Cardiff Met University’s PrintStudio sees commercial gains

Print Solutions

Cardiff Met University’s PrintStudio has purchased a Roland DG machine to the commercial side of its business.

The print service has added the VersaUV LEF-20 desktop printer to its repertoire following a to the Roland DG Creative Centre

PrintStudio supervisor Richard Ashdown commented, ‘When we were first shown the LEF-20 I couldn’t believe the vast range of objects it could print directly onto, even objects with curved surfaces. I kept on trying to find something that it wasn’t able to print on but to no avail – safe to say, we soon snapped one up!’

Richard continued, ‘Adding the VersaUV LEF-20 printer has allowed us to offer our customers an even wider variety of products such as personalised pens, USBs, awards and many more. Not only is the finish of the products we produce better than ever before, but we are able to provide a quick turnaround on items that have traditionally been ordered externally in large quantities. One of the first jobs that we utilised the LEF-20 for was printing Braille signage for use across the university’s campuses, something that would have previously been externally sourced.’

PrintStudio purchased its first Roland DG machine back in 2008, and ever since, the business has enjoyed a long lasting relationship with the technology manufacturer, purchasing a further two print and cut machines – a VersaCamm SP-300i and TrueVis VG-540.

Richard said: ‘We were first drawn to the VersaCamm VP-540 wide-format printer because of its integrated print/cut technology –something which I had personally never seen before. This meant we were able to work at a much faster production pace than usual when undertaking common jobs like student posters, and could also explore printing with other medias such as window graphics, wallpaper, outdoor banners amongst others.’

The rise of the internet had resulted in the decline in demand for basic print services at the University, as handouts from lectures are now accessed online rather than printed. As a commercial business, it is key for PrintStudio to consistently expand its offering into new areas to stay relevant and competitive – and Roland DG technology, with its ability to deliver high quality results on a wider range of medias and outputs, provides this in abundance.

Richard said, ‘We never know what someone is going to ask for next, so having the versatility to offer a wide range of media with machinery from Roland DG gave us confidence in finding a solution for our customers every time. Since we began investing in Roland DG machines, we have been able to capture more internal work that would have been previously sent to an external supplier such as window and wall graphics, indoor and outdoor banners, printed wallpaper and cut out stickers, ensuring that we continue to provide added value to the university and its students.’