Ainsley Signs purchased the SolJet EJ-640, launched last October, from UK Roland dealer Printmax, which says the printer was the first in the country to receive the model. 

The kit went in two months ago and joins two Rolands, an SP500 and VersaCAMM VS-640i. It will produce external print for housebuilders, such as Barratt Homes, up to 50m-long.

The high-volume wide-format device has a print width of 1.6m and prints at speeds of up to 102sqm with a resolution of up to 1,440dpi.

Commercial director Josh Ainsley said: “We bought the machine for many reasons including its speed and it will consolidate what we already do.”

The Roland SolJet EJ-640 incorporates dual eight-channel Piezo heads, staggered to cover a large print width and uses new EJ inks developed alonside the device. It uses one-litre ink cartridges, available in four- or seven-colour configurations and in a mirrored CMYK ink configuration. The kit also includes new VersaWorks Dual RIP Software.

Ainsley said: “The business we work in and the clients we work with are all about the turn-around time, the EJ was a fantastic choice due to its speed and quality.

Ainsley Signs, which has 24 staff and a turnover of £1.8m, is also toying with buying a UV flatbed machine to print direct onto corrugated board and has a “couple in mind”.

He added: “We first bought a Roland printer back in 2000 and are still using it today. Our past experience gave me the confidence to stick with Roland, so a new Roland was a no-brainer.”

As well as producing signs for Barratt Homes, the kit is also being used for testing out Metamark’s new range of wall décor substrates, the DecorMark range.

“The MD-WA wallart works brilliantly on the Roland and allows us to offer our existing client base a new product to work with,” said Ainsley.

Metamark launched the new range to satisfy a growing need in the market for high-quality wall art applications.

The Decormark range consists of a wide range of textures, finishes and adhesives to solve all décor needs.