Written by 
By Dirk Melzer, Melzer maschinenbau.
For more than 60 years, MELZER maschinenbau has been successfully producing customised machines and production equipment, including processing systems for smart products such as smart labels, plastic cards, e-Government solutions, and special products and labels, as well as ID cards, contactless cards, and RFID inlays. Users benefit from patented machine technology, modular processing systems, and pre-selection for the optimisation of production processes.
High quality production equipment that functions for decades
Customers around the world rely on individual solutions in combination with the unique modular design that produces high-quality products for the pharmaceutical, automotive, telecommunication, microelectronic, public transport, and printing industry. MELZER offer high quality, support, and a steady availability of spare parts for the entire life cycle of the machine – regardless how long the machines are in production.
International success with customised solutions
Being a third generation family business, MELZER develops individual production solutions together with their customers. Every machine for the production of ID documents, smart tickets, smart labels, and RFID technology is customised and exclusively ‘Made in Germany’.
The MELZER specialists produce everything in-house: mechanical parts, control cabinets and software. MELZER is especially successful internationally with its innovative solutions. Long-term sales partners guarantee fast and reliable local service, and assure a continuously increasing number of satisfied customers, for example in Asia, many RFID apparel tags for the textile industry are produced with MELZER machines. Quality consciousness is growing in China, where price had been the primary concern until now. The label ‘Made in Germany’ is still reputable, and the machines are considered reliable, durable and economically advantageous.
Patented machine technology and pre-selection optimise production processes
MELZER uses a patented transponder selection before applying the transponder to the substrate. In mere fractions of a second, a defective transponder is being removed from the production process and replaced by a working transponder immediately. The method does not only save time and materials – it also ensures continuous product reliability. Luggage tags or endless badges, where subsequent replacement of defective products is not possible, are processed fully automated on just one machine.
MELZER developed a pioneering solution for RFID chip pre-selection. Chips are separated and tested individually, allowing the rejection of faulty units. This automatic selection process is patented, creating a USP that saves customers money. Chips are steadily becoming more reliable, but the error rates are not yet low enough to produce without a preliminary control. Once processed, chips cannot be removed or replaced. If a manufacturer opts against pre-selection, they will have to throw away a certain percentage of the final product.
High volumes of up to 60,000 labels per hour
MELZER offers high-end customised machines and production equipment for RFID inlays, smart labels, ID cards, e-Government solutions, and many more applications. Customers can select from different machine options:
- The SL-1 with up to 7,000 labels per hour is well suited as an entry-level model, offering high flexibility at low invest- ment costs, as well as the patented selection system.
- With up to 10,000 RFID labels per hour, the SL-100 is the 1-track solution.
- The multi-lane version SL-400 is well suited for the ecomonic production of large volumes of up to 40,000 RFID labels per hour. Both systems are also available as the ticket versions ST-100 and ST-400, respectively, for the production of RFID tickets or other non- adhesive products. The combination of label and ticket production is also avail- able as single and multi-lane versions.
- With a maximum of 60,000 labels per hour, the MELZER SL-600 manufactures high-quality products. The SL-600 also offers production options for miniaturized tran- sponders. The parallel processing of six transponder tracks creates a high production output.
Leading machine manufacturer for secure ID documents
The company has turned into the leading machine manufacturer for ID and passport datapage production equipment. Production of modern credentials poses unique challenges. It includes security features such as RFID transponders, polycarbonate material, DOVIDs, transparent windows, any kind of security threads, and numerous others. These features have to be integrated into the fully automated production process – reliably, in a forgery-proof manner, and very precisely. There is a sizeable need for secure documents in order to reduce the risk of misuse and forgery. In the last ten years, the standard for secure documents has risen, and it will continue to rise. Countries all over the world wish to produce their own document instead of relying on foreign governments or companies. The MELZER modular platform enables clients to continue using this solution when they need to integrate a new security feature. The material cost of a modern biometric passport is several Euros. The reject rate is around one percent, compared to two-digit reject rates for other manufacturing processes. This means a quick ROI for the document manufacturer.