Roland DG Races Into the Future with TrueVelocity Event

Roland DG recently revved up excitement at its TrueVelocity event in Welcome, North Carolina. Roland invited a group of 65 industry professionals, 10 press professionals from around the globe, 20 Roland DG staff from all over the world, and five Richard Childress Racing (RCR) staff to start their engines and partake in a day of innovation, inspiration, and race car action.

The day was jam-packed with insightful presentations from Roland executives like Roland DG President Kohei Tanabe; Andrew Oransky, director managing executive officer; and President of Roland DGA Dan Burmeister; as well as a tour of the RCR campus that included stops at the museum and graphics center – there were even some pit stop demos, driving simulators, and the opportunity to wrap a race car along the way.

Some Fireside Chats with Roland Executives

Tanabe kicked things off by sharing how Roland is moving towards the future, and how their relationship with RCR reflects that.

Roland DG President Kohei Tanabe

“There are many things we can all learn from RCR's journey of high-speed performance and victory in the most competitive racing series in America, and perhaps more importantly, their drive to constantly challenge themselves,” Tanabe said. “We share the same values at Roland DG; these include consistently innovating and refining cutting-edge technology, building strong teams and collaborating with external partners, developing flexible strategies to win in ever-changing situations, and creating a culture that focuses on results for Roland DG and our customers. Above all, I believe our greatest commonality is our passion for our mission.”

Oransky talked about the current state of Roland DG’s business from both a market and a product standpoint, and how Roland’s different products like DG Dimense and VersaOBJECT have allowed them to enter new market segments like digital fabrication.

“The opportunity for digital fabrication is that it also is not only different applications, but in many cases, different customers. And this has taken us into the wall covering and decor industry with our Dimense acquisition,” Oransky said. “This has taken us into small startup businesses with some of the VERSA studio products, which have been enormously popular but represent really different customer profiles; in many cases, different sales methodologies, different applications, again, different opportunities for both Roland DG and our partners.”

When it came time for Burmeister, he touched on how Roland DG always strives to put their customers first, and they operate with the mindset of wanting them to succeed despite looming tariffs and economic uncertainty plaguing the industry.

President of Roland DGA Dan Burmeister

“When I came in, our first conversations were about, ‘How do we take on additional pre-tariff inventory?’  Not ‘How much do we mark up our current inventory to cover us during this period because we don't know what's going to happen,’” Burmeister said. “I want you all to take that as a symbol of what you mean to us and the fact that we're partners, and we're going to be partners, and that's part of my belief and understanding of how to be successful is we're not going to do it without you guys. We want to do it with you,” Burmeister said.

Introducing the TrueVIS XG-640

And although all the racing activities were certainly a highlight, perhaps the most exciting portion of the day was the unveiling of the TrueVIS XG-640.

A sibling to the very popular TrueVIS XP-640, Daniel Valade said he believes the XG-640 is “the best print and cut device Roland DG has ever made.”

The XG-640 features the following:

• The widest color gamut in its class with eight colors: CMYK, light cyan, light magenta, orange, green and white – which white ink is a new addition for Roland.
• Can print up to 819 sq. ft./hr in billboard mode, and up to 242 sq. ft./hr in standard mode.
• Integrated cutting

The new TrueVIS XG-640

“You throw out the number 819 sq. ft./hr, that's in the billboard mode. But we're also near 300 sq. ft./hr on vinyl for integrated print and cut on the XG-640. That's pretty unheard of in this industry, especially under $30,000 at that productivity,” Valade said “We also have very little running costs just like the XP-640, so low entry-level price, low E-cost, price, low maintenance costs. All those things are very important as we put together a package to sell against any of the competition.”

To make the machine easier to use than ever before, a software package is also included with the XG-640. Roland DG’s latest RIP software – VersaWorks 7 – has greater processing capacity, and a more intuitive user interface, and is now compatible with macOS as well as Windows. In addition, the XG-640 comes with access to the expanded cloud-based Roland DG Connect platform.

Overall, the TrueVelocity event showcased Roland’s commitment to innovation while also keeping the needs of its customers in mind.