ROCHESTER, N.Y., September 9 – Lake County Press this month purchased and installed the first KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus digital production color press in the greater Chicago area. Located in Lake County Press’s Waukegan, Ill. facility, the new KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus press will add new revenue streams and complement the company’s full-service print production offerings to their client base of more than 450, including a variety of Fortune 500 organizations.

“When the Lake County Press management team made the decision to move forward with this investment, we were determined to conduct a thorough evaluation process, which included extensive peer research,” said Russ Schoenherr, senior vice president and director of sales, Lake County Press. “We pride ourselves on delivering high-quality printing, and we look for solid companies to partner with. In the end we determined that the KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus was truly comparable to offset, and thus the ideal digital printing technology to bring in-house. That, combined with the system’s unequaled flexibility and modularity, all contributed to our decision to go with Kodak and their latest system. Buying from Kodak was an advantage, as they’ve proven they can meet all our needs.”

The KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus press’s unique innovations also led to the decision to purchase. The larger imaging area of the printed sheets, allowing four 6 x 9 inch full-bleed postcards on a single sheet, for example, was a key differentiator. The optional fifth imaging unit solution, which enables value-added coating, glossing, and spot color, was also a decision factor. Finally, the system also offered a more flexible, modular architecture, allowing the addition of higher-capacity paper feeders, delivery systems, more powerful digital front-end configurations, and booklet finishing options.

Founded in 1970, Lake County Press is celebrating 35 years in business this month. In that time the firm has grown to become a $45-million company with more than 200 employees and 450 customers in 20 separate market segments, including design and advertising firms, member service associations, industrial manufacturers, financial services organizations, and medical and pharmaceutical companies.

Lake County Press offers a wide range of services, including in-house design, prepress, database management, and a full spectrum of printing, production, finishing and fulfillment capabilities. In addition to the new KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus press, as well as a KODAK DIGIMASTER 9110 production printing system, which was the company’s initial digital printing system, Lake County Press has been a KODAK products and systems user for more than a decade. The firm also uses THERMAL GOLD plates, MATCHPRINT digital proofing systems, KODAK APPROVAL proofing products, a MATCHPRINT 5542 inkjet printer, the PRINERGY workflow management system, SYNAPSE InSite Internet portal into prepress,  a TRENDSETTER 3244 platesetter, and the PROOFSETTER SPECTRUM digital halftone proofer.

“We have always been a premier general printer, and the addition of digital production color printing will allow us to further develop our print fulfillment service offerings and expand the application mix,” added Schoenherr. “Our new KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus press will be a platform for business growth in a number of areas. First, it will complement our offset operations, allowing us to choose the right production tool for the application. Second, we’re implementing a web-to-print facility to drive the press, and to make it easier for customers to order prints and take delivery faster. Third, it will enable our sales and business development teams to expand project-based relationships into ongoing print campaigns, especially with the system’s powerful variable data printing capabilities.”

Lake County Press is also making use of Kodak’s business development services to educate its sales force in successfully selling digital printing products. With 60 percent of the company’s print work coming from designers and agencies, and many of them now inquiring about digital output, it is important to know the strengths and features to emphasize. Equally critical is the level of quality in color reproduction, especially for national brands, as well as processing power and accuracy of data files in variable data print production. The KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus press, backed by Kodak’s business development experts, delivers this winning combination.

“One thing that’s very attractive about the KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus press is that it gives us a platform upon which we can expand and grow our business,” said Peter Douglas, senior vice president of marketing, Lake County Press. “We see our value-added client services offerings, which currently include complete print fulfillment services, virtual asset management and database management, being directly supported by this technology platform. We’ve purposely waited to invest in digital color printing technology, but after evaluating the KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus press and seeing the commitment of Kodak, we concluded that now was the time. We simply love how this machine prints.”

Lake County Press’s new KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 plus press was just recently installed, and has already begun to generate revenue for the company. Facility tours are planned during the 10-day period of the Print 05 exhibition in Chicago.

About Lake County Press
Lake County Press focuses on the production of high-impact printed products and multiple-piece projects from simple one-color reproduction through sophisticated multi-color printing. They enjoy a well-earned reputation among the highly diverse group of clients for whom they provide these services, including the graphic design community, advertising agencies and Fortune 500 corporations nationwide. Visit Lake County Press online at www.lakecountypress.com
 
About Eastman Kodak Company
Kodak is the leader in helping people take, share, print, and view images - for memories, for information, for business, and for entertainment. With sales of $13.5 billion in 2004, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on four businesses: Digital & Film Imaging Systems - providing consumers, professionals, and cinematographers with digital and traditional products and services; Health - supplying the medical and dental professions with traditional and digital imaging and information systems, IT solutions, and services; Graphic Communications - providing customers with a range of solutions for prepress, traditional and digital printing, document scanning, and multi-vendor IT services; and Display & Components - supplying original equipment manufacturers with imaging sensors as well as intellectual property and materials for the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and LCD display industries. More information about Kodak (NYSE: EK) is available at www.kodak.com.

For more information, visit www.kodak.com/go/print05.

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