Following its busiest show to date, Roland DG has reported positive responses to all of the sectors covered by the company at this year's Sign and Digital exhibition. A steady stream of visitors to its stand, to the innovative Creative Centre and to the CorelDRAW theatre have been quantified carefully, showing a resultant split of nearly 50 percent from the commercial print sector and the remainder from the design, sign and display arenas.
The highlight of Roland's stand at the event was its Creative Centre, divided into quadrants, each covering different types of print technologies and their production versatility in terms of materials and output, including textured finishes. More relevant in today's market, where wide format printer users from all backgrounds are searching for new and innovative areas of production, these specially designed areas concentrated on the wealth of applications which can be created and generated using different Roland solutions.
The Roland philosophy extends far beyond providing cost-effective printing, cutting and 3D solutions, and this was augmented by the company's technical partnership with CorelDRAW. Throughout Sign and Digital UK the leading design software specialist hosted seminars in a special theatre, showing attendees simple, practical methods of integrating metallic inks into printed output by using CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5, and how to create vector objects for print-and-cut applications.
Roland wasn't short of surprises on its stand, with preview looks at new technologies due to be launched during the year. Attracting considerable attention was the company's desktop print-and-cut system which incorporates metallic ink, and this was complemented by new additions to its renowned UV-curable ink and LED curing technologies.
Rob Goleniowski, Business Manager – Sign and Digital at Roland DG, was enthusiastic about this year's exhibition. "We are building on the importance of application diversity with our systems and technologies, and this year's show gave us the opportunity to be far more than just a machine manufacturer," he explains. "The fact is that, no matter which Roland solution is used, there are no restrictions to the potential of what you can produce; this principle is true from our smallest engraving machines, through our vinyl cutters up to our full-colour print-and-cut solutions.
"Sign and Digital UK confirmed to us that there are many more users wanting to see our products than those in the display segment, and our stand was continually packed with visitors from a variety of markets," continues Goleniowski. "As a rough guide, half of those coming to see us were from the commercial print arena, with the other fifty percent being representative of familiar sectors. We also welcomed interested people from outside the industry who wanted to learn more about the business opportunities we could bring them."
All the positive indicators at this year's event confirm the trends that Roland has been predicting during the past twelve months. "This year's Sign and Digital UK has proved that our technologies are becoming increasingly valuable assets to users from all industries, not just the sign and display markets," states Brett Newman, Roland DG's Technical Director. "In terms of affordability, we're also leading the way by bringing low cost, high quality compact solutions to a broad range of end customers. In fact, we're now bringing wide format technology to the desktop."
Roland's presence was augmented by the strong representation from its partners, all demonstrating the capabilities of the company's machines and technologies. These specialists endorsed both the equipment and the commitment made by Roland to the industry and to Sign and Digital UK 2011, and the company has recorded an overall success for all of its technologies and machines.
