Roland DG UK and Custom Gateway have begun the process of integrating a range of their popular hardware and software solutions. The venture will create a fully featured system that enables retailers, sports & leisure businesses and existing sign & display businesses to easily deliver instantly personalised and customised products on-premise and across all their on- and off-line channels.
The first wave of development will incorporate the VersaUV LEF series of printers (LEF-300, LEF-200, LEF-12i) followed quickly by the VersaStudio (BN-20) desktop inkjet printer & cutter and the Metaza (MPX-95) metal printer. The first integrated systems are expected to be installed in the early Summer of 2017.
Over the last two years Roland technologies have successfully operated instant print and personalisation applications in major European retailers operating in markets as diverse as mobile phone and technology cases, grocery, media and gifts. The extension of the Roland solution to include Custom Gateway’s integrated software represents a significant increase in the capability of the solution to address the needs of large omni-channel retailers.
The cloud based Custom Gateway system enables all aspects of personalisation design and image acquisition (website, kiosk, mobile and face to face) and the management of order workflow and most importantly integration into existing payment, EPOS, ERP and logistics systems.
The addition of truly omni-channel software and Roland’s printing expertise brings a new dimension to the retail experience directly addressing some of identified problems of operating on the High Street. Such as; creating unique products and memorable brand experiences, increasing customer time in store and delivering a fast and sustainable omni-channel proposition.
Jerry Davies, Managing Director Roland DG EMEA explained.
“We have been working towards the consumerisation of the digital imaging industry for many years – this had delivered obvious benefits for our core sign, graphics and industrial customers by making our systems easier to use and more robust. We believe that this constant evolution will now bring us a great advantage in these new and rapidly growing consumer retail markets for digitally personalised and customised products.
“Our strategy to exploit these new and challenging markets has three main elements;
The first is to enable our existing sign & graphic customers and partners to access the growing demand for personalisation and customisation in business and consumer markets by helping them to integrate Custom Gateway’s web to print technologies. The adoption of this core technology should positively impact on their overall profitability by; enabling them to access to new types of customer, creating opportunities to streamline their existing job workflows and ultimately increasing the overall utilisation of their existing Roland printing equipment investment.
The second element of the strategy is to bring Roland printing technologies directly into retail and fashion stores, leisure parks and sports venues. Roland equipment and the software from our partner Custom Gateway can create a true omni-channel consumer experience. From instant design and print in-store, fully featured website integration, ‘click and collect’, browse & design in-store with home delivery, and even live ‘green-screen’ photo composition and print – together we have all the opportunities covered.
The third and final element of our strategy is to embed Roland imaging and 3D technologies into customised manufacturing processes –effectively delivering ‘create on-demand’ customised products that will feed into the consumer markets through the ‘traditional’ supply chains.”
He concluded. “We see the addition of software services such as those developed by Custom Gateway as a key component of our proposition for our current and future customers.
Andrew Talbot, CEO of Custom Gateway commented.
“The integration of Roland’s imaging systems into retail environments needs specialist software solutions to complement them. Our software makes the consumer product personalisation experience intuitive, the operators’ role much less complex and the integration with existing websites, point of sale systems and logistics possible.
The relationship with between ourselves and Roland for the first time brings two important elements together - proven retail printing hardware and consumer centric software – I believe that together we can completely change the dynamics of consumer personalisation and customisation on the High Street.”
