Grange Graphics Trials New VersaEXPRESS RF-640

Based in Western Sydney, Grange Graphics provides a wholesale digital printing service that includes roll to roll laminating, vinyl cut text and graphics, decals, banners, posters, substrate mounting & design services. Grange Graphics operates exclusively as a wholesaler to Signwriters, Print Bureaus, Window Tinters and many other trade related industries across Australia.

Grange Graphics always strives to add value with competitively priced products and through specialised outsourcing services. With many years of experience in all aspects of the window film, signwriting and graphic industries, Grange Graphics knows the business and takes great pride in offering a high level of customer service.

Owner of Grange Graphics, Alex Koulouris, is always keen to see what new technology is available in the market, so he was keen to take the opportunity to trial the new Roland DG RF-640 wide format printer in his busy print business. “I was interested to see what new technology was available, if it was faster, easier to run, and I was eager to see what new technology Roland DG had coming out.”

“My expectation was that it would be a quality machine, I knew that… My first choice for looking at a new machine is always Roland DG. The backup is there, the service is there, the machines are just faultless, they run day in day out” said Alex. “Testament to that is that I’ve still got a machine that I bought in 2006, and it’s still running as good as the day we bought it.”

"My expectation was that it would be a quality machine, I knew that"

Production Manager at Grange Graphics, Gunter Frohreich, has been in the signage business for 37 years and has been working with digital printers for the last 15 years. “I’ve been around printers for quite a while, and I’ve used a few different ones, but I always come back to the Roland DG because of its ease of use, and what it does for me is exactly what I want,” said Gunter.

“I think it is a great machine across the board,” said Gunter commenting on the new RF-640. “We’ve been operating it for about 6 hours every day printing posters onto polyester, SAV stickers, and some banner film, which it printed very, very well. Most of the work we would use a machine like this for would be frosting films, window films, SAV films, and that type of work.”

“Speed wise it’s very good. Even on high quality it’s a lot quicker, therefore you are going to get a better print in a quicker time, and that’s going to increase your production, and of course keep your customers very happy as they get the best quality prints.”

Having used Roland DG printers for many years, some of the new features on the RF-640 were certainly appealing for this busy production manager. “The front loading ink system is a great idea, it does free up the space behind the machine for loading media,” said Gunter.

The new ECO-SOL MAX^® 2 inks on board the new RF-640 was also a noticeable improvement in Gunter’s vast experience. “Ink drying time I noticed was a lot better, so the outgassing time is a lot quicker for laminating. The colours are also great straight off the bat without having to tweak any profiles.”

“Most definitely in the future we would look at one of these machines to replace one of our older machines, and this machine, with a take up unit, would be ideal for that replacement,” commented Gunter.

From a business perspective, Alex can see how the RF-640 would benefit his print business. “It (the RF-640) adds value to my business in that I can bring in this machine at a low entry cost and immediately improve my production.”

“I would recommend this printer for someone looking to get into the market, but also for someone like me who has a few machines, to add in another machine that’s going to produce good quality, work at a reasonable cost.”