With Kodak keeping its Prosper business, the company is now looking to its next-generation inkjet technology, Ultrastream, which it says will be commercialised in 2019.
PMG’s Shankar Vishwanath attended Kodak’s VIP meeting in the USA, where the company discussed how Ultrastream will come to market.
Randy Vandagriff, president, Enterprise Inkjet Systems, and vice president, Eastman Kodak Company, says “Ultrastream raises the bar in inkjet. It leverages many of the Stream inventions to assure we uphold the value associated with our unique continuous inkjet technology and delivers the flexibility and ease of integration that compels OEMs to look to Kodak for their next generation of inkjet solutions.
“We are on schedule with the development and commercialization of Ultrastream, which is our next generation inkjet technology focused on applications which include magazines/catalogs, packaging, labeling and décor markets. Evaluation kits will be available on a limited basis at beginning in Q4 this year, with commercialization of the first Ultrastream solution targeted for 2019.
“We currently have 19 letters of intent including mainly OEMs and a handful of strategic end-users. We are also continuing talks with other interested OEMs who want to test the technology once the evaluation kits become available.
“The OEMS represent a global reach and the full scope of targeted applications, including commercial print, packaging, labeling and décor. These include Fuji Kikai, GOSS China, Matti, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Printing & Packaging Machinery, and Uteco.
“We are also actively engaging with strategic end-users to learn more about new application opportunities. Most recently we have seen a great interest from décor end-users who are embracing the value of digital print in their operations to reduce waste and operating costs from traditional gravure printing.”
Kodak’s Enterprise Inkjet Systems Division (EISD), which includes the Versamark and Prosper businesses, had Q1 revenues of $37m in 2017, compared with $34m in Q1 2016 – an increase of 9 percent.
“Kodak has made a significant investment in inkjet development and the decision to retain the business emphasizes the company’s commitment to the future of Print,” says Vandagriff.
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