Stuff4 adds power, profit and new revenue streams with Roland DG

VersaUV LEF-20

After discovering the infinite possibilities that the printing market offered, Stuff4 sought to grow its product range and expand into diversified markets. Identifying a business opportunity after seeing the industry grow from strength to strength, in April 2014 the business made the move into the mobile phone case manufacturing industry.

In line with the development of its business model, Stuff4 wanted a suitable machine to produce its case designs, and after trialling and testing with a number of different manufacturer’s products, Stuff4 was particularly impressed with Roland DG’s unique offering of high quality products with solid reliability.

Having purchased a Roland DG VersaUV LEF-20 desktop printer to increase product capabilities and customer offering, the team found that the printer was an extremely cost effective means of expanding the product range, as the profit derived from the LEF-20 had recuperated the cost of the machine within the first few weeks. Recognised for its high profitability and ability to print on a variety of objects up to 100mm in height, the ingenious printer was the perfect solution for expanding the business into this competitive market.

The business currently supplies an impressive 480 different styles of phone cases, and so the VersaUV LEF-20 enables them to complete short production runs with a cost-effective set up. Now printing 1,200 to 1,500 personalised phone cases a day on three VersaUV LEF-20 machines, which were purchased from Roland DG dealer Revolution, Stuff4 has not only expanded its product portfolio, but is now also successfully trading with businesses in Germany, France, Australia and the UK.

With the use of Roland’s advanced ECO-UV Inks available in a CMYK + White + Clear configuration, Stuff4’s phone cases are able to be easily printed with vibrant colour & gloss or matte finishes, which deliver highly accurate colour and speciality textures. To complement the growing business, the Suffolk-based company has also invested in a Roland DG EGX-600 Pro Series to offer even further diversity and appeal to the industry. With the EGX-600 Pro Series, the company can accurately engrave professional and precise etchings onto a number of desirable products.

Neil Emms, director at Stuff4, said: “Expanding into an unknown market can be a risk, but thanks to Roland DG that risk has paid off. Our Roland DG machines have been invaluable to us as we have developed our business model and diversified into a new area of business.

“We have worked with other machines in the past, but with Roland DG’s products you can immediately notice the difference. With all of our Roland DG machines, we were so impressed with the quality of the output the machines produced – the colours were more vivid, and the endless variations of applications achievable were incredible. The practicality of the machines was also faultless and the flexibility of the ink means that we can print on hard plastic and silicon type materials.”

EGX-600 Pro Series

Mobile phone cases, however, are not the end of the journey for the determined business as they predict a trip to Roland DG’s very own Creative Centre in the near future will spark new ideas for alternative avenues. The Creative Centre is a vibrant studio of print, textile and 3D/engraving inspiration which acts as a demonstration suite aimed to encourage motivation and diversification through the display of a wide variety of products that can be created using Roland DG machines.

Mr Emms added: “We are yet to visit the Roland DG Creative Centre but feel strongly about making the trip to explore even more possibilities that are available with our Roland DG machines. We would be interested in discovering how our machines could be used effectively to create promotional items that will complement our current creative product range.

“At the moment we are looking to expand our capabilities by offering personalisation on all of our items. With the purchase of Roland DG’s EGX-600 Pro Series Engraver, this is now possible and we are hoping to have the resource in place to offer our customers this service before Christmas.”

For more information visit www.rolanddg.co.uk