WhatTheyThink recently attended a ribbon cutton open house ceremony in Columbus, Georgia celebrating the expansion of Kodak's plate manufacturing facility to include the Sonora line. 

The expansion began in 2014 and includes 48,000 additional squared feet for the 750 foot Sonora line.  Kodak has invested $28 million to bring Sonora process free plate manufacturing to North America, part of a strategy to make where sold.  

We were able to get some details by sitting down with Print Systems President Brad Kruchten at the event, who shares not only the importance of this particular product to the Kodak print systems portfolio, but to the overall industry as well.  

Columbus will now be the primary source for Sonora plates sold in the Americas and will add 40 jobs to the local economy.  The event was attended by several local elected leaders as well as leadership from the local Chamber of Commerce.  

The importance of this facility and Sonora plates was also demonstrated by the attendance of Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke, who along with Kruchten talked about the importance of process free plates and the Sonora product to Kodak.  

Attendees were given a great tour along the new line with explanations of each step in the process of making the plates.  

With this event, Kodak showed it's commitment to its 2,700 plus Sonora customers worldwide, and particularly those in North and South America who should be better served now that the manufacturing is located closer to home.