ROCHESTER, N.Y., December 17, 2004 - Thamesdown Marketing Services Ltd., a Swindon-based direct mailing production facility, installed two KODAK DIGIMASTER 9110 digital production systems in August 2004, dramatically expanding their ability to produce personalized prints of exceptional quality on a variety of stocks, sizes and substrates. Thamesdown's primary clients are agencies who outsource their print jobs. Paul Parkin, Managing Director at Thamesdown, has a strong background in marketing and direct mail strategies. He sees personalization and variable data services as the best way to promote ongoing, robust growth for his 55-person company. Thamesdown typically receives print jobs from their clients and then personalizes them on the KODAK DIGIMASTER 9110 system. They perform data cleanup and printing, as well as finishing services, which can include folding, slitting, perforating and gluing. When Parkin researched a more cost-effective replacement for their existing equipment, he quickly determined that the KODAK DIGIMASTER 9110 system offered the best technical capabilities on the market to meet his needs. "We were looking to reduce costs, but the real emphasis was quality and expanded capability," explains Parkin. "The DIGIMASTER system can print at comparable speeds to most competitors, but the key purchasing point is its quality features. For example the 9110 can print a variety of font sizes, right down to 0.6 point with higher resolution, better graphic quality and on a wider variety of substrates. These systems have so far delivered on all counts." "We believe that this investment will reduce costs in waste and downtime over the long term. This is the best machine on the market for specialization and variable data printing." The 9110's flexibility to print on a variety of stocks, in a wide range of sizes, has increased Thamesdown's ability to offer greater levels of creativity and quality in their finished products. Thamesdown has achieved remarkable gains in image and text quality. Highly efficient for publication or transaction printing, the KODAK DIGIMASTER 9110 system handles 600 dpi image processing at 110 pages per minute. "The DIGIMASTER system gives us sharper text for smaller print, as well as sharper grey tones. This is ideal for direct mail pieces," says Parkin. The system's advanced imaging and toning processes enable Thamesdown to produce high-impact materials with fine details, excellent halftones and richly dense solids. Thamesdown's investment in two KODAK DIGIMASTER 9110 digital production systems has created the foundation for a larger growth strategy. "The key to digital is the use of different formats and short runs. At this point, we are 80 percent web and 20 percent sheet-fed/digital," states Parkin. "The volume jobs are run on the web and the specialist work is produced on the DIGIMASTER system. This is a neat fit for our business strategy." Paul Parkin is banking on personalization services to drive healthy expansion of the company. "We have grown steadily since our inception seven years ago, at least 25 percent each year. Our growth formula is fairly straightforward and doesn't need to be complicated. We watch the market and watch the trends - today direct mail and personalization is big," Parkin says. With the right technical resources in place, Thamesdown is confidently charting their next growth phase.