Need Help New Shop, New Equipment thoughts

[Trex604]

Hi yall!

I am currently working at a print / sign shop and have been getting screwed on my wage for far too long and have decided to open my own little sign shop since I am the only one who can do everything including the design, printing, and installs.

I have got some quotes on a new 54" printer / cutter and am having trouble deciding which way to go.

I have been running the new Roland VG-540 at my current shop and have had a few problems with it with banding and the cyan leaking . It still pumps out jobs though.

There is a supplier 1 hour from my new shop who has given me a quote on a brand new Mimaki CJV150-130 and a brand new Roland VG-540 .

The price is pretty much the same for either right now.
$19,700 CAD for the mimaki and $19,495 for the Roland.
This is in Canadian and comes with delivery, setup, training and a 2 year warranty.

I will be doing signage, decals, canvas / art prints, and vehicle wraps.
I am leaning towards the Mimaki with the CMYK LC LM LK OR setup.

Is the Roland a better deal? Is RastLink really that bad? Has anyone run both machines and have a preference?

Thanks in advance!

 

[CanuckSigns]

I've seen many people that have the technical skills to produce nice work but can't run a business to save their life, starting out on your own is a world of difference from working for someone else, make sure you have a solid business plan and a ton of savings put away.

It response to your question, find the machine that has the closest service support, machines break down, often at the worse time, a good local tech will save you thousands when this happens.

 

[player]

Roland comes with a rip. Does the other?

 

[ams]

I am a die hard Roland fan and that is the only equipment I will use. So you know my choice. I am told by some Mimaki users that their tech support is the worst. The reason for banding is generally a hair is stuck to the printhead, the encoder strip needs cleaning or it's the print quality settings you are using. As for the Cyan leaking, that is under maintenance and was probably a user issue that caused it. Both of those issues is related to poor maintenance and by ignoring the Cyan leaking is going to just destroy the printer, it needs to be fixed. Learn how to do basic maintenance and your printer will last for many years to come.

 

[Martin Denton]

Have had both Roland and Mimaki. Currently CJV300 with that ink set. Mimaki is much better in terms of quality of print but does require more attention in terms of maintenance. But definitely would buy another Mimaki

 

[equippaint]

Either way that you go, get dual cmyk.

 

[OADesign]

Some perspective on your question:
You will get answers on both sides of the spectrum here in this forum. Mimaki is the best! No! Roland is better! HP! Latex! EcoSol. Full Solvent!
If I were you. I would choose the platform you understand really (really) well, right now. Not the one you have to learn and get used to its nuances.
You want to hit the road, wheels spinning. Not stalled out, figuring it out. New businesses need to produce, now. Not later.
Also, as other have mentioned. Make sure (good) support AND PARTS are close at hand. Not just sales reps that talk a good game. Real tech support that can answer questions and if need be, step in a get his/her hands dirty to help you solve problems.

I am [HASHTAG]#TeamRoland[/HASHTAG], but I don't have anything bad to say about other platforms. Its just that I've been using Roland equipment since 2004 (SC-540). Hell, I since have an SC-545 sitting here now. I prefer the CMYK LcLm set ups as it, in my opinion, widens he color gamut a little over straight CMYK. Also, LK has made a ton of difference in the color quality of our prints. YMMV.

We'll assume, since you are making the jump, that your cash/credit situation is good. You need to be able to buy media / ink / substrates for all the business your going to get. We would hate to see you back here in six months sellng all the new new stuff for pennies on the dollar as an exit strategy. Also, please think though all the "other stuff" when it comes to running a business. Bills, taxes, insurance, licences. And did I mention insurance? You could open your doors and be making out like a shooting star. But its the "other stuff" that has the potential to hurt you. If one of the aforementioned variables is not in place, you will crash with a thud like a pound of lead tossed in the air. Trust me.

