Our new SOLJET® Pro 4 line is taking off like a rocket. In fact, we can’t build these printers fast enough. While this success can be attributed to many factors, we would like to take this opportunity to shine the spotlight behind the scenes – and give our exceptional Global One product development team the credit it deserves.
With the new Pro 4 line, which includes both the XR-640 64” printer/cutter and XF-640 64” printer, our product development team tapped into the vision, energy and technical know-how of Roland DG experts across several different departments and continents – R&D, sales, marketing, technical services, manufacturing, production, purchasing, quality assurance and distribution. This cross-departmental team is now in place for the long term, working together to plan, develop and maintain new products.
The Pro 4 is truly the brain child of many. In the product planning phase, team leaders from the product development department worked closely with our marketing team to develop product specifications reflecting our customers’ requirements and expectations, based on market research. Additional features were included to build a printer line well beyond anything we or our competitors have ever offered.
In the design phase, the team began to finalize the specifications by incorporating product enhancements from each member, including improved product and print quality from the quality assurance department, simpler maintenance procedures from technical and customer service departments, and easy assembly processes from the manufacturing group.
But the team didn’t stop there. They fine tuned every aspect of the Pro 4 line, and when prototypes were finally created, they were impressive.
Just what makes the series so unique? Breathtaking image quality. With the Pro 4, we took the functionality and reliability of our existing machines and brought in new ink and print heads to create a truly superb printer.
For example, the print heads of the XR-640 are arranged in an inline formation with seven different droplet sizes which achieve smoother gradations and richer density for photographic and high-resolution vector output. Configured in a mirrored pattern through seven colors, in any of the four ink configurations, the new heads virtually eliminate chromatic banding in bi-directional printing.
As for the XF-640, we focused on speed, without sacrificing image quality. This printer features the same advanced print heads in a staggered formation for maximum productivity and a top speed of 1,098 square feet per hour.
Pro 4 printers also come with our most advanced eco-solvent ink ever, Eco-Sol MAX® 2. Its improved formulation dries quickly and makes for dazzlingly sharp, high-quality images. Even with posters and stickers that are viewed up close, the print quality is unmatched. Finally, the team decided to add specialty inks, including light black, to the XR-640’s ink configuration. Light black has dramatically improved the XR’s greyscale capabilities, yielding a much wider variety of greys. With higher density white ink and more vibrant metallic silver ink included as well, the value proposition is unparalleled.
XR-640 Team Leader Tetsuya Yanagawa couldn’t agree more. He said, “We have created machines for the new era. More than ever, each member of our development team put his or her heart and soul into the products, and we fully stand behind the results as we ship them out into the world. Now, it is time for our customers to join us in our satisfaction. We plan to continue with this cross-departmental approach to new products. The results speak for themselves.”
