(Watch David Zwang’s interview with Randy Vandagriff, Director of Digital Print for Kodak, here.)

In looking at the evolution of production inkjet leading up to drupa 2024, it seems fitting that we start with Kodak, since Kodak’s production inkjet roots date back to the 1970s. Here is a link to the original article and a brief history for those of you who are unfamiliar. In 1983, Kodak acquired Mead Digital Systems, which introduced its first commercially available inkjet product in 1976. Kodak initially acquired the company as a wholly owned subsidiary then fully merged it with their Diconix division which had produced the first portable inkjet printer in 1984. In 1993, Diconix was acquired by Scitex, who further developed the technology and launched two Versamark production inkjet products in 2001. These were effectively the first production inkjet printers. Kodak reacquired Scitex Digital Printing in 2004 and never looked back.

In 2009, the Kodak Enterprise Inkjet Systems Division (EISD) introduced their Stream Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ) technology along with two lines of PROSPER production inkjet products; one for imprinting and the other being complete high performance presses. Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ), takes a different approach to imaging. There is no start and stop of drop generation as in (Drop on Demand) DoD. Instead, the printhead continuously generates a flow of ink through the nozzle at a high pressure to reduce nozzle clogging.