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An interview with Dirk Melzer, Melzer maschinenbau.
Silicon Trust met up with Dirk Melzer of the latest Silicon Trust Partner, family-run business Melzer maschinenbau, to find out more about why this “Made in Germany” brand has managed to stay successful in a slow-moving market and with plenty of competitors worldwide.
Mr. Melzer, your company has been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to specialized machine construction. What are the drivers behind this success?
Well, for 60 years now, MELZER has been serving customers all over the world with tailor-made solutions. Our clients appreciate the flexibility, reliability, experience and competence of our team, which in turn ensures that the customer requirements are turned into high quality machines. All of the design, manufacturing and assembly of our machines, parts and components are done in-house to the highest standards. Combined with the company’s flexibility, this enables MELZER to quickly analyze special requirements and turn them into high quality solutions.
Which markets are you targeting with your machines?
Our modular designed machines are being used to manufacture highly precise and very sophisticated multi-layer products for the pharmaceutical, automotive, telecommunication, microelectronic, public transport, printing and many other industries. In terms of products, this includes the production of plastic cards, chip cards, RFID cards and inlays, NID cards, e-passports, e-visa-stickers and RFID labels.
What is MELZER’s mission?
The worldwide success of MELZER is the motivation to continu- ously improve quality, reliability and cost-effectiveness of our products, while achieving higher levels of performance. So, really, anticipating the latest developments and doing whatever it takes to serve customers’ needs is MELZER’s mission
How does MELZER serve the market for secure ID solutions?
We offer flexible production solutions for the next generation of multiple ID and security documents that, according to the ICAO standard, are provided with contactless technologies. Thanks to the modular and compatible design of each machine series, indi- vidual solutions can be created out of the existing components. This not only saves development time, but makes each MELZER production line a reliable and future-proof investment. Whether e-passport, e-NID, e-driving licences or e-visa sticker – all RFID documents have an inlay that can be produced on MELZER M4 machines.
For e-passport holder page production, e-NID cards and all other RFID data carriers made of plastic and being in ID-1, ID-2 and ID-3 format, the MELZER card lamination line offers the ideal production environment. Short cycle times are easy on materials and electronics and the highest precision and process stability ensure an absolutely reliable production of high-end RFID products.
Also for producing e-passport covers and e-visa stickers, MELZER offers special solutions that can be adjusted to the requirements.
What are you demonstrating at this year’s Trustech?
At TRUSTECH 2016, MELZER presented its solutions for the production of high-end ID documents. MELZER’s unique Inline Production System (IPS) fully automatically integrates DOVIDs, look-through windows and other state-of-the-art security elements to produce MRTDs, such as national identity cards, border crossing cards, driver licences and data pages for electronic passports. Integrating roll stock and sheet materials, MELZER’s production equipment laminates multiple layers of polycarbonate and other advanced materials. The patented lamination process takes only 20–30 seconds at 175–200°C, ensuring that RFID inlays, special inks, DOVIDs and security threads are successfully incorporated into the document.