New Kodak stakes its claim as major graphic arts supplier
The 120 person group, with in excess of 60 service engineers and almost $100 million turnover per year, represents one of the most dramatic shifts in the supply side of the industry in years. The new entity is the result of a buying spree by Kodak to reinvent itself as a digital technology enterprise in the face of free-falling consumer film sales.
The new Kodak management lineout above from top left is:
The 120 person group, with in excess of 60 service engineers and almost $100 million turnover per year, represents one of the most dramatic shifts in the supply side of the industry in years. The new entity is the result of a buying spree by Kodak to reinvent itself as a digital technology enterprise in the face of free-falling consumer film sales. In short order since 2003 Kodak has bought or taken complete control of more than US1$billion graphic equipment and consumables companies, viz; Encad – wide format printing; NexPress – digital printing (originally 50 per cent owned by Heidelberg); Kodak Polychrome Graphics – plate and film manufacturer (originally 50 per cent owned by Sun Chemicals); Versamark – Scitex high-speed inkjet: and finally this year, Creo – thermal prepress technology leader. In addition, in Australia, the original Kodak corporate structure from Coburg, without its manufacturing arm that was closed earlier this year, is another corporate culture to be integrated.
According to Green the intention is for GCG to present a single face to the industry, promoting a single brand incorporating all the companies. Product names will be retained, such as NexPress and Versamark, but all the product offerings will be sold under the new Kodak livery.
Australia will be the first country to integrate all the disparate corporate cultures under one roof when the new Sydney facilities in North Ryde open in October. A new corporate headquarters and showroom in Melbourne will follow later in the year(pictured).Aware of the dangers involved, Green is adamant that GCG will remain focused on its customer service role. “So far it’s been a very successful integration. We are going to extraordinary lengths to make sure we don’t get distracted from looking after our customers,” he said.
GCG will operate two divisions; graphic solutions and services (GS&S) looking after workflow, prepress, digital printing and consumables; and transaction and industrial solutions (TIS) for wide format and high-end transaction printing. Approximately 80 per cent of GCG’s revenue will come from the former, mainly consisting of the plate and film turnover of the former KPG.
Despite the integration Green expects few if any redundancies, especially in the sales and service sectors. What synergies and cost savings are to be gained will come from integrating the back office functions of the various enterprises.
Kodak GCG will radically alter the dynamics of graphics supply in Australia and New Zealand with the company being in the position to bid for major contracts combining diverse offerings. It will compete in the prepress equipment and workflow space, even with its largest plate customer Heidelberg. The relationship may come under strain as the major deals go down and according to Green it is the subject of ongoing discussion between the two managements at the highest level.
Of all the divisions only NexPress is proclaiming itself to be in a non-competitive niche situation with national manager, Jon Field disclaiming any intention of taking on Fuji Xerox or HP Indigo in the high-end digital printing market. He maintains the NexPress offering is targeted very differently.
According to Ross Gilberthorpe, marketing manager, GCG will be making its presence felt across the industry over the next few months as the synergies become apparent and customers realise the value of the combined offerings. “ We intend to be the leading supplier in every market we compete in,” he said.