Lastly, about your opening sentence. Please don't jump out on your own with the mind set of, "The man has his boot on my neck. So I'm going to do my own thing so I can stick it right back to em' ". This is not an industry that supports that way of thinking. Do it because you enjoy it. And you believe you will be successful because of your own [fill in self motivational adjective here]. Not because you are mad at someone about your wages (that you agreed to when you signed on?)
If the latter is your gripe, don't do this. Have a drink, take a deep breath. Polish off your resume and start making your rounds. Stack your cash and plan your empire while you learn more about the "other stuff" of running your own business.
Have you approached the paycheck signing person for a raise? Have you even tried renegotiating your wage?
Way (waaaaaaaaaaay) more than you asked for. But I hope some of it is useful to you.
Good Luck!

Hi yall!

I am currently working at a print / sign shop and have been getting screwed on my wage for far too long and have decided to open my own little sign shop since I am the only one who can do everything including the design, printing, and installs.

I have got some quotes on a new 54" printer / cutter and am having trouble deciding which way to go.

I have been running the new Roland VG-540 at my current shop and have had a few problems with it with banding and the cyan leaking . It still pumps out jobs though.

There is a supplier 1 hour from my new shop who has given me a quote on a brand new Mimaki CJV150-130 and a brand new Roland VG-540 .

The price is pretty much the same for either right now.
$19,700 CAD for the mimaki and $19,495 for the Roland.
This is in Canadian and comes with delivery, setup, training and a 2 year warranty.

I will be doing signage, decals, canvas / art prints, and vehicle wraps.
I am leaning towards the Mimaki with the CMYK LC LM LK OR setup.

Is the Roland a better deal? Is RastLink really that bad? Has anyone run both machines and have a preference?

Thanks in advance!

 

[AKwrapguy]

Hi yall!

I am currently working at a print / sign shop and have been getting screwed on my wage for far too long and have decided to open my own little sign shop since I am the only one who can do everything including the design, printing, and installs.

I have got some quotes on a new 54" printer / cutter and am having trouble deciding which way to go.

I have been running the new Roland VG-540 at my current shop and have had a few problems with it with banding and the cyan leaking . It still pumps out jobs though.

There is a supplier 1 hour from my new shop who has given me a quote on a brand new Mimaki CJV150-130 and a brand new Roland VG-540 .

The price is pretty much the same for either right now.
$19,700 CAD for the mimaki and $19,495 for the Roland.
This is in Canadian and comes with delivery, setup, training and a 2 year warranty.

I will be doing signage, decals, canvas / art prints, and vehicle wraps.
I am leaning towards the Mimaki with the CMYK LC LM LK OR setup.

Is the Roland a better deal? Is RastLink really that bad? Has anyone run both machines and have a preference?

Thanks in advance!

That sucks but you should keep you options open and also look at latex. Do some research on all 3 printers, go to a dealer and see them print, ask questions, look at support network, cost of repair for common issues, consumables, etc.... you might be surprised when you get down to some of the numbers.

Remember, that of your time running your own business, 30% will be doing the actual work, 70% will be running the business, doing the taxes, paying the bills, the billing, trying to collect your money, etc... I would look at some free online courses or information on running a small business before you decide to take the leap and make sure all your ducks are in a row so you can hit the ground running and avoid some mistakes. No matter how smart or ready you think you are running a business means possible 70+ hours a week, and you need to set yourself up for success.

 

[Trex604]

I've seen many people that have the technical skills to produce nice work but can't run a business to save their life, starting out on your own is a world of difference from working for someone else, make sure you have a solid business plan and a ton of savings put away.

It response to your question, find the machine that has the closest service support, machines break down, often at the worse time, a good local tech will save you thousands when this happens.

I am a die hard Roland fan and that is the only equipment I will use. So you know my choice. I am told by some Mimaki users that their tech support is the worst. The reason for banding is generally a hair is stuck to the printhead, the encoder strip needs cleaning or it's the print quality settings you are using. As for the Cyan leaking, that is under maintenance and was probably a user issue that caused it. Both of those issues is related to poor maintenance and by ignoring the Cyan leaking is going to just destroy the printer, it needs to be fixed. Learn how to do basic maintenance and your printer will last for many years to come.

