FREE Open Houses in Montreal and Ottawa!!!

 MONTREAL
Park Inn & Suites Montreal Airport

MONTREAL SHOW DATES:

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 – 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 – 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

For more information contact our local reps in Montreal and Quebec:

Pat Hannah – 514 812 3256 – pat.hannah@targo.ca
Michel Guy – 514 831 3795 – agencemguy@videotron.ca
Peter Lanthier – 514 995 5912 – peter.lanthier@sympatco.ca
Clement Langois – 518 667 6587 – clementl@agencecl.com

OTTAWA
TC SPORTS MARKETING
520 City Centre Ave, Bay 108
Ottawa, On
K1R 6K7

OTTAWA SHOW DATE

Thursday, May 12,2011 – 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

For more information on the Ottawa show contact one of our local reps:

Chuck Loretto – 613 728 2495 xt 371 – chuck@tcsportsmarketing.ca
Darren MCready – 613 728 2459 xt 373 – darren@tcsportsmarketing.ca
Mark Cacallin – 613 728 2459 xt 375 – mark@tcsportsmarketing.ca

There is so much to see and so much to learn. Don’t miss it! The open house will include one-on-one hands-on product training, equipment demonstrations and exclusive specials!

We look forward to seeing you!

2 Great Deals!

I have two great deals this month.  Both were trade ins.   Both machines include installation and shipping if you’re in the GTA. 

With a Roland Printer Cutter you can make all types of durable digital graphics including:

• Window Graphics
• Floor Graphics
• Vehicle Graphics and Wraps
• Decals
• Wall graphics
• Heat Transfers
• Artist Canvas
• Light Boxes
• Coroplast Signs and sooooooo much more!

We will throw in:

• 1 free set of 220 cc ink Cartridges
• Free Installation
• Free Training
• One Year Warranty
• Free Tech Support
• Free Versa Works Software



 CLICK THE PICTURES FOR A CLOSER LOOK

Myths About Using 3rd Party INks

Common Myths About 3rd Party Inks

Only Roland inks were designed from the ground up to provide the most reliable, consistent, trouble free results with Roland printers. Despite this, aftermarket suppliers are making a lot claims about their products. Here is the real story on some of them:

Printer manufacturers don’t make ink, so it’s probably coming from X anyway.

Who manufactures something is far less important than the science, engineering, and quality control that go into it. Ink design has a lot of variables, and virtually all of them are interrelated to the printing system. The printer OEM is the only one with all the knowledge about firing rates and patterns, drop formation, seal and gasket design, and a host of other issues that third party manufacturers can only guess at. The mere ability of a fluid to jet is only the beginning of the process when designing a truly reliable and robust ink solution.

Roland develops inks to perform to the highest standards of quality, consistency and reliability. Most importantly, Roland understands how ink formulation and performance can impact the entire system.

Maintaining my warranty is the only reason I used Roland ink. Now that my printer is out of warranty, I have no reason to stay with it.

This logic is backwards. Once you are responsible for the cost of maintenance and repairs, wouldn’t you want to use the products that are least likely to cause harm to expensive components? Do you stop changing the oil in your car when the warranty is up, or make sure you are even more religious about it? Poorly formulated ink can impact far more than heads. Obvious things like hoses, pumps, dampers, seals, and wipers can be destroyed, but so can boards, encoder strips, and other delicate electronics. Roland ink is formulated to minimize the number of flyaway drops and excess ink that can collect in areas of the printer it doesn’t belong. Any small amount saved by switching is likely to be off set by repair costs. Any form of solvent ink is naturally corrosive. That’s how it works. It is easy to make a solvent that bites well into media. Roland makes sure to strike the right balance between image durability and printer maintenance and preservation.

Vendor X says the color gamut is exactly the same, so I can use the same profiles. Sure, you can gamble on using whatever profiles you want — until your corporate customers need you to hit their logo colors, or someone wants decent skin tones. Inkjet color reproduction is a subject that could fill literally thousands of pages. The color you get with any particular combination of dots on a page is determined by drop size and shape, as well as the particular absorption characteristics of that ink on a given media. Unless the chemical formulation of both the carrier and colorant are identical in two ink sets, the colors will never be a match. Close enough for some applications, maybe, but never exact. VersaWorks and all popular 3rd party RIPs include profiles for genuine Roland ink, making reliable color easy to achieve. With any other ink set, you’re on your own.

It is illegal to deny warranty claims because of 3rd party ink. This one is partially true. It would be illegal for Roland to deny a claim during the standard warranty period unless the component failed as a result of running 3rd party ink. So, if the motor in your takeup fails, then you’re covered. On the other hand, if a head, pump, seal, damper, or other component of the ink delivery system fails, then you’re not. Electronics failures caused by excess ink coating the boards and other parts aren’t covered either. The second year of coverage that Roland offers is a free warranty extension, and is contingent on printer registration and the use of Roland inks, so if anything fails in the second year and you’re using 3rd party inks, the claim can and will be denied.

My ink manufacturer will cover any repairs not covered by warranty. This is actually a great policy on the part of ink manufacturers, and should give the user tremendous peace of mind, if they are really in a position to make good on their promise. Just make sure that you are working with an ink company that has trained, authorized technicians and access to genuine Roland parts. Otherwise, you risk your entire investment. The number of 3rd party ink manufacturers who have the necessary training and parts to service Roland printer is negligible, if any at all.

Roland ink is too expensive and cuts into my margins. With a typical cost of around $0.22 per square foot, a 2’ x 5’ banner uses $2.20 worth of Roland Eco-Sol Max. With the retail price of that same banner at about $5.00 a square foot, the total revenue generated by the job is $50. Even if an alternate ink saves 35%, that’s only $0.77 savings on a $50 job, assuming the same media. Less than $1 savings doesn’t seem worth risking problems with color, consistency, or damaged printer components.

As a Field Technician I have seen the results of a failed attempt to save a few pennies on many occassions.  I have also seen the regret on the faces of those who have done so.

Simply put, it’s just not worth it.

Here are some great videos form industry pro’s who swear by Roland Inks.