Just found this article on EK. I had no idea they were into this technology.
Kodak opens new Writable CD production facility in Ireland
YOUGHAL, Co. Cork, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 1997--
World's leading disc manufacturer also announces plans to expand
worldwide CD-R production
Eastman Kodak Co. today strengthened its position as the world's largest producer of CD-Recordable media
with the official opening of Kodak Cork Ltd., a new disc production facility in Ireland's Youghal, Co. Cork.
The new facility will help meet the rapidly growing demand for Kodak Writable CD discs.
The company simultaneously announced plans to expand its disc production facilities in Guadalajara, Mexico. In
addition, Kodak manufacturers discs in Rochester, N.Y. and has custom screen printing and packaging facilities in
Harrow, United Kingdom. With these worldwide expansion plans, the company said, Kodak's investments will
exceed $140M.
"This level of investment and commitment to rapid increases in our production capacity further underscores our
resolve to serve this fast-paced market well and preserve our position as the world's largest CD-R manufacturer,"
said Robert M. Unterberger, president, Digital and Applied Imaging and vice president, Kodak. "When our
current expansion plans are complete, we project that our manufacturing capacity will reach 18 million discs per
month by the end of 1998."
Although they look similar to mass replicated audio CDs and CD-ROM titles, CD-Recordable discs -- which
Kodak calls Writable CD discs -- allow individual users to record their own discs using a desktop computer and
CD writer.
One of the first facilities in Europe to manufacture CD-R discs, Kodak Cork Ltd. in Youghal -- pronounced
"yawl" -- occupies a 45,000-square-foot factory and employs about 250 people.
The company announced that it will further expand the Youghal facililty later this year, with the construction of a
70,000-square-foot addition to accomodate additional production lines. Once the expansion is complete, the
company expects Kodak Cork Ltd. to employ more than 600 people by late 1998.
"The European market is very significant to Kodak," said Cliff Trott, chief marketing officer and vice president,
Digital and Applied Imaging, Kodak. "This new plant puts our state-of-the-art manufacturing near our European
customers, complementing our existing facilities in Mexico, the UK and the United States."
CD-Recordable products provide an ideal way to store large amounts of digital information for individual users or
for low-volume replication. Digital content can include databases, document images, pictorial images, software,
motion video, and audio.
Kodak is a world leader in the CD-Recordable marketplace with its family of Writable CD products, including,
media, high-speed writers and automated systems designed for volume production of custom CDs. Kodak's
leadership in CD media employs several of the company's core technology strengths, including thin-film coatings,
dye technologies, high-speed recording knowledge and development of a leading-edge interface between optical
recording heads and media. EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional information about Kodak, visit our web site on the
Internet at: kodak.com |
