The flat knit expert

You are from Malaysia. How did you end up working for Bauerfeind in Germany?

Thanks to my professional contact with an employee at OTEX, a yarn manufacturer in Flöha, Germany. I worked with her in Sri Lanka for eleven years. She told me about Bauerfeind in Zeulenroda and that I could work there. I eventually decided to make this move to gain new experiences.

What are your responsibilities here?

I design new ideas to further develop the knitting technology at Bauerfeind in the future, and I do my best to support the production teams when they have technical questions, for example during the manufacture of the VenoTrain curaflow.

As a flat knit expert you had a particular idea...

Exactly. When Covid-19 started spreading, we all needed face masks. So I told my supervisor Gerti Stegmann about my idea to make knitted masks with an insert for a filter. I developed the knitting program within a week. I think every Bauerfeind employee has received one of these masks by now – and I’m happy that I could help protect people from Covid-19.

What do you do when you finish work?

I’m an athlete! [He laughs.] I play football for FC Motor Zeulenroda, my number is 21. If there is no football training, I play tennis. And I talk to my family on the phone every day.

When did you see your wife and sons last?

Almost a year ago, it’s crazy. Because of Covid-19, flying to Malaysia has been very difficult. I will finally see my family again in December. I’m allowed to enter the country but I have to stay in a hotel for two weeks – quarantine. Then I’m allowed to return home.