Installed at the Mansfield outfit in mid-July, the 1.6m-wide system replaced an HP DesignJet L26500 that managing director Pete Colman had been running for a number of years.
Having worked with Roland DG machines since 1989, Colman chose to return to his favoured manufacturer due to the RolandCare warranty package, which now covers four Roland machines, including a VersaCamm VS-640 inkjet printer-cutter, onsite at Classic.
Colman said: “I have always felt looked after with Roland and their machines have continued working consistently for me for 30 years. The Soljet ups my production speed to the point where I can now do 124sqm of print in an hour.
“Roland software is intuitive and easy to use, and the machine figures out what is required as soon as you put the media in. If you jump between manufacturers, there is always a new set of rules to learn, but consistency is worth thousands in a production environment.
“Now, I can go into wall and floor coverings, which has been an ambition for a long time, and we have customers through whom we can land large jobs. This gives us access to markets we always knew were there but had not been positioned to enter until now.”
The Soljet Pro 4 XF-640 is a seven-colour system which can print at a maximum resolution of 1,440dpi using piezoelectric inkjet heads at speeds up to 49.1sqm/hr, while it is also able to cut at speeds of 10-600mm/sec.
Classic Print will be using the machine for a variety of poster and banner applications alongside its new offerings, making use of garment printing, trimming and mounting equipment alongside.
The company produces a variety of print services including vehicle wraps, health and safety signage, banners, flags, exhibition displays, promotional items and apparel.
