Kodak Announces the First Worldwide PRINERGY On Demand Business Solutions Customer: Modern Litho

L-R: Jim Tomblinson, VP of Operations; Todd Bigger, Kodak’s VP of Print; Darrell Moore, President; Greg Meeker, VP of Sales

Rochester, N.Y. – Kodak is excited to announce the first implementation of the revolutionary KODAK PRINERGY On Demand Business Solutions at Modern Litho. This marks yet another step in Kodak’s development of comprehensive AI based software solutions that help printers become more automated, efficient and profitable. Modern Litho’s decision is a further highlight in the successful long-term partnership between Kodak and the U.S. based commercial printer.

Ranked in the top 1% of printers in North America, Modern Litho operates five production facilities in Missouri. Magazines, catalogs, direct mail and commercial printing make up their largest service sector, in addition the company’s portfolio also includes web-to-print, digital publications and signage and display graphics services. As a G7® Master Certified printer, the company specializes in high-quality sheetfed offset but also offers digital services, leveraging Kodak’s CTP and digital printing technology as well as KODAK SONORA Process Free Plates. For many years now, production at all sites has been controlled and managed using KODAK PRINERGY Workflow.

An important strategic step into the futureModern Litho had recently switched to the cloud-based KODAK PRINERGY On Demand platform, which is hosted on Microsoft Azure. However, they had not achieved their goal: end-to-end integration and connectivity for a seamless business and production workflow using third-party ERP and digital storefront software. PRINERGY On Demand Business Solutions made the vision a reality.

“We weren’t getting the support we needed from our legacy provider to integrate email, CRM and MIS functionality with PRINERGY. In addition, they have been slow to adapt software to keep pace with changing financial, tax and logistics regulations,” said Jim Tomblinson, VP of Operations at Modern Litho. “By contrast, KODAK and Microsoft will contribute key Office and Business functionality to PRINERGY On Demand Business Solutions. Microsoft is responsive and drives continuous investments to accelerate connectivity. In view of the challenges confronting us, that’s an enormous advantage and one we’re excited to leverage.”

From multi-vendor to full-featured, single-vendor softwareBy opting for PRINERGY On Demand Business Solutions, Modern Litho will acquire scalable, automated, end-to-end solutions. This innovation from Kodak combines ERP, MIS functionality with collaboration tools, web-to-print, CRM and Microsoft Office with PRINERGY On Demand production workflow in a fully integrated, cloud-based platform. Kodak has enhanced the software with print-specific analytics and AI capabilities and provides comprehensive solution support with real-time Managed Services.

“In the past, we’ve always had to contend with various software providers to meet our integration and connectivity requirements. That cost us a great deal of time, effort and money – often without delivering the desired results,” Tomblinson continued. “Aligning our pre-production workflow to match the industry-leading production and manufacturing workflows Modern Litho is known for is a key component of our strategic plan going forward. We believe this innovative product from Kodak and its partners is the solution that will achieve this for Modern Litho. Kodak’s PRINERGY On Demand Business Solutions will now finally give us what we’ve been looking for: a complete, single-vendor solution that lives up to our integration and connectivity expectations in every respect.”

“Modern Litho shares our vision of a fully connected system that drives automation, AI and actionable analytics. All of these are hallmarks of PRINERGY On Demand Business Solutions which deliver significant efficiency, productivity and profitability benefits for our customers,” commented Todd Bigger, Vice President, Print, Kodak.

The implementation of PRINERGY On Demand Business Solutions is already under way at Modern Litho. The new Kodak solution is currently set to go fully live at all of the company’s facilities in October this year.