Eastman Kodak temporarily paused all film production - to upgrade manufacturing plant (Nov 2024)

[albireo]

Just stumbled on this

Eastman Kodak pauses all film production in November to ‘upgrade manufacturing plant’

All Kodak film production will be paused while improvements to manufacturing are made, Eastman Kodak has said (Pic: Khánh Hmoong/Flickr) Eastman Kodak has temporarily paused all film production in …

kosmofoto.com

Is this blog a reliable source?

 

[Kino]

If this is true, I would hate to be an emulsion line worker at Kodak right now.

These systems have the inertia of God and shutting down a coating line, modifying it and restarting it is little short of a moon-shot in complexity.

Good luck Kodak!

 

[koraks]

Makes good sense. You sometimes have to do upgrades and maintenance, and apparently they're batching it together at Eastman so they can concentrate much of the downtime to a single period. And apparently this case the downtime is going to be long enough to significantly affect their cashflow and thus they felt it necessary to explain it to their shareholders.

It's good news either way that they're investing in this.

 

[Agulliver]

Kosmofoto is not exactly unreliable but it's not a news source in itself.....the owner basically repeats news reports that he's read elsewhere. It is, however, usually factually correct even if I find the tone not to my liking.

 

[koraks]

Kosmofoto is not exactly unreliable but it's not a news source in itself.....the owner basically repeats news reports that he's read elsewhere. It is, however, usually factually correct even if I find the tone not to my liking.

The full transcript is provided by Yahoo; if you prefer to read the exact words that were said (always a good idea), then you can find them here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/q3-2024-eastman-kodak-co-181322285.html
Kosmofoto simply cited from that page.

 

[Agulliver]

Probably good news as @koraks says. Film, still and cinema, is still experiencing increased demand and EK are doing something to ensure they can consistently meet that demand going forward into 2025 and beyond.

 

[BrianShaw]

As the Kodak insiders here at Photrio probably already know, the Eastman Kodak Company Third – Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call is where the announcement was made.

Kodak announcement of Earning call:

https://investor.kodak.com/news-releases/news-release-details/eastman-kodak-company-third-quarter-2024-earnings-conference

Transcript:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4736627-eastman-kodak-company-kodk-q3-2024-earnings-call-transcript

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Updating the film factory is a good sign of growth and investment.

 

[MattKing]

Thread title updated to reflect the content of link.

 

[pentaxuser]

Based on a quick reading of the link provided by koraks it looks like a 10 day total shutdown as only November is mentioned.

Is this a reasonable conclusion on my part?

Is it also a reasonable assumption that prior to shutdown Kodak had anticipated the adverse effect on supply and has produced what that 10 days of shutdown will lose or is it already on full production and thus has not been able to increase stock so that there will be an effect on supply at some point in the future for a period ?

pentaxuser

 

[koraks]

I didn't read the entire transcript, but if you picked up that 10-day period, then yes, seems like it. Sounds plausible, too.
The way I read the article in the OP I conclude that Eastman sandbagged some film by producing a little more prior to the shutdown so that deliveries to the retail channels aren't affected.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I hope this upgrade will provide measurable improvements for the company and its customers.

 

[mshchem]

OMG they're bringing back Kodachrome!!!

 

[brbo]

Based on a quick reading of the link provided by koraks it looks like a 10 day total shutdown as only November is mentioned.

Is this a reasonable conclusion on my part?

I didn't read it in that way.

They are shutting down in November with no date given of when they will be operational again. Besides, 10 days seems like hardly worth mentioning in the earnings call. If Kodak must plan the whole quarter to build up inventiories because of a 10-day production pause then they are more "just-in-time" than my garden vegetables or spread so thin that I don't know whether this is good or bad news.

 

[pentaxuser]

I didn't read the entire transcript, but if you picked up that 10-day period, then yes, seems like it. Sounds plausible, too.
The way I read the article in the OP I conclude that Eastman sandbagged some film by producing a little more prior to the shutdown so that deliveries to the retail channels aren't affected.

Thanks, koraks

pentaxuser

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Updating the film factory is a good sign of growth and investment.

The difference between optimists and pessimists is that the optimists haven't been told the truth yet.

 

[pentaxuser]

brbo This was the section on the shutdown that drew my attention:

"So on film, right, we're doing a shutdown in November, total shutdown. We've continued to invest in our manufacturing process, while we need to shut down completely to bring light into the dark, right? Film is made in the dark. So in November, we will be modernizing the plant, putting more investment within that, which has also caused us to use more cash in the quarter to build up inventories while we do this."

