2005 The Year That Was – Year of the Kodak

The action began in January when Kodak bought out the 50 per cent stake held by Sun Chemicals for US$817 to become the sole owner of plate and film giant KPG. Kodak and KPG This positioned the new digitally focused Kodak to be one of the big three consumables suppliers along with Agfa and FujiFilm.

The company added KPG to its already growing portfolio of suppliers, NexPress, Encad and Versamark. However, the decisive move came with the surprise February acquisition of CTP pioneer, Creo, for $US980 million. Kodak buys Creo This added the final piece to the jigsaw, providing Kodak with the CTP engines it needs to be able to bundle thermal plates. Creo and KPG had both gone down the thermal imaging path so the fit was perfect.

Later in the year the companies were brought under the umbrella of Kodak's powerhouse Graphic Communication Group (GCG), with former Creo chief Steve Green assuming control as managing director in Australia and NZ. Steve Green is MD
Although the challenges of meshing Kodak, KPG and Creo should not be underestimated – for instance there are now three different management information systems running worldwide – the re-emergence of Kodak has significant implications for the industry.

The year wound up with the new GCG team touching down in its new purpose-designed headquarters in Melbourne.
Kodak HQ


Some other top stories from 2005
There was no shortage of drama throughout the year as a quick trawl through the Print21Online archives reveals.

• The stormy history of troubled printing giant PMP continued even after it offloaded its sheetfed printing to Promentum the year before. David Kirk, CEO – who has since left the company to head up the Fairfax publishing empire – was forced to revise profit forecasts after the company moved too quickly to retire older web presses. PMP decommission bungle
  
  Later in the year the news got better for PMP with the MAN Roland presses all installed and up and running on schedule. With a new CEO, Brian Evans, who actually knows something about printing, the company’s future looks brighter than for many a long year. Brian Evans


• 2005 was also the year of PacPrint in Melbourne, a great show even if the numbers were a tad down on last time. Forgetting the technology on display, Print21 Hot Picks undoubtedly the show will be remembered for the CPI marketing strategy of flying visitors by helicopter from the exhibition centre to its showroom at Braeside, much to the wrath of fellow suppliers. Unabashed the company has gone on to promote its innovative marketing notion despite the criticism.
  For a full review of the show type Live @ PacPrint into the archive search and read all about it.


• Geoff Wilding is a New Zealand entrepreneur with an eye for the printing industry. 2005 saw him cast his gaze over the Tasman looking for high-teched printing companies to fulfil his vision of a trans-Tasman printing group. His Pacific Print Group launched a series of bids in Sydney and Melbourne ahead of a public listing on the NZ stock market. Geoff WIlding
  The best laid plans often go astray and PPG’s bid for Melbourne’s Vega Press, Graphic Printworks and Sydney’s Agency Printing was on hold for some time while fresh private finance was arranged. But all’s well that sees the money in the bank and PPG is now a major Australian printing conglomerate.
  $203 million deal


• Throughout the year many printers were complaining about the flood of cheap (or should that be cheaper) Chinese print undercutting the market. It’s a fact of life in this globalized world where the Dragon is just beginning to stretch after waking. That the trend will continue was underscored by a report late in the piece that Stream Solutions is opening an office in Hong Kong.
  Stream Solutions.
  

2005 was a big year in the printing and graphic arts industry, a make or break year for many printers and not a few suppliers. Next year looks like more of the same. Make sure you and your workmates and employees keep up to date with the latest news every week on Print21Online.