Former managing director of Kodak (Australasia) predicts growing traction and greater market acceptance for the revitalised imaging enterprise when it emerges from Chapter 11 in September.
Returning from a three-year stint in Asia to take on his old job, Venn is confident the bad times are behind the troubled iconic brand. Hosting a visit to PacPrint by Lois lebegue, Kodak managing director Asia Pacific region, he reinforced the view that the ‘new’ Kodak will prove to be a real competitor in the market.
He said other suppliers will take notice of Kodak’s renewed aggression in the marketplace and promised there would be plenty more competition to come as the company makes up for lost time.
According to Lebegue (pictured on right with Steve Venn) the ‘new’ company is now “the right size, is free of debt and has the largest portfolio of products in the graphic arts.”
“We didn’t die and we never stopped servicing our customers. Our plate volumes are stable in the region and we are seeing 50% per year growth in our digital markets. We’re back,” he said.
Despite the uncertainty of how the markets will treat the ‘new’ Kodak after September, both Lebegue and Venn are emphatic there is a new spirit among the employees and a focus on a future that will see ‘functional’ printing play a greater role. The Kodak patented technologies for surface enhancement are among the most sought after in the world for such products as touch screens made from film. Already there is an agreement with Unipix, a US company, to produce touch screens employing the unique technology.
Venn sees an immediate growth in Kodak’s digital products in Australia. With over 30 NexPress installations in the market here, many of them in the past couple of years, he is confident there will be even greater acceptance when customers see the company has successfully completed its transformation.