Roland has officially launched its VS-300iS-GO industrial printer for printing membrane switches, which I covered previously when it was shown as a prototype at the InPrint show last November, though Roland has now added more details.
Essentially Roland Europe has adapted one of its existing roll-fed printers, fitted it to a SmartColor table from Italy, and worked with German ink manufacturer Marabu GmbH to create a dedicated solution to print graphic overlays and membrane switches. It’s said to be compatible with a wide range of products, including consumer electronics, vending machines, office equipment and medical devices. This is a smart approach, taking existing printers and adapting them around new inksets to target industrial markets. However, this is one of several such industrial printers developed by Roland DG in Europe so it is only available in some European countries.
Paul Willems, Roland DG’s Director of Business Development and Product Management EMEA, comments: “Roland DG EMEA and Marabu have combined their considerable specialist industry knowledge to bring to the graphic overlay market this innovative purpose-built solution. The new VS-300iS-GO offers the best possible results in terms of quality, durability and efficiency and enables easy access to this profitable market with low investment costs and compact, easy operation. The VS-300iS-GO offers huge potential to PSP’s, servicing a wide range of markets, from medical, aerospace and defence, to gaming, appliances and consumer electronics.”
It’s a hybrid system which prints digital colour inks for images, text and logos on to the substrate and then screen prints a layer of white ink on top. The Marabu ink is water-based and virtually odour free and meets the EN71-3 standard.
Matthias Schieber, Marabu’s product manager for Inkjet Products, explains: “Marabu and Roland DG joined forces to provide a dedicated solution for applications demanding the highest quality images and durability. The ink series Maqua Jet DA-RGO is a technically validated ink solution for industrial printing and at the same time it’s designed to be combined with Marabu screen printing inks. Maqua Jet DA-RGO completes Marabu´s technological leadership in industrial applications as a complementary digital ink solution for hybrid workflows.”
Roland’s press release suggests that you can find more details on this printer at the rolanddg.co.uk website, but there doesn’t appear to be any mention of it, which is not a great surprise to me after many years of trying to deal with Roland UK.
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