Kodak plans to add a new plate manufacturing line at its Columbus, Georgia, facility dedicated to producing KODAK SONORA Process Free Plates.

KODAK SONORA Process Free Plates remove the plate processing step completely, without sacrificing the quality or productivity of traditional mainstream processed plates. SONORA Plates enable more printers than ever before to enjoy the environmental and economic benefits of a process-free plate.

Driven by rapidly-growing customer demand for SONORA Plates, this expansion aligns with Kodak’s plans to drive local sourcing while continuously improving manufacturing quality, production efficiencies and customer service across its entire digital plate portfolio, the company said. The company noted its “several million” dollar investment is expected to retain 225 jobs and create 40 more over the next 2 years.

“To meet the demand generated by the tremendous growth of SONORA Plates in the Americas, we need to build a brand new world-class plate manufacturing line in our Columbus plant,” noted Brad Kruchten, President of Kodak’s Graphics, Entertainment & Commercial Films group. “This is a clear statement of our commitment to enable sustainable printing in the Americas.”

Today, KODAK SONORA Process Free Plates are manufactured in Europe in Osterode, Germany, and Leeds, United Kingdom. The investment in a new high-speed manufacturing line in the Columbus facility complements the recently announced investment in SONORA Plate capacity at Kodak’s Xiamen, China, plant, Kodak officials said. These investments will complete Kodak’s globalization of SONORA Plate manufacturing and ensure the capabilities and capacity to meet the unprecedented growth of SONORA Plates, as well as support production of Kodak’s full digital plate portfolio.

“We see the shift toward SONORA Plates growing to a very significant volume,” said Robert Price, General Manager of Kodak’s Worldwide Plate Operations. “We need to manufacture SONORA Plates in each region in order to deliver enough capacity to meet the demand. Also, it’s important to have manufacturing in each region in order to provide the ultimate customer service – delivering what customers need, when they need it.”