Introduction to Milwaukee Composites Inc.
The history of Milwaukee Composites Inc goes back over 25 years from the time when Jeff Kober, now CEO and President, spoke with a chief engineer at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), who was tired of the floors in SEPTA rail cars wearing out and needing replacement. The chief engineer said “I’m done with the old floors,” Kober remembered. “I’m sick of replacing them.”
Milwaukee Composites Inc. has been manufacturing and supplying its patented, lightweight, fire-safe, long-lasting, moisture-resistant phenolic composite products since 1997.
With over 25 years in the business, MCI’s innovative, lightweight and fire-resistant products have been installed on mass transit vehicles throughout the world and have never failed.
The company’s first structural subfloor set, installed on SEPTA’s M4 vehicles, (Philadelphia, PA. USA) have travelled more than 957 million kilometres with no required maintenance!
MCI products are installed in over 20,000 individual rail/bus/streetcar vehicles, that’s more than a total of 558,000 square metres!
MCI supplies products to all major global transit vehicle manufacturers and direct to global transit agencies/operators.
MCI products are currently in use within North America, Europe, Japan, China, Australia and India.
Our team of advanced composite manufacturing experts take pride in stating that our products have never failed. Our advanced composite products exceed the design expectations of our customers and we continue to find new and innovative solutions to compliment today’s modern transit vehicles.
We’re highly accomplished, energetic, enthusiastic and innovative. We want to help you realise your ambitions of reducing your carbon footprint through the more efficient use of energy by lightweighting vehicle manufacturing while also saving lives with our fire-safe and versatile phenolic resin composites.
In the UK and EU – our products pass the EN 45545 fire safety test with the best rating of an HL3. MCI has also passed the BS 6853 with a Class 1a rating when required;
MCI products eliminated water damage concerns such as those encountered by London Underground. MCI floors replaced failing aluminium honeycomb floors that had become a safety risk due to water absorption and had previously incurred costly repairs to the Capital’s Piccadilly line fleet.
MCI’s first application of its patented advanced phenolic composite products was as a subfloor. More recently, MCI products have been used as:
Ceiling panels – LRV carbody builders have been able to significantly reduce weight by using our ultra-thin panel construction as ceiling panels that are installed within their existing sidewalls and ceiling frames.
MCI has worked with Eversholt, Chicago Metra and New York City Transit to demonstrate the advantages of using our advanced phenolic composite structures as a door panel.
MCI can help customers eliminate the need for large, heavy, expensive sidewall heaters in their most modern LRVs with MCI’s patented, radiant heated floor system. Among the benefits that have been realised has been increased legroom and fire safety benefits gained from the eradication of metal grilles which would collect dust, fluff and debris.
We have been proud suppliers to:
- Siemens
- Alstom
- Kawasaki Heavy Industries
- Nippon Sharyo
- Kinkisharyo LLC
- Hyundai-Rotem
- BEML (Bangalore, India)
- SATCO (Hong Kong)
- Gillig Corporation
- New Flyer Industries
- China Southern (CSR)
- China Northern (CNR)
International Passenger Transport Authorities relying on our quality manufactured products include:
- London Underground
- New York City Transit (New York, NY)
- BART (San Francisco, CA)
- SEPTA (Philadelphia, PA)
- MTR (Hong Kong)
- METRA (Chicago, IL)
- MBTA (Boston, MA)
- TRIMET (Portland, OR)
- NJT (New Jersey, NJ)
- WMATA (Washington, DC)
- MUNI Bus (San Francisco, CA) AMTRAK
We are immensely proud of our capability to pass the most demanding global standards for resistance to flame, fire, spread of flame, release of toxic gases and smoke.
We celebrated 25 years of our business in 2022 and we look forward to sharing our innovations with you to make your business successful. MCI thinks locally, even though it operates internationally.
We look forward to discussing how our advanced phenolic composite products can add value to your modern transit vehicles in ways you may not have imagined until now.
Lightweight
MCI’s Phenolic Composite panels weigh 30-50% less than other flooring systems. MCI products have saved 409 Kg/railcar for (e.g.) New York City Transit compared to plywood and plymetal flooring used before 2006; our panels are extensively used at TfL London Underground;
Water Resistant
With excellent performance in a tough and unforgiving landscape, Milwaukee Composites offer superlative resistance to hydrolysis and delamination;
Acoustically beneficial
Our phenolic resin floors reduce and eliminate drumming and vibration, providing an acoustic barrier and excellent insulation potential;
Robust
MCI floors have been in revenue service, without failure, for over 25 years - cutting your fleet life cycle and maintenance costs. Our floors will exceed the design life of the vehicle, as evidenced by glowing recommendations and testimonials from our long-established customers;
Versatile
MCI can help customers eliminate the need for large, heavy, expensive sidewall heaters with our patented, radiant heated floor system. Among the benefits that have been realised has been increased legroom and fire safety benefits gained from the eradication of metal grilles which would collect dust, fluff and debris.
Fire Safe
Naturally the best choice for resistance to flame, low smoke and fume emissions, and structurally resistant under attack from direct fire, Milwaukee Composites provides the obvious choice for a fire barrier to protect against the escape of flames and toxic gases from energy storage and generating spaces. MCI products pass all global fire safety requirements for flame/smoke/toxicity. Ours are among the most tested and the most full-scale tested phenolic resin composite product manufacturers, having been a part of more than 50 globally recognised Fire Endurance Tests in 25 years;
Adaptable
MCI can undertake a variety of customisations for our customers, ranging from applying hardware, rubber matting, installing threaded inserts, painting and the application of aesthetic and other specialised graphic films and decals. We pride ourselves on being continuously active in research consortia in the fields of fire protection for automotive, bus & coach, rail vehicles and in the protection of new & emerging energy sources.
Why MCI
Advanced Material Science today for the rigourous demands of tomorrow. We’re highly accomplished, energetic, enthusiastic, collaborative and innovative. We want to help you realise your ambitions to reduce your carbon footprint through the more efficient use of energy by lightweighting vehicle manufacture while also saving lives with our fire-safe and versatile phenolic resin composites.
Bottom line
We celebrated our 25th year in business last year and look forward to sharing our innovations with you to make your business successful.
