From blank stock to personalized smart cards, completely inline

Paris, France, November 18, 2003–Datacard Group today introduced an inline solution for the high-volume production and personalization of smart cards. The company introduced the Datacard® MPR5000 card production and personalization system today at CARTES 2003 in Paris.

“This is the first system that takes the important step of integrating on-demand smart card production with high-quality card personalization,” said Mike Schnaus, vice president of marketing and corporate development for Datacard Group. “The result is an end-to-end solution that helps card issuers fully capitalize on emerging smart card opportunities. This modular system is an excellent fit for service bureaus, card manufacturers, telecommunications, secure ID, financial and healthcare environments.

The Datacard MPR5000 system handles every step of the smart card production process, including card cavity milling, chip embedding, GSM Sim punching and chip testing. After smart cards are produced and tested for quality, they move downstream to card personalization modules, which can be configured to include magnetic stripe encoding, smart card personalization, laser engraving and high-speed inkjet printing.

Optional production modules include an additional 500 card input module, dual interface and contactless smart card modules, an antenna detection module that monitors cavity depth and a quality assurance module featuring a video inspection station.

A highly efficient smart card personalization module offers unmatched productivity and flexibility, due to a unique personalization barrel design. The barrel can be configured with 12, 24, 36 or 48 smart card personalization heads for maximum throughput.

“This high-speed system can produce up to 3,600 cards per hour. This provides our customers with the capability to quickly and efficiently produce, personalize and bring their smart cards to market,” said Schnaus.