Have had both Roland and Mimaki. Currently CJV300 with that ink set. Mimaki is much better in terms of quality of print but does require more attention in terms of maintenance. But definitely would buy another Mimaki

Some perspective on your question:
You will get answers on both sides of the spectrum here in this forum. Mimaki is the best! No! Roland is better! HP! Latex! EcoSol. Full Solvent!
If I were you. I would choose the platform you understand really (really) well, right now. Not the one you have to learn and get used to its nuances.

thanks for all your 2 cents and advice! I love what I do and am super exited to be doing this. It is the perfect time for me as I have the freedom and drive to put in the looooong hours.

Still leaning towards the mimaki with LC LM LK OR
Will have to learn the workflow of Rasterlink as opposed to VersaWorks, but don't think it could be that hard.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Do you have any customers? Doesn't matter what kind of machines you have if you have no customers.

 

[Judi]

...Still leaning towards the mimaki with LC LM LK OR
Will have to learn the workflow of Rasterlink as opposed to VersaWorks, but don't think it could be that hard.

I've been running our CJV150-130 (Dual CMYK) for almost 2 years now. Got about 2 hours of training after it was delivered and set up. It's very easy to understand, operate and maintain. A lot of the maintenance is automatic. We also got FineCut 8 for CorelDraw and RasterLink 5 with our purchase and neither is hard to use. Never touched or seen a Roland, so I can't comment on whether one is better than the other.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I am just going to reiterate some of the above comments and say go with dual CMYK. Roland and Mimaki are very comparable machines but the VG series from Roland uses Richo head which cost much more money when you need to replace them. Also, since they are Richo heads, you might have a harder time finding a tech who has experience with those heads since they aren't used in nearly as many machines and work differently than the Epson ones the Mimaki uses. Keep in mind that eventually you are going to need to fix the machine and if you don't learn to do it yourself, techs do not come cheap especially if you are in a rural area so go with who is closest to you with good tech support.

 

[ams]

Some perspective on your question:
You will get answers on both sides of the spectrum here in this forum. Mimaki is the best! No! Roland is better! HP! Latex! EcoSol. Full Solvent!
If I were you. I would choose the platform you understand really (really) well, right now. Not the one you have to learn and get used to its nuances.
You want to hit the road, wheels spinning. Not stalled out, figuring it out. New businesses need to produce, now. Not later.
Also, as other have mentioned. Make sure (good) support AND PARTS are close at hand. Not just sales reps that talk a good game. Real tech support that can answer questions and if need be, step in a get his/her hands dirty to help you solve problems.

I am [HASHTAG]#TeamRoland[/HASHTAG], but I don't have anything bad to say about other platforms. Its just that I've been using Roland equipment since 2004 (SC-540). Hell, I since have an SC-545 sitting here now. I prefer the CMYK LcLm set ups as it, in my opinion, widens he color gamut a little over straight CMYK. Also, LK has made a ton of difference in the color quality of our prints. YMMV.

We'll assume, since you are making the jump, that your cash/credit situation is good. You need to be able to buy media / ink / substrates for all the business your going to get. We would hate to see you back here in six months sellng all the new new stuff for pennies on the dollar as an exit strategy. Also, please think though all the "other stuff" when it comes to running a business. Bills, taxes, insurance, licences. And did I mention insurance? You could open your doors and be making out like a shooting star. But its the "other stuff" that has the potential to hurt you. If one of the aforementioned variables is not in place, you will crash with a thud like a pound of lead tossed in the air. Trust me.

Lastly, about your opening sentence. Please don't jump out on your own with the mind set of, "The man has his boot on my neck. So I'm going to do my own thing so I can stick it right back to em' ". This is not an industry that supports that way of thinking. Do it because you enjoy it. And you believe you will be successful because of your own [fill in self motivational adjective here]. Not because you are mad at someone about your wages (that you agreed to when you signed on?)
If the latter is your gripe, don't do this. Have a drink, take a deep breath. Polish off your resume and start making your rounds. Stack your cash and plan your empire while you learn more about the "other stuff" of running your own business.
Have you approached the paycheck signing person for a raise? Have you even tried renegotiating your wage?
Way (waaaaaaaaaaay) more than you asked for. But I hope some of it is useful to you.
Good Luck!

