Eastman Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions Group
Where: 3000 Research Blvd., Kettering
Products: Inkjet printers, heads, supplies
Employees: More than 700
History
Early 1980s: Kodak acquired Mead Digital Systems, which was renamed Diconix. Diconix moved into Miami Valley Research Park.
Late 1980s: Diconix became Kodak’s Dayton operations.
Early 1990s: Scitex buys the Dayton operations, which become Scitex Digital Printing.
Early 00s to today: Kodak reacquires Scitex Digital Printing. Best-known product may have been the Kodak Versamark printing head.
Source: Kodak
KETTERING — The future of Eastman Kodak Co.’s Inkjet Printing Solutions Group is coming into sharp focus, company leaders believe.
Antonio Perez, Eastman Kodak chairman and chief executive, visited the company’s Research Boulevard location last week, speaking to employees who helped design and build the company’s Prosper S10 imprinting system, a printer using Kodak’s stream inkjet technology. Perez also was preparing for the company’s annual shareholder meeting, which will be held in Kettering on May 12.
That’s no accident. Perez thinks Kettering is the perfect place for board members to chart a course for the company.
“This product line that is managed out of Dayton is one of the largest opportunities we have in the company,” Perez said.
The CEO calls “Prosper” a “breakthrough technology that is going to change the world of printing.”
This quarter, the company celebrates not only the introduction of the Prosper press, but the shipping of the press sent to its first customer, Offset Paperback Manufacturers of Dallas, Pa.
“We told investors in the first quarter we would ship the first (Prosper press), and it actually left yesterday,” Perez said.
The inkjet printing system precisely controls how ink is dropped and spaced on paper sheets, leading to what Kodak says is great speed, clarity and flexibility.
In the same way the company moved from photos to digital technology, it will move graphic arts to digital, company leaders contend.
Rochester, N.Y.-based Kodak has more than 700 workers off Research Boulevard, with an annual payroll of about $35 million.
“With current employees and temporary contractors, we’re over 700, with plans for even more growth,” said Michael Marsh, Kodak general manager, Inkjet Printing Solutions. Perez said the local site is one of the company’s top five in size.
“This is the headquarters for this product line, so obviously, their role is a worldwide role,” Perez said. “They need to sell these presses all over the world.”
He envisions a $50 billion market for this technology, worldwide. Some 130,000 to 150,000 printers globally are potential customers, Perez said.
“I expect a lot from this division, and from Dayton,” he said.
The Prosper product line is powerful, capable of cranking out some 4,000 digital-format, photo-quality pages a minute, at a cost of less than a cent a page, according to Kodak. Prosper also is capable of “variable-data printing,” meaning it quickly can print custom pages, so that magazines, for example, could be tailored to individual customers — and individual customer interests — without time-consuming changes.
“It’s not just Time magazine, it’s Dave’s Time magazine,” said David Lanzillo, a Kodak spokesman.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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