Stochastic expert joins the dots in Australia

Australian printing is spot on according to Kodak's Gordon Pritchard.

The screening evangelist visited Australia last week for the first time in five years and was impressed with what he saw when meeting with customers.

"When I first came here, it was every printer for themselves," he said. "There were some very isolated, provincial views towards printing, such as 3DAP only being good for Sydney printers, not Melbourne printers."

Pritchard (pictured) has been pleasantly surprised by the change in attitude since then. "Now, it's a very different picture than I'm seeing," he said, pointing towards seven Kodak customers that had either implemented or were about to implement AS/ISO12647/2. "Without firm standards, achieving excellent quality is an expensive and wasteful process," Pritchard noticed.

As the marketing manager for Value in Print (VIP), Pritchard has been responsible for the push towards stochastic screening and driving its growth in Australia.

"Every site I've spoken to has been interested in stochastic screening," he said. "Some are implementing it because it is the foundation of spotless printing. Others are being pushed into it because of customer demand or competitive pressure."

When it comes to change to changing systems, Pritchard admits that "switching screening will always attract reticence." He expects interest in stochastic screening to grow next year when Kodak releases Version 5 of Prinergy and Staccato CX.

"It allows users to custom tailor the screen to suit their manufacturing needs," Pritchard said.