I had an employee quit and start his own sign shop to try and take all my business and shut me down. He conned a guy into spending a ton of money to buy him a shop and a bucket truck and partner with him. He received 3 OSHA violations and shut down in 5 months. The partner was so pissed and had tons of violations and police paperwork to do and lost all of the money in it.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

I don't have any experience with Roland machines, aside from our GX-24 cutter, but I agree with everything Judi mentions with regards to the Mimaki. I also have 2.5 years of experience with our Mimaki CJV 150-130. It is a great print and cut machine and does come with Rasterlink, as well as FineCut. The print quality is incredible and in our experience, customer service has been top notch. I've called Mimaki tech support on more than one occasion and got a tech on the phone in less than a minute. They were happy and able to guide me through some of the things that our installer who initially trained me was unable to do, such as helping me to install new color profiles and reinstall Rasterlink when our computer's hard drive crapped out on us and had to be replaced. Learning to print and cut was a bit of a learning experience, but once you get used to the machine's quirks, you'll quickly figure it out and the cuts we do are dead on precise, even on items 4 to 6' in length.

 

[StarSign]

Head to Vegas for SGIA in October. See the machines in action and kick tires......

 

[James Burke]

Sounds like you're experiencing an entrepreneurial seizure.

Invest in this first....before you get any equipment:

https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisit...id=1532782215&sr=8-1&keywords=emyth+revisited

 

[Quark]

Having run both cmyk and cmyk lc lm as well as 8-9 color machines, I’d say your inclination toward 6-8 color machine is the right one. Along others we run mimaki cjv 150-160 in 8 color setup and are very satisfied with the output. I would also never recommend to buy a small machine with 2 heads if it’s not limiting your color choices in a single head version (I’d stay away from mimakis 300 series). Also 60” inch is a must (think of all 5 foot banners you’ll have to turn away to start with)

RasterLink is an extremely easy to use and straight forward rip. The only downside is it doesn't provide profiling module, but from mimaki's online profile library you will most likely find a profile that will suit 90% of your colors and materials. We for example print everything with canned Avery gloss psv 720x1440 18pass profile with excellent results

We recently bought 4 color epson s60800 by reading rave reviews here on 101. But we were severely disappointed in the quality of the output and were extremely lucky and grateful to grimco to work out a swap to a 9 color S80600 for us

 

[ProPDF]

Jump off the cliff and do it. However I will suggest you listen to what some have said here.

Figure out where you want your business to be located.
Get 2 LLC's established with different phone numbers and different real addresses. Maybe one at your new shop address and the second at a virtual business address located in a high rise. Virtual addresses are great if you start from home.
Get your personal credit straight.
Start building your LLC credit.
Get your business bank accounts setup.
Get accounting software in place.
Once your LLC doc's come in. Establish wholesale accounts with print to trade only wholesalers. This will be very important especially for large orders and when machines break. A real wholesaler isn't going to offer an account to a PO box sole prop usually. Just like business banks don't want to loan to PO boxes either.
Get everything done while you are still working your day job and delay as long as possible quitting. You may need to show that stable income for new loans before you transition. Start-ups are scary for banks. You shouldn't quit until your new shop is setup, printer is outputting the colors you want on various materials, cutter and laminators are working as they should. You don't want to open up and find out you got a lemon printer, cutter or laminator.

Equipment: Buy a Epson S40600 and a Summa D140. Flexi 12 maybe your cheapest full rip at $50 a month fee. Get a Royal Laminator. Try to get these from the same dealer if possible.
Get the correct computer for both design and rip. Lots of ram helps
New Roland VG first year don't do it.
Mimaki CJV (solvent) old print head tech and service really is spotty sometimes.
HP: Just read the posts on S101 and compare print samples and see if that is what you want. Personally I wouldn't touch them.
If you use versaworks now get away from relying on it and don't get sucked into another proprietary rip solution including raster link. It's like putting yourself in a box.

Buy some of the best coffee you can. You are in for one hell of a wake-up call.

 

[decalman]

Head to Vegas for SGIA in October. See the machines in action and kick tires......

Thanks for the reminder. I haven't been to the vegas SGIA in 18 years

 

[ddarlak]

customers are more expensive to get than machines and software.

buying a 20k machine doesn't mean you have a business, it means you spent 20k on a printer.

being a business owner is sooooo much more than making more than your current wage.