Kodak has signed a groundbreaking deal with a newspaper publisher to print the Jersey Evening Post and 11 UK national newspapers using Kodak’s inkjet technology.
Kodak UK and the Guiton Group, which owns the Jersey Evening Post, have formed KP Services to print about 35,000 UK newspapers each day for distribution in Jersey and Guernsey. The new service, scheduled to begin next year, will avoid frequent weather delays associated with flying newspapers into the Channel Islands on the day of publication.
“In today’s printing environment, businesses need to invest in technologies that complement long-established production methods, yet also enable them to drive newspaper printing into the future,” said Jack Knadjian, MD, KP Services Limited. “Kodak has pioneered inkjet printing for newspapers and is ready to show the world the next generation of inkjet presses with the speed and quality provided by Kodak Stream Inkjet Technology.
Knadjian said it would not have been possible to print so many titles with such a diversity of print runs - less than 300 to more than 17,000 - using offset technology.
“We’ve been watching digital development for over a decade and always held back due to the speed and reliability issues that this technology struggled with previously,” said Paul Carter, MD, Guiton Publishing. “We’re now confident that adding the Kodak Prosper 6000 Presses, combined with the Hunkeler finishing equipment and our own expertise in publishing and distribution, makes this the right time to move forward.”
Kodak will install two Kodak Prosper 6000P presses and four new Hunkeler Combi-Solution Newspaper finishing lines. The Prosper 6000P was designed specifically for publishing applications such as newspapers and books, printing at speeds of up to 1,000 feet per minute on standard newsprint paper. Hunkeler‘s latest newspaper finishing line allows for fully-automated changeover between tabloid and broadsheet formats as well as the automated collation of multiple sections.
Jersey’s Minister for Economic Development welcomed the deal. “The Jersey operation will be a worldwide showcase for the digital printing of newspapers and will see the very latest digital printing technology coming to the island,” said Senator Lyndon Farnham.