Yes I agree that no mention was made of a start-up date but it twice mentions the phrase " in November" This is mentioned in relation to the total shutdown and again in relation to the work that will go on in November

No mention is made of it extending to the following month, not even a hint that it may continue beyond November but I agree this uncertainly may be deliberate on an "in case it has to be extended" which Kodak would rather not mention at this time

So yes an end date to the shutdown in missing

Your interpretation of why may be as good as mine

pentaxuser .

 

[Kino]

OMG they're bringing back Kodachrome!!!

Go to your room, young man! No broccoli for you tonight!

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

brbo This was the section on the shutdown that drew my attention:

"So on film, right, we're doing a shutdown in November, total shutdown. We've continued to invest in our manufacturing process, while we need to shut down completely to bring light into the dark, right? Film is made in the dark. So in November, we will be modernizing the plant, putting more investment within that, which has also caused us to use more cash in the quarter to build up inventories while we do this."

Yes I agree that no mention was made of a start-up date but it twice mentions the phrase " in November" This is mentioned in relation to the total shutdown and again in relation to the work that will go on in November

No mention is made of it extending to the following month, not even a hint that it may continue beyond November but I agree this uncertainly may be deliberate on an "in case it has to be extended" which Kodak would rather not mention at this time

So yes an end date to the shutdown in missing

Your interpretation of why may be as good as mine

pentaxuser .

He used the word "modernizing". Companies don't modernize a factory if they don't think there's a future in film. Now whether the modernization is just for existing production, or if it includes expansion for more volume and other emulsions, is the open question. Expansion would be better. For one, their recent decision to stop selling movie film that is converted into still photo film by third parties, means they have to expand 35mm cassette production for Alaris' their only distributor. In any case, their commitment for modernizing is good for the film community's future requirements for film.

 

[MattKing]

brbo This was the section on the shutdown that drew my attention:

"So on film, right, we're doing a shutdown in November, total shutdown. We've continued to invest in our manufacturing process, while we need to shut down completely to bring light into the dark, right? Film is made in the dark. So in November, we will be modernizing the plant, putting more investment within that, which has also caused us to use more cash in the quarter to build up inventories while we do this."

Yes I agree that no mention was made of a start-up date but it twice mentions the phrase " in November" This is mentioned in relation to the total shutdown and again in relation to the work that will go on in November

No mention is made of it extending to the following month, not even a hint that it may continue beyond November but I agree this uncertainly may be deliberate on an "in case it has to be extended" which Kodak would rather not mention at this time

So yes an end date to the shutdown in missing

Your interpretation of why may be as good as mine

pentaxuser .

This may be an example of where the UK interpretation of a phrase - "a shutdown in November" - is slightly different than in the US and Canada.
I too read it as referencing when the shutdown was to start, with no specific indication of re-start date.
It may be that the project is complex enough that they don't want to commit to an exact re-start date.

 

[pentaxuser]

This may be an example of where the UK interpretation of a phrase - "a shutdown in November" - is slightly different than in the US and Canada.
I too read it as referencing when the shutdown was to start, with no specific indication of re-start date.
It may be that the project is complex enough that they don't want to commit to an exact re-start date.

Matt I may not be able to claim that my interpretation represents the U.K. interpretation of a "shutdown in November. Quite likely other native UKers will interpret it differently

However it just seemed to me that if you cannot interpret it as November only shutdown then some indication of its length might have been helpful for the audience and other interested listeners

If I take my car into a dealership for say an engine change then I would be unhappy if all it said was" Leave it with us and we'll let you know when it's ready. It will be sometime in the future"

pentaxuser

 

[Milpool]

OMG they're bringing back Kodachrome!!!

That was supposed to be confidential until announced.

 

[MattKing]

Matt I may not be able to claim that my interpretation represents the U.K. interpretation of a "shutdown in November. Quite likely other native UKers will interpret it differently

However it just seemed to me that if you cannot interpret it as November only shutdown then some indication of its length might have been helpful for the audience and other interested listeners

If I take my car into a dealership for say an engine change then I would be unhappy if all it said was" Leave it with us and we'll let you know when it's ready. It will be sometime in the future"

pentaxuser

It is important to remember that that information came from a transcript of a telephone conference call.
It is pretty clear that the audience for that - a bunch of investment people - would have been a lot more interested in what the accountants had to say in that call than the expert on production!
And if you actually rely on time projections from an auto technician, then I might have a bridge that you might be interested in buying .

 

[cerber0s]

their recent decision to stop selling movie film that is converted into still photo film by third parties

Wait what!? I don’t care much for the respooled films without remjet layer, but I recently started bulk loading Kodak Vision 3. Are you saying I won’t be able to buy Vision 3 in bulk rolls in the future?

 

[Ernst-Jan]

Wait what!? I don’t care much for the respooled films without remjet layer, but I recently started bulk loading Kodak Vision 3. Are you saying I won’t be able to buy Vision 3 in bulk rolls in the future?

Not directly from Kodak anymore