Shima Seiki weaves technology, design into breakthrough quality knitwear

When Masahiro Shima started his glove-knitting machine factory in 1962, all he intended to do was to automate the production of safe, reliable and perfectly designed knitted gloves. Turning the glove bottom-up and connecting the three finger pockets in the middle, he realised the process can also be applied to produce knitted sweaters.

Harnessing his engineering spirit, Shima went on to establish Shima Seiki, a company that today serves the world's computerised flat knitting machine markets in more than

90 countries. The same spirit embodies Shima Seiki's employees as designers work towards creativity, ingenuity and exceeding boundaries on a daily basis.

From pioneering the development of automated machines for knitting gloves, Shima Seiki has become a major supplier for the advancement of knitted apparel, accessories and various textiles for the fashion, furnishing, automotive and aerospace industries.

"We made the impossible possible," says Dr Masahiro Shima, president. "We took a complicated industry, studied it and streamlined it into a modern viable business."

Shima Seiki offers complete textile production solutions including a full range of knitting, cutting and inkjet printing machines. The company's knitwear technology is unrivalled and continues to advance, producing groundbreaking textile manufacturing systems.

Among its pioneering solutions is the takedown comb used to perform individual-shaped knitting on a short needlebed. This innovation became the benchmark for knit manufacturing worldwide. The company's Digital Stitch Control System supports modern knit producers as they respond to market demand for higher-quality knit.