Godiva Imaging first independent UK service bureau to install Kodak’s i1860 scanner technology to meet customer demand and add capacity for growth

Godiva Imaging first independent UK service bureau to install Kodak’s i1860 scanner technology to meet customer demand and add capacity for growth

o Godiva Imaging makes over £100k investment in Kodak scanner technology in its 2006/7 financial year
o New i1860 helps to processes 19.5 million documents per annum with growth to 36 million expected next year with no increase in staff
o Godiva Imaging’s scanner operators benefit from ergonomic and LCD touch screen features to improve productivity

August 30, 2007 – Eastman Kodak Company today announced that Godiva Imaging Limited is the first independent UK service bureau, specialising in providing bespoke document management and imaging solutions, to have purchased its fastest ever production scanner, the Kodak i1860, which captures 200 pages per minute.

Offering a complete range of services to 620 clients in various vertical markets including automotive, industrial, retail, aerospace, local government and recruitment, Coventry-based Godiva Imaging works with companies such as PSA Peugeot Citroën, Lafarge Cement (owners of the Blue Circle brand), Spec Savers, Goodrich Corporation, Peterborough Primary Care Trust and Spring Group.

Founded in 1984, the company has invested considerably in best of breed and in-house technology to provide clients online access to documents once scanned, through its web-based Live Archive service, as well as offering back capture, data migration, data manipulation and reporting services. Scanned documents can be output in colour, black and white and grayscale and into any format such as plug and play CDs and DVDs, digital tape, laser disk or even microfiche, along with Web access.

Neil Hedges, Godiva Imaging’s managing director, says, “We’ve always specialised in complex data manipulation projects. One client was issuing 40k randomly generated proof of delivery notes per month, and would only get paid by its customers if these were signed, returned and properly indexed. In the course of daily operation, 9.5% of them were lost or delayed which left them with a liability of £2.5 million every day. We’ve put in a document management processing and reporting solution which has reduced this to 0.06% with obvious impact to the bottom line and cashflow.”

Godiva Imaging purchased the i1860 scanner in June 2007 through value-added distributor, Headway Technology, after a three week trial to add capacity to its operation. This follows the implementation of an i840 scanner in July 2006, handling up to 160 pages per minute, which complements various other mid volume Kodak scanners already in operation. In the past year, Godiva Imaging has invested over £100k in Kodak scanner equipment.

Hedges says, “The i840 is a workhorse and was added because our workload at the time had increased 35%. This has continued and we’re now handling approximately 19.5 million images per annum, which is about 1.6 million per month or, in other words, 73k per day based on an average working month of 22 days. We therefore needed the latest Kodak production scanner, the i1860, given growth is continuing apace with 36 million documents projected to be processed next year.”

As an independent service bureau, Godiva Imaging will work in any market sector, for any company and provide a range of imaging solutions. The company has completely standardised on Kodak’s scanners within its business.

Hedges says, “My philosophy is to provide customers excellent service and care and I look for the same with our suppliers. While some may see Kodak as higher priced, in reality they offer the most cost effective and efficient solutions on the market once you factor in their service and support and the reliability of the products.”

This is certainly evident in high volume environments where even short periods of downtime equates to thousands of documents not scanned. Godiva Imaging has an eight hour response contract from Kodak’s Service and Support organisation to provide business critical backup. Hedges has been impressed, “We’ve processed 12 million documents on the i840 since it was purchased and only called Kodak out twice to clean dust off the camera heads as there’s only so much we can do in terms of maintenance with a cloth and vacuum cleaner. Our expectation is the reliability of the i1860 will be just the same.”

The new i1860 offers Godiva Imaging a new approach to processing documents over and above speed. First, the scanner has been ergonomically designed and can be automatically tailored to the height of the operator to make it more comfortable to use, with an on-board LCD touch screen control unit making it simple to operate. Second, features like Kodak’s Perfect Page image processing result in extremely high quality scanned images and adjustable triple ultra sonic multi-feed detectors can be set to detect overlapping sheets of paper or those with stuck-on Post-it® notes but are still flexible enough to cater for all the different document types that result from working with 620 customers. Third, if a sheet of paper goes out of line or snags, jams can be handled far faster with only one having to be removed and rescanned rather than a whole batch.

Godiva Imaging has also been able to reduce machine time from two shifts to a one 7.5 hour day shift with the i1860 such is the throughput of the system. This clearly provides capacity for growth if machine time were again doubled. Hedges says, “While our expectation is that 36 million documents will be processed next year, we won’t have to employ more staff just redeploy the people we already have.”

Historically, Godiva Imaging used 13 Kodak 3510 mid volume scanners which required 13 members of staff feeding paper into them at about 6,000 documents per day. Now with the i1860 handling some 73k per day, the company has 10 people preparing and sorting documents for scanning – removing staples and paper clips for example – with one trained operator actually managing the system based on customer requirements. This means better quality scanning, faster throughput with less errors or jams made.

Jonathan Tripp, Kodak’s UK & EAMER document imaging marketing specialist, said, “Godiva Imaging is a perfect example of how our commitment to the high volume production scanner market works in practice. They have been able to make huge efficiency improvements through investment in scanner infrastructure which is providing capacity for growth for demand going through the roof. We’re delighted to be Godiva Imaging’s premium scanner supplier of choice.”

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About Eastman Kodak Company
Kodak is the world’s foremost imaging innovator. With sales of $10.7 billion in 2006, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on helping people better use meaningful images and information in their life and work. Consumers use Kodak’s system of digital and traditional products and services to take, print and share their pictures anytime, anywhere; Businesses effectively communicate with customers worldwide using Kodak solutions for prepress, conventional and digital printing and document imaging; and Creative Professionals rely on Kodak technology to uniquely tell their story through moving or still images.
More information about Kodak (NYSE: EK) is available at www.kodak.com.

Contacts:
Kodak Document Imaging, UK
Jonathan Tripp
Marketing Manager
Tel: 01442 846633
E-Mail: jtripp {at} kodak(.)com
Web: www.kodak.com/go/docimaging

Tom Herbst PR Limited
Tom Herbst
Director
Tel: 0207 274 9937
Mob: 07768 145571
E-Mail: tom {at} tomherbstpr.co(.)uk

Godiva Imaging Limited
Neil Hedges
Managing Director
Tel: 024 7663 7192
E-Mail: neil {at} godivaimaging(.)com
Web: www.godivaimaging.com