Kodak has blitzed visitors at drupa with a host of of new solutions and upgrades, aiming to build on its US$1.1bn ($1.6bn) graphic communications business. Less than four years out of bankruptcy, its chief executive Jeff Clarke says the company has $500m in cash available for investment, and says it is looking to spend. It is still committed to selling its Enterprise Print division, which includes Prosper; Clarke says a sale is expected by the end of the year.
Kodak drupa team: (l-r) Brad Kruchton, Chris Payne, Phil Cullimore and CEO Jeff Clarke
Visitors to its drupa stand will see more than 20 new products on the booth, including a new Nexpress, the ZX3900, and a new version of its Sonora plate, a new aqueous narrow web inkjet system XGV, and Ultrastream developments. Clarke says, “Kodak is all about enabling its customers to become more efficient, more innovative, and crucially and ultimately more profitable.†Kodak drupa launches include both the NexPress ZX3900 and ZX3300 digital production colour presses, the NexPress Opaque White Dry Ink, and in the packaging sector the Flexcel NX System ’16, an integrated flexo plate production system including workflow, plates and imager. Kodak is also debuting its Ultrastream technology, its high quality inkjet printing, with an 1800dpi resolution, although this will not be ready for commercial launch for three years. Built on its continuous inkjet Stream technology, it will, according to Kodak, move production inkjet into the mainstream of commercial printing and packaging’. Jeff Clarke says that the Prosper inkjet technology had its best ever year last year, and says it will be superseded this year. Kodak announced new OEM partnerships with manroland Web Systems and Matti Technology to integrate Prosper Stream onto their systems. Kodak is launching two plates that it says will set new levels of on-press performance for print service providers. The Sonora UV Process Free Plate is a new plate designed to allow printers using UV, including the newer low-energy UV presses, to achieve higher run lengths than with any other process free plate available today. The Kodak Sword Max Thermal Plate will feature the new, patented Advanced Resin Technology (ART), which delivers high-performance features for printers facing challenging press conditions and strict cost constraints.
