The Seybold Report

Kodak Launches New FLEXCEL NX System Users Certification Program

Kodak has announced a certification program for FLEXCEL NX System Users. Certified users will be able to display a logo attesting to the certification on Web sites and marketing materials. To qualify, a user must submit print samples and client recommendation letters. more

Kodak Makes Deal With Largest Creditor

Eastman Kodak Company has announced a comprehensive settlement agreement with the UK Kodak Pension Plan (KPP), its largest bankruptcy creditor. Under the agreement, which will be filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court, Kodak’s Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses will be spun off under new ownership to KPP. According to the press release announcing the deal, the settlement agreement provides, among other things, for the spin-off of Kodak’s Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses to KPP for cash and non-cash consideration of $650 million. Certain proceeds will be used to support the emergence of Kodak from Chapter 11 and the growth of its Commercial Imaging business. The agreement also settles approximately $2.8 billion in claims by KPP against Kodak and certain of its affiliates. more

Kodak Agrees to Sell Document Imaging Business to Brother Industries

Kodak has announced it has entered into a preliminary agreement to sell certain assets of its Document Imaging business to Brother Industries, Ltd., for the proposed sale of for a cash purchase price of approximately $210 million, subject to certain price adjustments at closing. In addition, Brother will assume deferred service revenue liability of the business, which totaled approximately $67 million as of December 31, 2012. Consummation of the transaction with Brother is subject to court approval and will follow a marketing period in which Kodak may seek to obtain a higher or better offer for the business, alone or in combination with other businesses, including through a court-approved auction. more

Kodak Announces Plan to Save Energy at Osterode Plate Production Plant

Kodak has announced the company will implement a comprehensive energy management system at its largest offset plate production plant in Osterode am Harz, Germany in order to conserve energy and reduce its environmental impact at the site. more

Kodak Awards TruePage NewJet Book Paper Four-Diamond Rating

Kodak has announced it have added TruePage NewJet book paper to its Prosper Paper Rating Program and has awarded the paper a four-diamond rating, the second-highest rating in the program. more

Kodak Experts Discuss Flexo Efficiency in Upcoming Webinars

Kodak has announced a two-Webinar series hosted by FlexoGlobal with experts on Kodak packaging systems to discuss how Kodak’s integrated portfolio helps packaging printers maximize efficiency and achieve high-quality results with greater shelf impact. more

Kodak Adds B&W Separation Film to Asset Protection Portfolio

Kodak has added the Vision3 Digital Separation Film, a B&W archival film the company says is optimized for laser, CRT, and LED light sources used in digital recorders, to its asset protection film portfolio. more

Kodak Announces Steps toward Chapter 11 Emergence

Eastman Kodak Company has outlined its next steps toward a successful emergence from Chapter 11 reorganization. The company plans to focus on commercial, packaging, and functional printing solutions and enterprise services and has taken steps to sell its personalized imaging and document imaging businesses. The company says it also plans to emerge from Chapter 11 during 2013. more

Kodak Releases Insite Prepress Portal System 6.5

Kodak has released the Insite Prepress Portal System 6.5, which the company previewed at drupa 2012. The new release includes several new features including an application that supports review, annotation, and approval of jobs from Apple iPads, and also has a new document uploader based on Adobe Flash and enhancements to job status review, preflighting, and user management. more

Kodak Honors Frank Romano with Print Ambassador Lifetime Achievement Award

Kodak presented its Print Ambassador Lifetime Achievement Award to Frank Romano at drupa. Romano is the third recipient of the award, created to honor individuals with a passion for advocacy and education in the printing industry. For more than 50 years Romano has worked for in the graphic arts industry. He has worked industry suppliers, written dozens of books and articles, served as a professor in the field, addressed professional groups worldwide, and consulted with most major print suppliers, and more, very much more. The Seybold Report congratulates Romano, a long-time Friend of Seybold, for receiving this well deserved honor. more

Kodak K-Zone at drupa

Kodak will present an expanded version of its live presentation theater, the K-Zone, at drupa. The main event at the Kodak stand (F09-1, Hall 5) will provide more than 60 dynamic, unscripted discussions with industry experts, product representatives, customers, and strategic partners. Lighthouse customers will also successful business strategies. more

Kodak Expands Web-to-Print Reseller Agreement

Kodak has expanded its reseller agreement with Online Print Solutions from North America only to a global relationship to sell Web-to-print tools. Kodak has been an authorized reseller of the full range of OPS Web-to-print and cross-media marketing systems in North America since early 2011. more 

Kodak Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Kodak announced the company and its U.S. subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for chapter 11 business reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company's news release says, "The business reorganization is intended to bolster liquidity in the U.S. and abroad, monetize non-strategic intellectual property, fairly resolve legacy liabilities, and enable the Company to focus on its most valuable business lines." Kodak subsidiaries outside the United States are not affected. The company says it has lined up sufficient working capital and intends to conduct business as close to normally as possible. more

Kodak Expands Thermal Direct and PF-N Plate Production

Kodak has extensively upgraded its plate manufacturing capabilities in its Leeds, UK facility, increasing its production capacity of process-free plates. The company is responding to growing demand from commercial and publication printers. Total demand for these products has grown by an average of 35% during the past two years. The enhanced production line will also help Kodak prepare for introduction of a new product early in 2012. more

Kodak Creates Virtually Invisible Ink

Kodak has introduced a new, virtually invisible clear ink called the NEXPRESS Red Fluorescing Dry Ink, for NEXPRESS production presses. Designed for security and inventory management applications, the ink is clear to the naked eye but fluoresces red when illuminated with an appropriate ultraviolet light. more