Quality first

High-quality printing demands high-quality lithographic plates – the slightest blemish can mar an otherwise beautiful publication. So Kodak, a leading supplier of lithographic plates around the world, wants to deliver the very best product to its customers in the printing industry.

Our Rolled Products business works closely with Kodak to develop defect-free lithographic sheets with excellent grainability, even creating a special new alloy to make it possible to manufacture larger lithographic sheets.

Long relationship

“Our relationship with Kodak goes back a long, long time,” says Arve Sund, Hydro’s contact with Kodak. “Over the last 20 years, we have become the biggest producer of lithographic sheet in the world. They are very demanding about the quality we deliver.”

Indeed, says Dr. Karl Pampus of Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group: “We are looking for perfection in many of the aspects of the material. One way of improving our products is improving the metal base for it. Hydro has worked with us in many areas of the technology, and they have been really leading the pack – they have been setting the standards for other people to live up to.

“We see our relationship very much as a partnership. We depend on them to a certain degree and they depend on us. So it’s a long term relationship that we have, and it has been beneficial for both companies.”

Perfect.