By: E&P Staff Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., opened its newest printing plate factory, in Xiamen, China., where it will manufacture digital and conventional plates.
The $50 million Xiamen plant "significantly increases our total manufacturing capacity worldwide," Eastman Kodak President and Chief Operating Officer Philip J. Faraci said at the plant's opening today. "It also provides a base of operations to increase our service and support for customers in China and the Asia Pacific."
Occupying almost 21,000 square meters at Kodak's research and manufacturing center, the facility will produce Kodak Electra Excel thermal plates, which require no prepheating, and conventional Kodak Winner Gold negative plates.
Along with the new facility in Xiamen, Kodak is creating a dedicated China Technical Applications Group to support customers. Kodak already has TAG operations serving Europe and the Americas.
"Our Xiamen plant will incorporate Kodak printing plate production expertise from around the world into what we believe is the most advanced plate manufacturing facility anywhere," John Robinson, printing plate business general manager and vice president at Kodak's Graphic Communications Group, said in a statement. "With manufacturing in eight plants on three different continents, Kodak is able to produce plate solutions that are tailored to the regions where are customers are doing business," Robinson said.
The Xiamen plant joins Kodak plate production facilities in Windsor, Colo., Columbus, Ga.,, Munich and Osterode, Germany, Leeds, England, Sofia, Bulgaria, and Gunma, Japan.
Kodak sells flexographic, sheetfed, and web offset plates for commercial, newspaper, and packaging printers. Beyond thermal plates, its portfolio of digital plates includes the Kodak Violet Print for commercial printers and Kodak Violetnews for newspapers.
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