Rick Scrimger
What a year! I hope all of you had a happy holiday season and are refreshed for the new year. As we wrap up all the last details and put 2012 in the rearview mirror, it’s important to acknowledge all the hard work that went into it as we gear up for 2013. To our employees, dealers, vendor partners and international GlobalOne friends: Thank you all for contributing and helping us perform as a team. We’re better, together. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Roland DGA wins Top Workplace!
The Orange County Register conducts a “Top Workplace” survey, and today published the winners. After surveying over 22,000 Orange County employees and hundreds of companies, Roland DG was named a “Top Workplace” in Orange County, in the small company category. This is the 4th time we’ve earned this distinction in the last 5 years. (We didn’t participate in 2009 – Sort of had our hands full with a troubled economy…)
SGIA Roundup
We just wrapped up our big fall show – SGIA – for color, UV, cutter & engraving products. And with the recent introduction of the new Pro4 XR-640 at the center, it looked like it would be a good show. Turns out, it was. With record attendance over 22,000, the show was packed. Not just at the Roland DGA booth, but the whole show seemed to be buzzing with energy. It was as good a show as I’ve seen in some time, and many exhibitors I spoke with at the show echoed the same sentiment. 18%+ of attendees were international. What’s more, some 38% of all attendees were there for the 1st time. What a great first impression they must have had!
It’s Epic. It’s Here. Finally.
If you’re in the sign industry, and spending any time on the webby-web, you might have seen some of our teasers about a new “4”-like machine. Well, it’s finally here. The original “Pro” line started in 2002, and has been a part of our flagship of printer/cutters ever since. 10-years later, we’re on the 4th edition. It seems like it’s been a lot longer, and in most technology-circles, that’s a lifetime.
We like Dr. Seuss at Roland DGA
We just wrapped up a new video highlighting some of the things you can do with a VersaCAMM. And while it’s obvious we like Dr. Seuss at Roland DGA, as you’ll soon see, it did provide a clever way to tell the story of versatility, creativity & ROI vs. a simple price-driven message that seems to pervade the printer market. It’s also worth noting that when you’re making a printer investment, it’s much more than just the product. It’s the support, service, webinars & education, and more. Ok, I’m off the soapbox. Let’s get on with the show…
Outlook from the pundits
I just wrapped up ISA’s Supplier & Distributor Conference, where Dr. Dietrich from ITR Economics presented an outlook based on key economic indicators like Producer Pricing Index, GDP, unemployment, housing starts and a host of other factors to try to better forecast the business environment looking forward.
Roland DG’s Got Teeth (Literally)
Many of you are familiar with Roland DG inkjets, but you may not be aware of the “other” side of our business which is responsible for some pretty unique applications from 3D milling, scanning and impact printing technologies. The latest Roland DG innovation in this space is aimed at the dental market. That might surprise you, but actually, the benchtop milling machines Roland DG DWX-50 5-Axis Dental Milling Machinewe’ve been perfecting over the last 30-years, primarily for engineers and product designers to prototype 3D models in wax, plastics, wood and a variety of other materials, transition beautifully into Digital Dental Mills, carving out dental prosthetics from a special ceramic called Zirconia (yes, a variant of Cubic Zirconia). Zirconia, a material biologically compatible with the human body and stronger (many times over) than our own teeth, is becoming very popular in the dental industry, however, it can’t be manufactured with their traditional methods (ei. precious metal & lost wax casting). Instead it requires a mill to shape the crown, bridge or coping.
2012 ISA Show Wrap-up
ISA, our biggest show of the year, came early this year and we had a good show! We won 3 awards for top products: LEJ-640 & Matte & Glossy Backlit Film. Attendance was similar to 2-years ago when were previously in Orlando, but we had a bigger booth, more products, got more leads and do what we do best – put on a bigger & better show every year.
Ideas to differentiate your business
Hello, and welcome to 2012! I got a simple email that really got me thinking more about how sign companies can focus on differentiating from the competition. Below is the question, and my response.
Making Money with Metallic Printing
We recently conducted a survey of our users who have “metallic capable” devices from our lineup, and we found some amazing nuggets I’d like to share. The survey was sent to 500+ users, with a 29% response rate, enough that the results are statistically significant.
For starters, 61% of those units are set up to run our metallic Eco Sol Max inks.