PRINTING United Alliance is grateful to serve its members who make such significant impacts on the printing industry. Through our Member Spotlights, we continue to recognize our members, and help our community get to know their peers better, both professionally and personally. The following is a Q&A with Alliance member Amado Lara, President of Roland DGA Corporation, headquartered in Irvine, CA.
Please provide a brief history/background on Roland DGA (when it was established, its mission, number of employees, and primary products/customer base).
Roland DGA was established by its parent company, Hamamatsu, Japan-based Roland DG Corporation in 1990 to provide complete sales, marketing, and customer support throughout the Americas. Roland DG is a worldwide leader in wide-format inkjet printers for the sign, apparel, textile, personalization, and vehicle graphics markets; engravers for awards, giftware, and ADA signage; photo impact printers for direct part marking, and 3D printers and CNC milling machines for the dental, CAD/CAM, rapid prototyping, part manufacturing, and medical industries.
At present, Roland DGA has a staff of 115 employees. The company markets its products through an extensive dealer network serving the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and all countries of Central and South America except Brazil.
How do you maintain being a leader in the space and what are some of the most challenging obstacles that come with this title?
Roland DGA is renowned not only for providing quality products, but also for supplying the highest levels of customer service and support within the industries it serves. It has achieved and maintains this leadership position by constantly innovating to supply wide-format printers and other state-of-the-art digital devices that offer advanced capabilities, outstanding reliability, and unsurpassed ease of use.
The company is also committed to ensuring the success of its customers and their complete satisfaction with the performance of their Roland DG products. Roland DGA is equally committed to maintaining a positive, collaborative, and inclusive work environment for all of its employees, evident in the fact that it has been named one of the top workplaces in Orange County, California by both The Orange County Register and The Orange County Business Journal multiple times.
Over the past almost 40 years, what are some of Roland DGA’s most notable accomplishments or contributions to the printing industry?
As the sales, marketing, and customer support arm of Roland DG Corporation throughout the Americas, Roland DGA has been instrumental in generating interest and awareness in the Roland DG product line, establishing an effective and responsive dealer channel, and providing the highest quality products, customer service, and support for its customers.
In the sign, graphic arts, and package prototyping industries, Roland DG is widely recognized as the leader in the development of integrated print/cut technology. Roland DG has also pioneered other new technologies and introduced advanced ink sets, including the world’s first eco-solvent ink. Over the years, the Roland DG product line has evolved to include a large selection of eco-solvent, UV, and resin/latex wide-format, benchtop, and desktop printers and printer/cutters, as well as comprehensive lines of specially formulated inks and high-quality media.
Are there any products that the organization currently doesn’t offer that might be implemented in the future? Are there any projects currently in the works that you can share?
Roland DGA and Roland DG work closely together to develop and introduce exciting new products to the marketplace. That includes the recent expansion of the TrueVIS family of products to include not only state-of-the-art eco-solvent wide-format printer/cutters, but also new UV and resin/latex models.
Growing and constantly improving the Roland DG lineup of compact yet powerful devices for smaller and home-based businesses also remains a top priority, as evidenced by the recent introduction of new VersaSTUDIO desktop devices such as the BN2 Series printer/cutters, BD-8 UV flatbed printer, and BY-20 direct-to-film printer. While we can’t reveal details at this point, Roland DGA has plans to unveil several new, cutting-edge products in the near future at the industry’s major trade shows, including PRINTING United Expo 2024 in Las Vegas.
What made Roland DGA decide to become a member of the Alliance? Roland DGA, Andrew Oransky in particular, has been very involved in leadership at the Alliance. What other leadership opportunities or membership resources have you engaged with? Are there other Alliance resources that Roland DGA is currently looking into utilizing more through its membership?
We value the research and reports we get from the Alliance. We've partnered to sponsor activations at the PRINTING United Expo, as well as other events like the Wide-Format Summit. In addition, we take full advantage of the Alliance NAPCO Media brand and the cross-promotional opportunities that gives us. Roland DGA also enters its newest and most innovative products in the Pinnacle Product Awards competition each year. We look forward to any further opportunities to contribute to industry committees and causes alongside the Alliance.
What does the future for Roland DGA look like?
The future looks extremely bright for Roland DGA, with the continued growth and success of the Roland DG product line, the popularity of the company’s flagship TrueVIS family of wide-format printers, the introduction of new VersaOBJECT UV direct-to-object printers, and VersaSTUDIO desktop eco-solvent printers, as well as several innovative new products on the horizon. The company is continuously striving to identify new markets for its existing products within a variety of verticals, and even developing new digital devices specifically for those end users. Of course, that extensive new research and development is taking place while Roland DGA continues to provide its core sign and graphics customers with the best products, service, and support in the industry.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Roland DGA is committed to continued investment in supporting our customers and developing world-class products for the markets we serve. We thank our customers, resellers, and partners for their continued support.
For more information on Roland DGA Corporation, visit their website at https://www.rolanddga.com/.