building is extremely impressive, from the outside and even more so when you enter,” explained Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut.
With its customer-centric orientation and representative architecture, the new meeting point in Reutlingen-Betzingen has overarching significance. “The customer centre is the innovation hub for flat knitting topics in the Karl Mayer Group and thus makes a fundamental contribution to innovation leadership,” said Andreas Schellhammer.
In addition to purpose and appearance, the issue of sustainability was also important in the construction of the customer centre. The building with its approximately 5000m² of floor space is fully insulated, a heat pump system takes care of a large part of the air conditioning and LED lighting provides light at the workplaces for up to 100 employees.
