Yesterday, Kodak announced it had “completed the sale of certain assets of its microfilm products and equipment business to Eastman Park Micrographics, Inc.” Eastman Park is a Dallas-based entity founded by former Kodak executive and long-time document imaging entrepreneur William “Sonny” Oates. Basically, Eastman Park will be taking over all sales and distribution of Kodak microfilm and micrographics equipment. However, the film will continue to be manufactured by Kodak in Rochester and carry the Kodak brand name.
I caught up with Tony Barbeau of Kodak Document Imaging who indicated the move was designed to enable Kodak to focus more completely on its digital business – which is the strategic direction of the company. Kodak’s document scanner and imaging business grew out of the micrographics business in the late 1980s and 1990s. In early 2001, we reported that Kodak’s digital document imaging and micrographics businesses combined were approaching $1 billion – with digital sales poised to overtake micrographics sales for the first time that year.
Barbeau indicated that the sale would affect about 10 Kodak employees. He said that while sales of many forms of traditional microfilm are shrinking, archive, preservation microfilm sales continue to grow.
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