{"id":671,"date":"2021-10-11T13:07:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T13:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/?p=671"},"modified":"2024-01-26T12:57:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T12:57:34","slug":"kodak-ascending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/?p=671","title":{"rendered":"Kodak Ascending"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\" The Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a press conference one year ago Kodak underscored its commitment to digital print media production, restructuring and sustainability. The mantra was repeated recently during the announcement of the Ascend dry ink press, one of this year\u2019s few truly exciting new digital press announcements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the press conference CEO Jim Continenza declared that Kodak is \u201cstronger than we\u2019ve been in years\u201d. The company\u2019s shareprice doesn\u2019t fully support that: shares trade at around $6.65 down from a 52-week high of $13.90. But they rose with the announcement of Ascend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ascend press<\/strong>
Kodak\u2019s Ascend electrophotographic single pass, duplex, sheet fed, digital press prints on the heavy stocks used in POP and folding carton applications, from 148 gsm to 687 gsm. For such applications, Kodak claims the Ascend is more cost effective than flatbed digital presses. The Ascend prints CMYK+1 and there are 13 possible embellishments including foil, pearlescent, opaque white and antimicrobial dry inks, which are sustainable and readily de-inked. Gold and dimensional inks are in the pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dry inks also mean there\u2019s no need for priming or special substrate treatment and the single pass technology assures perfect registration with no risk of substrate distortion. The Kodachrome inks print up to 98% of Pantone colours and spots can be printed on auxiliary units. Inks are food safe for indirect applications. The press prints 600 dpi, with 256 grey levels and runs at 572m2<\/sup> per hour, printing 3600 A3s per hour. Changeover is eight minutes which Kodak claims is six times faster than the competition. Orders are being taken with a view to release in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Institutional investors may see Kodak as a bit of a lost cause, but this is a mistake. Kodak has de-leveraged its balance sheet and culled superfluous resources and development efforts. The business is more sustainable and its environmental impact reduced. Disciplined focus on core markets and continued commitment to research and development for both digital and analogue print applications frame the rest of the picture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A digital platform<\/strong>
The Nexfinity, the Prosper Ultra C520 announced last year and expected \u201csoon\u201d, along with the Ascend digital presses, should drive Kodak\u2019s future digital prosperity. However the company is focused on analogue and digital convergence evident in the printing sector, so investment into Sonora processless plate technology continues. Software in the form of Prinergy workflow pulls it all together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prinergy Access<\/strong>
Kodak is moving its customers online using Microsoft Azure web hosting for production management. Prinergy, Kodak\u2019s workflow technology, is now subscriptions based. Prinergy Access Workflow Software is accessed via browser so its tools can be tailored to the needs of individual subscribers, from single press companies to organisations with multiple presses across numerous sites. Providing Prinergy on line means printers do not need to invest inhouse: workflow management\u2019s all online. Software tools on subscription is not a new idea, however competitors such as HP\u2019s Print OS, billed as a print operating system, do not have the apparent simplicity and convenience of Prinergy Access. A remote model could cut inhouse emissions for Kodak customers, because they will not have to maintain production software or the associated hardware. The model takes the industry another step closer to full automation and increased process efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern Litho\u2019s view<\/strong>
Jim Tomblinson of Modern Litho invested in Prinergy On Demand Business Solutions because \u201cwe couldn\u2019t afford not to\u201d and \u201c[aging] MIS technology was holding back the company\u201d. It compromised Modern Litho\u2019s ability to serve customers and grow the business. Now Kodak and its partners provide the development thinking and are a single point of contact for Modern Litho. Tomblinson said: \u201cwe are now able to share the load\u201d across its four sites, adding that young people coming into print have a more rewarding prepress work experience with the model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly announced Prinergy Access is an open ended database, connecting users to advanced technologies. It\u2019s an platform for sharing jobs and data across all sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all one<\/strong>
With Prinergy Access Kodak has a single digital infrastructure supporting both workflow and MIS. The unification of prepress workflow and MIS could provide Kodak with considerable opportunities to attract new customers. And Ascend is a key platform for the company. Kodak will introduce more Kodachrome inks for wider application scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the print industry evolves new applications, particularly in packaging, Continenza recognises that \u201cplates [are] going to be around a lot of years\u201d. Investments in Sonora, digital printing and workflow are investments for the \u201csustainability of the printing industry\u201d. Technology is moving print away from harsh chemicals, environmentally hostile inks and resource intensive processes. Kodak is currently conducting a full sustainability study within the business because \u201cwe are totally commited to sustainability\u201d. This applies to planet and company alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Laurel Brunner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project,<\/a> an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print\u2019s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is  supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics<\/a>, EFI<\/a>, Fespa<\/a>, Fujifilm<\/a>, HP<\/a>, Kodak<\/a>, Miraclon<\/a>, Ricoh<\/a>, Spindrift,<\/a>Splash PR<\/a>, Unity Publishing<\/a> and Xeikon<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner At a press conference one year ago Kodak underscored its commitment to digital print media production, restructuring and sustainability. The mantra was repeated recently during the announcement of the Ascend dry ink press, one of this year\u2019s few truly exciting new digital press announcements. In the press conference CEO … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=671"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1750,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671\/revisions\/1750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}