Microcut/Colter & Peterson expands market reach at Graphics of the Americas

Fishing in Florida at this time of year is usually very good, and it’s not always limited to the sea. At Graphics of the Americas, held Feb. 22-24 at the Broward Convention Center in Ft. Lauderdale, Microcut/Colter & Peterson experienced an uptick in traffic and had plenty of action on their lines – in this case the three Microcut® retrofit software programs that can turn any used paper cutter into a highly effective finishing machine.

“It was busier than last year. We certainly had more traffic come through our booth, especially the first two days,” said Richard Peereboom, President of C&P Microsystems. ”From a footprint standpoint, it was a smaller show than last year. That’s not really unexpected since last year was when the show moved from Miami to the new venue. This show was a great opportunity to meet some new resellers from different countries.”

In the last five years, Peereboom said Colter & Peterson's Microcut computer control system has expanded its reach with customers in Mexico and Central America. Last year he met with new resellers from South America. Apparently, word spread as more South Americans found their way to the booth. Once there, they learned how the software programs for Microcut PLUS XL, COLOR and JR. improve productivity, increase efficiency, and have a total positive effect on a shop’s bottom line.

“Most of the people at GOA knew about our product, but I did talk with a few from Ecuador and Peru who are looking to add new product lines,” said Peereboom. “We were demonstrating the Microcut PLUS XL with the larger 15-inch touch screen. It also has network capabilities, a better graphics program and converts JDF files. They were impressed with those features and were very interested in how you can easily change out the cut clamp circuit.”

Peereboom said expanding Microcut’s global presence has helped, given it has over 30,000 installations worldwide. Pointing out that it is compatible with nearly every brand of new or used paper cutters, he indicated many people at first don’t realize the huge benefit that comes with installing a Microcut retrofit program.

“They basically are getting a new paper cutter with the electronics program, and at a greatly reduced cost compared to going out and buying a new machine,” commented Peereboom. “Microcut gives you the ability to update an older cutter to modern standards. For example, if you have a machine from the 1980s that is physically in good shape, it still is a solid piece of equipment. By adding Microcut, you have a fully functional paper cutter and you’ve eliminated the cost to bring the riggers in, remove the tables to take out the old machine and then install the new one. That can be quite an experience, but it’s not necessary with a retrofit package.”

Peereboom said there are significant time-saving benefits with Microcut that can improve customer productivity by 50 percent or more. This includes operator friendly programming that stores and recalls cut sequences automatically. Hit a key and the back gauge moves to a pre-set position and it makes highly accurate cuts within 1/64th of an inch.

“We have a Microcut program for every size shop,” sums up Peereboom. “Anyone who stopped by our booth at GOA saw this first hand. I’m very encouraged by the discussions we had and I’m looking forward to continuing the dialogue in the weeks ahead.”