For more than 30 years, customers from various industries have been relying on the specialist for conveyor systems technology: MFP – Maschinen-Förder-Produkte GmbH+Co. KG. A broad product portfolio and the use of state-of-the-art production equipment characterize the family-owned company from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. MFP relies on different technologies for cutting. The latest investment is a smart 2D laser system of the MasterLINE series, which is sold in German-speaking countries under the product name “MSE Smart^FL”.

The family-owned company MFP (Maschinen-Förder-Produkte), which is certified in the field of "development, manufacture and sales of machine conveyor systems", was founded in 1989 by Andreas Melchers with the support of his wife. More than 30 years later, MFP has grown to around 50 employees and is now jointly managed by the founder and his daughter Janina. At the company's headquarters in Finnentrop, North Rhine-Westphalia, everything is provided from a single source on more than 5,000 square meters, including: design, production and assembly. In addition, interested parties can gain a first impression of conveyor systems technology products in the in-house showroom, which are individually tailored to customer requirements for various industries.

Three cutting systems for more flexibility and capacity

In 2014, the family-owned company moved to the production facility in Finnentrop, which was expanded in 2019 and equipped with state-of-the-art production machinery. These include bending systems, an own powder coating and three CNC cutting systems. In just three years, the specialist for conveyor systems technology invested in the three cutting machines, thus making itself independent of contract cutters and securing more flexibility and capacity.

Variety of technologies for even faster processing

Until 2022, the family-owned company used two plasma technology cutting systems. One system was used for processing thicker sheet metal up to 35 mm and the second system was used mainly for thin sheets in the 2 to 3 mm range. Due to changing requirements for the accuracy of the parts to be processed, MFP decided to replace one plasma cutting system with a laser cutting system and thus position itself even wider and also significantly faster in cutting. "We know that we can rely on MicroStep Europa for the installation of the system as well as for training and service. Therefore, it quickly became clear to us that it would be a machine from MicroStep Europa," says Janina Melchers, Managing Director at MFP. The decision was made in favour of a laser cutting machine from the MasterLINE series, which is sold in German-speaking countries under the product name “MSE Smart^FL” with an automatic shuttle table. The powerful 2D laser has been in use since the beginning of 2023 and cuts around 70 percent steel and 30 percent stainless steel with a maximum thickness of 3 mm. As a result, the company is even faster in processing thin materials and can optimally serve the different and individual requirements of customers with the setting of laser, plasma and water steel cutting system. "The advantages are clearly the high level of vertical integration and the clean cuts as well as the speed of the fiber laser," emphasizes Janina Melchers.

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Powerful laser cutting with 4 kW cutting power

For the precise and fast 2D cutting of steel and stainless steel up to 3 mm, MFP – Maschinen-Förder-Produkte relies on the MasterLINE laser series, which is sold in German-speaking countries under the product name “MSE Smart^FL”. The system is characterized by a working area of 3,000 x 1,500 mm and an automatic shuttle table for loading and unloading sheet metal. The laser source is an YLR 4000 from the German manufacturer IPG Photonics with a cutting power of 4 kW. For extraction, an existing filter system was integrated into the cutting system, which is controlled by the MicroStep iMSNC control.