Eastman Kodak Co.

The printing division of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses a great deal of electricity. To conserve energy and save money, the 450-employee Salt Lake City in-plant wanted to flatten out its extreme peaks and valleys. “We typically experience a peak [in terms of usage] at 7:30 a.m., for example,” notes Director Craig Sedgwick. Fortunately, the in-plant’s power company has been a friend both to the environment and to the in-plant.

In response to the strong demand for its digital plates throughout the Americas, Kodak has completed the previously announced expansion of its digital plate production facility in Columbus, Georgia. Adding 26,000 square feet to the existing facility, Kodak is using this third production line to meet the digital plate supply needs of print service providers in a wide variety of markets, and to further its commitment to advancing digital plate production processes and technologies.

On the heels of a Wall Street Journal article that claimed Eastman Kodak was planning to shed its toner-based Nexpress technology, The Rochester, N.Y.-based company revealed it is going to expand its focus on the digital press offering, perhaps through a partnership, but will not divest it.

Antonio Perez, Kodak CEO, told Reuters "Given this environment we are not going to be able to invest in the whole portfolio. We are not thinking of divesting any of those businesses. We have to find a way to continue to be in all those businesses without all the risk."

OVER THE past couple of years, the term “transpromo” has been popping up across the printing industry, particularly among in-plants, where demand for it is highest. What is transpromo printing, and why is it an attractive option for many companies and organizations? Transpromo is the addition of promotional or customer education messages to regular transactional documents, like bills and statements.

AS RANDY Smith sees it, the only way his in-plant can ensure a quick response to its customers’ needs is by doing the work in-house—and that means having the necessary equipment on hand, ready for action. “I try so hard to do as much as I can under this one roof,” says Smith, director of University Printing Services at Texas Tech University. In pursuit of that goal, the 35-employee in-plant has added an impressive array of equipment over the last few months. At the top of the list is a new HP Indigo 5500. Installed in late July, it is the in-plant’s first digital color press.

The World Bank uses an impressive array of digital printing and finishing equipment to help it fulfill its humanitarian mission.

REDUCING GLOBAL poverty is an ambitious goal, but the World Bank has made great progress since it was created in 1944 by providing financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. To support its activities, the World Bank maintains one of the largest, most advanced in-plants in the country. With 70 employees, the Bank’s Washington, D.C.-based Printing, Graphics and Map Design unit not only utilizes the latest digital presses—including two Kodak NexPresses, an Océ ColorStream 10000 and a Presstek 52 DI press—it has begun using JDF data to preset its equipment. Plus, it recently upgraded its Avanti shop management system to add Web ordering.

ABOUT 100 document professionals participated in the recent Digital Printing in Government Forum. Organized by INTERQUEST, a market and technology research and consulting firm, the third annual forum took place in Washington, D.C., on November 5. During the “Leading Vendors Strategies Panel,” which kicked off the event, Elaine Wilde, vice president of sales for Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, spoke about some leading-edge public sector in-plants that have been using Kodak’s technology:   

A lot has been happening lately at the Washington State Department of Printing. In June, the 130-employee operation installed its first digital press, a Kodak NexPress 3000, accompanied by a Kodak Glossing Unit. Then the Olympia-based in-plant announced it had received its chain of custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), becoming the first state government in-plant to do so. Now the in-plant has inked a deal to replace its existing shop management system with the EFI Hagen OA system, with plans to go live in January.

Two-color printing used to be fashionable, remarks Bob Tippins, manager of Graphic Services at Carleton University."But now everyone wants four-color,” he says. For an in-plant with a two-color press, however, this presented a small problem. The 23-employee, Ottawa, Ontario-based in-plant did some four-color work on its 25-year-old two-color Heidelbeg MOZP, but it was, Tippins admits, “very inefficient.