Any time a company receives a best product award, it is a significant achievement. Roland DGA, an Irvine, CA-based provider of wide-format printers and other digital devices, far exceeded that, capturing three Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) Product of the Year awards, including two for inks, at the 2016 SGIA Expo.

The US-based subsidiary of Roland DG Corporation of Hamamatsu, Japan, Roland DGA was honored for the VersaUV LEJ-640FT large-format UV flatbed printer, TrueVIS INK and Texart SBL3 Dye-Sublimation Ink.

“We were pleasantly surprised when we received the two SGIA awards for our inks,” said Lily Hunter, Roland DGA’s product manager of textiles & consumables. “We were going up against many other great companies, and the judges found the quality of our inks to be superior. Winning these prestigious awards is an honor we share with our talented R & D group in Japan.”

Hunter noted that Roland DGA takes pride in developing its own inks. “We have always partnered with ink manufacturers to develop inks for our printheads,” she said. “A few years ago, we started hiring our own chemists to formulate our inks, and we work with our partners to manufacture them. These inks have to match different components, as eco-solvent, UV and dye-sublimation inks all behave differently.”

TrueVIS INK received top honors in the Digital Inks – Solvent/Eco-Solvent/Latex category. It is GREENGUARD Gold certified, and designed for use with Roland’s new TrueVIS series wide-format printer/cutters.

“The TrueVIS series represents Roland’s most advanced printer/cutters ever,” noted Hunter. “All of the models within the TrueVIS family feature our newly-developed FlexFire printheads, so we formulated new vibrant, fast-drying inks to complement this new head design.”

Roland’s Texart SBL3 Dye-Sublimation Ink, specially made for use with the company’s RT-640 and XT-640 sublimation printers, took top honors in the Digital Inks – Textile category. The inks are available in 4-color or 8-color configurations, with CMYK, Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Orange and Violet, as well as new Fluorescent Pink and Yellow. “The launch of our Texart SBL3 inks marked the first time since 2006 that Roland has introduced a new dye-sublimation ink solution,” said Hunter. “They’re specially designed to bring out the best in our advanced Texart sublimation printers.”

Hunter pointed out Roland’s ability to respond to customer needs when developing new inks. “Our customers wanted a rich black ink, so we provided an ink that has high dye content and a minimal amount of water,” Hunter said. “Other important things we considered are ink consumption, color vibrancy and how bold or opaque the inks should be. We also looked at how we could widen the color gamut. This resulted in our 8-color system, which includes violet, orange, light cyan and light magenta. We recently launched fluorescent pink and yellow sublimation inks as well.”

According to Hunter, Roland is always thinking of the next latest and greatest project. “Our R&D and product management teams work together to see what the market wants. It’s a collaborative effort that takes into consideration many different ink types, process requirements and performance demands.”

Roland DGA Corporation
15363 Barranca Parkway
Irvine, CA 92618

Tel: (949) 727-2100; 800-542-2307
E-Mail: info@website.com
www.rolanddga.com

Specialties: Inkjet Inks and Sublimation Inks.