Kodak's Future After Exiting Bankruptcy

Kodak Headquarters in Rochester, N.Y. Eastman Kodak was credited with popularizing photography at the start of the 20th century, started to struggle toward the end of the century, first with Japanese competition and later when it failed to react quickly enough to the shift from film to digital photography.

Antonio Perez became CEO in 2005. Under his leadership, the Rochester, N.Y., company had restructured its money-losing film business by 2007. The company closed 13 factories, shuttered 130 film-processing labs and eliminated 50,000 workers around the world at a cost of about $3.4 billion. Perez said he's confident that Kodak's post-bankruptcy balance sheet, combined with its new focus and technologies, will set the company up for financial success in the years to come.

Perez said that by slimming down, Kodak is able to focus research and development on businesses the company sees as more profitable. The restructured company's operations are split between a trio of businesses: packaging, graphic communications and functional printing. All three are rooted in Kodak's commercial printing technology.

Todd Griffin, Kodak print head engineer, makes a demo print with a high speed drum at Kodak research labs in Rochester, N.Y. The print will be used to investigate the quality of new ink sets. This is part of the new materials development for flexographic printing plates.

An example of what a piece of silicon looks like with Kodak print inhibiting ink at Kodak research labs in Rochester, N.Y. Kodak print inhibiting ink is used for printing electronics. Kodak wants to use its printing capabilities to lay out super-thin lines of metals like copper and silver, which can be more effective than indium and cheaper to obtain. The new technology could also allow the screens to be flexible and foldable, allowing them to be installed on a host of new objects.

Kodak Research Technician, Grace Bennett, inspects proprietary Kodak ink for Kodak print applications in the synthetic chemistry lab at the Kodak research lab in Rochester, N.Y.

Kodak Research Technician, Grace Bennett, synthesizes proprietary Kodak ink for Kodak print applications in the synthetic chemistry lab at the Kodak research lab in Rochester, N.Y.

Kodak Research Technician, Larry Rowley, prepares a substrate for laser writing on a flat bed laser writer at the Kodak laser writing lab in Rochester, N.Y. Kodak scientists created printers, inks and other materials designed to improve resolution, while also increasing the variety of surfaces that can be printed on, boosting printing speed and lowering costs for customers.

Perez said that by slimming down, Kodak is able to focus research and development on businesses the company sees as more profitable. Although the technology is still being developed, a production facility is under construction.

Under court oversight, Kodak continued to shed costs in the form of businesses, facilities and workers. It shut down its consumer camera business and sold off an online photo service. It spun off its personal and document imaging businesses to its pension plan and sold off many of its patents. It took its name off the theater that hosts the Academy Awards each year. In fact, much of Kodak is gone except for its commercial and packaging printing businesses. The company will emerge with about 8,500 employees, just a fraction of the 145,000 it had at its peak in the 1980s. Revenue is expected to total $2.7 billion this year.