Funky Labels, based in Somerset, have taken advantage of Roland’s TR2 ink conversion opportunity.
After upgrading its Roland TrueVIS VG-540 to new TR2 inks, Funky Labels says it is benefiting from faster printing and drying speeds, less material wastage, more efficient cleaning and brighter colours.
Founded four years ago, Funky Labels prints personalised, stick-on, washable, and iron-on labels, for example name tags for children's school uniforms and lunchboxes. It currently operates a VersaUV LEF-300 UV printer, a TrueVIS SG-300 printer/cutter, and two TrueVIS VG-540 printer/cutters – one of which now runs the new TR2 inks after a straightforward DIY conversion.
Caroline Gascoyne, Director of Funky Labels, has noticed several significant improvements since the upgrade. "Colours are more vibrant and prints dry quicker," she says. "The machine itself is faster and doesn't require as much automated or manual cleaning, reducing downtime. We also haven't had to change any ICC profiles or perform colour matching."
An easy DIY conversion process
“With so many VGs and SGs in the field, we decided it to give our customers the chance to experience the benefits of the enhanced TR2 ink” explains Rob Goleniowski, Head of Sales UK and Ireland. “Of course, when updating a business-critical piece of hardware, there’s no room for error, which is why we’ve worked to develop an intuitive and easy-to-follow conversion process.”
Caroline Gascoyne, Director of Funky Labels, explains the process: "We downloaded the instructions provided by Roland and followed them meticulously – the guide is brilliantly researched and written, talking you through what you need to do when. We had no problems whatsoever and were up and running in a couple of hours."
Award-winning inks
Winner of the SGIA 2019 Product of the Year award in the Digital Inks – Solvent/Eco-Solvent/Latex category, TR2 inks have shifted gears for the industry, demonstrating once again Roland DG’s ability to lead the market with intense product innovation.
Available in CMYK, Light Cyan, Light Magenta and Light Black, TR2 lets print professionals colour-match accurate corporate logos and produce realistic, vibrant shades.
The inks also dry very quickly, with prints are ready to laminate and then immediately finish in just six hours for same-day installation. With support from the 3M MCS Warranty and the Avery Dennison ICS Performance Guarantee1, customers also have assurance of the quality and reliability of their graphics.
Tangible improvements
Owing to the nature of its output, Funky Labels prints and cuts lots of small graphics pieces – a process that is now more productive thanks to the upgrade. This isn’t just down to the introduction of the new TR2 ink – the conversion also includes a firmware update which lets VG and SG users take full advantage of VersaWorks 6’ advanced features
"The TrueVIS now scans before every job," says Caroline. "As we nest a lot of small jobs together, this reduces wasted materials."
She concludes: "My advice for anyone considering the TR2 conversion is to 'follow the instructions' – it's as simple as that. We've seen the benefits and plan to upgrade our TrueVIS SG-300 soon as well."
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