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A Renewed Focus on Manufacturing: How Kodak Got Back to Its Roots
What does Kodak Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Continenza do to follow up on his American Business Awards “Maverick of the Year” designation in 2021? He fosters that maverick spirit in his senior management team to transform the iconic company once known for photography into a leading industrial manufacturer. This American Business Awards nomination recognizes how Kodak has used its vision and courage to redefine what a “Kodak Moment” means: seizing an extraordinary opportunity to remake a 130-year-old company. Kodak has capitalized on its manufacturing expertise and infrastructure and is focusing on its core strengths in commercial print and advanced materials and chemicals.
Continenza has a proven track record of guiding leading technology companies through transformations. He’s applying that experience with an intense focus on Kodak’s core manufacturing capabilities of chemistry, layering, and deposition coating. These capabilities, developed and perfected by Kodak to manufacture film, have found new uses across an array of applications primarily in commercial print—and are paying off for the company and its customers.
Kodak is investing approximately $25 million each year in advancing print technology and has achieved growth in key products for commercial print such as SONORA Process Free plates and the PROSPER Digital Press platform. In its printing plates manufacturing plants around the world, Kodak has increased efficiency significantly through automation and robotics and received ISO certifications for all standards including one for energy efficiency in Germany which earned Kodak a €700,000 rebate.
The company has also seen strong growth in its film business, including motion picture film and industrial films manufactured at the company’s 112-acre Eastman Business Park. To achieve that growth, the manufacturing team has had to overcome significant supply chain hurdles, including over 50 source of supply changes in the incoming raw materials that needed to be managed.
Another key factor has helped drive growth: The company’s ability to manufacture its own chemicals and recover solvents, which has helped mitigate supply chain issues during the pandemic and played an important role in sustainability.
Kodak management has also made strategic decisions to sell products and IP not related to the core strengths, address debt, and attract investors. In committing to provide loans of up to $275 million, Kennedy Lewis Investment Management Co-founder Darren L. Richman said, “Kodak has made tremendous strides under Jim Continenza’s leadership. We feel strongly that the company is well positioned for the future.”
Grand Oaks Capital, led by Paychex founder Tom Golisano, committed to invest a total of $100 million in Kodak. Golisano said, “We are very confident in the company’s leadership, vision, and new growth opportunities.”
Upon Kodak repurchasing one million shares of stock, Southeastern Asset Management Vice-Chairman G. Staley Gates, CFA, said, “Since Jim Continenza and his team took over at Kodak, there have been dramatic improvements in operating costs and the balance sheet, as well as new product introductions.”
Mr. Continenza has assembled a senior management team that combines existing institutional knowledge with the fresh perspective of new hires. Together, they have taken the steps necessary to redefine Kodak based on expertise and infrastructure developed over decades as a manufacturer and new thinking about how to capitalize on those assets.
As for the future of Kodak, Jim Continenza believes it’s important that the company focuses on manufacturing operations to grow, not cut, the company’s way to success. Continenza said, “When people ask me what Kodak does, the answer is simple: We are an industrial manufacturer. What we do well, we do better than anybody. And we plan to rely on our core strengths in manufacturing to drive the profitable growth we need to succeed.”
