MCT’s Focus is on fully versatile “Textile + Traditional” Finishing 

Milwaukee, WI - MCT’s Versa-Tech™ Digital Finishing Solutions, brought to the American market together with partner Blackman & White, took another step forward at ISA 2014.  The team successfully debuted its new Versa-Tech Laser™ solution that allows virtually any material to be finished in grand format print operations from fabric only to the fully variable materials capable of being printed with today’s wide ranging grand format printers. 

This system combines all of the elements of routing or tangential knife cutting and creasing of traditional materials. For traditional work it supports a fully automated conveying capability using non-woven conveyor materials. When used with the 140 watt liquid cooled laser, a patent pending second conveyor with an aluminum skin automates the laser cutting of fabrics. Available in both 1.6 m (5 ft) and 3.2 m (10 ft) widths and 3.2 m to 6.4 m lengths, this is the only such system available.  In addition, through the MCT staff’s long history in the “cut to print” marketplace, starting in 1999, with the invention of the i-cut® vision software at MGE, MCT can provide significantly more application support for its print and cut customers than others who have been solely in the laser fabric cutting business.  

Nikolai Mikkelsen, President of MCT says that “the investment in finishing equipment pays for itself many times over in labor savings alone. It is not unusual to see cutting systems installed 10-15 years ago still running and making money today, while you will find few, if any digital printer being used after 5, let alone 15 years.” Mikkelsen also comments that “the average digital print provider changes out digital printers on average every 3-5 years, while digital finishing equipment owner can expect that investment to last more than 10 years.” Interestingly, MCT’s early adopter customers are finding paybacks of significantly less than one year with these systems, a real bargain in today’s technology world.

Also featured at ISA was the MCT/Crest RSC CI (Roll to Sheet Converter) that is available in 3 widths of 1.6 m, 2.5 m and 3.2 m (63, 90 and 126 in) and is a “square or rectangular” cutting system for fast processing of rolls with the ability to maintain precise image registration or exact cut lengths. The MCT/Crest RSC is unique in its ability to also do roll-to-roll processing for specialized applications utilizing standard cold knives, and it also can provide hot knife cutting in both directions with full automation. Hot knives seal the edges much like a laser does, giving the CREST RSC a broader range of uses than other rectangular cutters.

The MCT/Crest RSC CI uses registration marks on just one side of the image to sense when to cut and also be used to alert an operator of an image change over. The Crest RSC CI can also be uniquely equipped with an integrated light box for quality control and inspection of backlit images. MCT is the exclusive distributor for these CREST solutions in the NAFTA.

While not exhibited at ISA, MCT/BW also sells flatbed Multi-Tech™ Systems – receiving the 2012 SGIA Finishing Product of the Year Award. This system is “uniquely is able to handle laser cutting and larger sizes while still retaining the traditional ability to blade knife or rotary blade cut difficult to cut fabrics such as cotton and canvas. Its uniqueness is also in its ability to be custom configured in a range of sizes up to 6 m (19.5 ft) wide and 100 m (325 ft) long.