The China Daheng (Group) Co. Ltd., a long-time distributor of Kodak Products in China, consulted with PPMG and recommended the Prosper 1000 Press for its quality, productivity, and low cost of ownership. Competitive solutions were considered, but the strength of Kodak’s technology and extensive product portfolio led PPMG to invest in the Prosper 1000 Press. “Book publishing and consumer habits have changed dramatically during the past few years, so a new approach is needed,” said Xue Qiang, Vice President of China Daheng (Group). “The PROSPER 1000 Press gives us the ability to improve our supply chain and drive new business opportunities. High-quality, high-speed digital printing clearly is the future of the industry.”

Based on Kodak’s revolutionary Stream Inkjet Technology, the Prosper 1000 Press is a compact monochrome press that offers a print width of up to 62.23 centimeters (24.5 inches) at speeds up to 200 meters per minute (650 fpm), making it one of the most productive inkjet web presses for 8, 12 and 16 page signatures with a duty cycle of 90 million A4 or U.S. letter pages a month. “We are seeing a lot of excitement among book publishers and printers who see the potential for changing the nature of the business,” noted Lois Lebegue, Vice President of Commercial & Consumer Sales, Asia Pacific, Eastman Kodak. “The days of large inventories sitting in a warehouse no longer make sense. Shorter runs enable publishers to respond to the demands of the market, and the Prosper 1000 Press makes that model easy and affordable.”

The Prosper 1000 Press delivers offset-class output at up to 175 lpi on uncoated papers ranging from 45 to 175 gsm (30 to 120 lb.). This robust and high-performance inkjet web press is field upgradable to color and helps customers differentiate themselves and drive profitability. In addition, the press delivers quality, productivity, and economics that drive operational and supply chain savings for short-run books up to run lengths of 7000, including returns and obsolescence, as well as fully customized direct mail applications.

Daheng has sales offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu to cover nationwide distribution. It has more than 200 distribution partners and has its own automated logistics and warehousing systems, management center, customer service centers, and technical training centers.

PPMG headquartered in Nanjing, Jiangsu, is the only publishing conglomerate in China with both assets value and annual sales of more than 10 billion yuan. PPMG is the largest and strongest publishing group in China. PPMG is engaged in six business sectors—publishing, book distribution, printing, hotel, real estate, and finance—and its annual sales income amounts to 12 billion yuan. PPMG currently has 11,000 employees and 34 affiliated units.