Myfujifilm.com is a new suite of Internet-based tools and services, which the firm hopes will provide it with future revenue streams when film and plate sales decline. It is planning to offer what it is terming "digital consumables". Fuji Tokyo consultant Norman Reedman said: In providing digital consumables to clients its got to save costs to give any benefit. Services that will be included are asset management, job transport and online workflow.
The site will be split into three sections e-information, e-production and e-commerce. E-production will contain links to online news services as well as access to Fuji product information. E-production will be the online workflow and asset management, which has been developed in conjunction with MediaBridge Technologies (formerly Cascade). The e-commerce section will allow users to buy products and consumables from Fuji dealers and will also feature an on-line auction.
Myfujifilm.com is set to enter beta testing in North America in the summer before being rolled out to the rest of the World.
Commenting on the move, which is a radical departure for the firm, Reedman said: "At least weve got reserves of $5bn.
On the consumables side the firm is showing three products, which are currently under development. First up is a dry film, which it has been trialling in Japanese newspaper printers, but is judging its reception in the commercial market at the show. Following a strong denial earlier this year that it had any plans to produce a violet plate, comes a violet sensitive photopolymer plate, joining an earlier announced photopolymer violet plate from Mitsubishi. If it commercialises the plate, a platesetter based-on the Luxel using blue diodes will be launched. Finally, the firm has an ablative processless thermal plate, which it claims has a unique ablation control layer to keep all debris contained within the plate substrate until it is washed off on press.
The additions to the Lanovia scanner range are the Lanovia Studio and the Lanovia Quattro. Both feature a new four line CCD which has RGB elements and an additional high resolution monochrome array for lineart. The Quattro offers up to 5,000dpi and 40 scans per hour, and is intended as a low-cost lower productivity professional scanner. The Studio has a lower resolution and produces 20 scans an hour and is intended to be used by agencies, studios and designers. Pricing has yet to be set or confirmed.
Story by Barney Cox
