As part of ongoing efforts to adjust to the decline in demand for consumer film and photographic paper, Eastman Kodak is taking action to streamline its worldwide manufacturing operations. In all, Kodak plans to eliminate 12,000 to 15,000 jobs by 2007, trimming its work force to around 50,000.
Consolidation at the company's plants in Windsor, Colo., and Harrow, England, have resulted in the closure of a paper manufacturing operation in the company's home town of Rochester, N.Y. Other Rochester operations that recycle polyester waste and process polyester raw material also will be combined, with some of those services being contracted to outside firms. In addition, Kodak will reduce capacity for consumer film products at its Xiamen, China, plant.
As it continues to move into the digital photography market, Kodak also has announced that it will stop making black-and-white photographic paper. The paper, manufactured at a plant in Brazil, is considered a niche product for fine-art photographers and hobby-ists that is being supplanted by digital-imaging systems. The company will continue to make black-and-white film and chemicals for processing, however.