Kodak has decided to move the development of Prinergy and associated software to facilities in Israel and China from its long-standing site in Vancouver. Kodak’s Israeli location is already heavily involved in the development of Kodak technology, particularly around colour servers, while its Chinese operation also has experience in developing applications like ColorFlow and drivers for platesetters.
The Vancouver site itself will continue to employ more than 500 people, Jon Bracken told PrintAction. Bracken, General Manager of Kodak’s Unified Workflow Solutions Group, could not provide a number in relation to expected layoffs at the Vancouver site, but he indicated the facility is to now shift its software focus toward building custom solutions for large-scale clients. The Vancouver facility will also continue its technical support and marketing operations.
Over the past four years, the Vancouver site has led much of Kodak’s software development around applications like Prinergy, Insite, Preps, ColorFlow, NewsManager, and PowerPack. In 2005, Kodak spent US$980 million to purchase Creo Inc., which originally engineered Prinergy out of Vancouver in correlation with Dan Gelbart’s groundbreaking CTP work. Gelbart, who now holds more than 100 patents, founded Creo in Vancouver in 1983, with business partner Ken Spencer.
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