Signarama Chatswood says the wider range of products offered by its recently installed wide format printer-cutter has more than doubled production.
Owners Marlin and Flora Wang add the new Roland Pro4 XR-640 to their Rastek H652 UV hybrid roll-to-roll and flatbed printer and will be able to hire more staff only a year after buying the franchise sign shop.
Marlin Wang says the store’s sales have grown at a steady rate, in part thanks to its increased production capacity and broader range of applications possible after installing the Roland printer cutter.
“We can now have both printers running so we not only get more roll-to-roll work, but we also get more corflute and rigid work as the XR-640 has freed up the flatbed,” he says.
“It runs around five hours every day but till now we have only one production person so that is our main limitation.”
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The pair had no print experience when they bought the franchise last November, coming from and IT and mathematics background, making training an important consideration when looking for a new machine.
“We did the Roland training course which gave us basic production skills, so I run the machine when possible, but I also have many other jobs to keep the business running,” Marlin says.
“Thankfully, the new printer is easy to operate. I really do not need to worry about anything like media feed errors, colour banding or head strikes.
“With our flatbed, I need to watch it while it is printing, but the Roland makes life so much easier, which means I can get on with other jobs while it prints.”
Flora Wang says: “We wanted to do something other than sit in front of a computer. We chose the signage industry because signage is different, and we like that it makes life more colourful.
Wang says the franchise plans to get more out of its XR-640 with bigger jobs and plans for a second or third press.
“We also want to work more efficiently, and we know that the Roland will help us to do this,” she says.
Marlin Wang says next year will see a new phase of growth for the franchise store, after the initial 12 months the owners will now look to take on more work and the keep momentum going.
“This year, our first year, has gone well. We have hired two new staff members with comprehensive skills and bought a new Roland laminator as well as the printer cutter,” he says.
“With our new staff and machines we now have more capacity than other Signarama stores. We can offer printing with white ink, we fabricate letters inhouse and we offer LED light boxes – we do just about everything. In the next couple of years we would like to bring in more jobs and grow the business.”
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The XR-640 caters to 1625mm (64 inches) with eight colour ink settings for optimum quality and uses Roland’s Eco-Sol Max 2 inks.
Print speeds reach 49sqm an hour, with four ink configurations available including a choice of white, metallic or light black.
The machine prints on both uncoated and coated media, lasting up to three years outdoors without lamination. Resolution is up to 1440dpi.
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