Why so quiet at Ilford ???

[Steve Roberts]

Hi All,
The state of Ilford's restructuring has all gone very quiet for the last month - in fact since about the time there was a rumour that there would be an announcement in December. Is no news good news, or should the lack of information be viewed with suspicion? Anyone heard any updates or whispers?
Best wishes,
Steve

 

[Bob Carnie]

Hi Steve

I believe Ilford is producing material as I recieved chemicals and paper before christmas, One of the announcements I recieved was that a price increase was to be in effect Jan 17 05,
Ilford is trying to bring product into NA , after a very trying period.
I wish them good luck

 

[Helen B]

Not that I'm one to spread rumours, but the most recent whisper I've heard came from Roger Hicks over on photo.net: the powder developers may be un-discontinued.

Best,
Helen

 

[Steve Roberts]

>>the powder developers may be un-discontinued.

Good news if it's true, and I love that expression "un-discontinued" !!!
Best wishes,
Steve

 

[TPPhotog]

Usually when things go quiet like this it's for one of two reasons, the first is that nothings happening. The second is that talks are in progress and they don't want to wreck negotiations. Hopefully it's the second as no news is usually good news.

 

[ann]

I was in my dealer's yesterday and they have a whole wall of new paper supplies, and filters, which they were not able to get late last year.

the chemical question is still hanging in out there. i know those of use who use those products will be happy when we get the word. Either with joy or ..........

 

[TPPhotog]

Ann, for the moment I'm just happy that I can get their films, papers and chemicals again. As long as the workers there and their families hear before we do (either way and not the norm in the UK) I'll be happy to wait for the news.

 

[rbarker]

Usually when things go quiet like this it's for one of two reasons, the first is that nothings happening. The second is that talks are in progress and they don't want to wreck negotiations. Hopefully it's the second as no news is usually good news.

I agree with that assessment, Tony. But, for what it's worth, I know nothing, and can't say anything about it.

 

[TPPhotog]

Sounds good to me Ralph, I'm sure we will find out soon enough. As they say until then the show must go on.

 

[clogz]

From our Dutch correspondent: Plenty of HP5 and FP4, no Pan F. Very little Multigrade paper. No chemicals.

 

[BradS]

Still no signs of SFX-200. All other films are well stocked in this area.

 

[Woolliscroft]

Rumour here is that there is going to be a management buy out. Let's hope. Their 220 line is still dead though sad to say.

David.

 

[Mark Layne]

Our dealer here in Nova Scotia tells me there is a large price increase coming.

He also informs that Kodak Polymax FA C surface is still showing as a valid catalog item but that a call to Kodak confirms that I will never again be able to obtain any. A gallon of Selenium toner has been on order for three months, dare I ask about it?
Mark

 

[Chazzy]

Rumour here is that there is going to be a management buy out. Let's hope. Their 220 line is still dead though sad to say.

David.

I'm no businessman, but I never understood why Ilford dropped their 220 films. If you are going to make 120 anyway, why not cut some of the stuff a little longer and add the 220 style backing paper? It doesn't sound like much trouble or expense to me. Do these companies think that they have to make millions off of every product before it is worthwhile? Isn't selling a little bit of Agfa sheet film or Kodak ortho film worthwhile? If Bergger can do it, why can't the big companies do it?

 

[gchpaco]

My memory might be a little suspect, but as I recall Ilford cancelled 220 because virtually no one was buying it; given their current financial troubles, I'm guessing they were actually losing money on the deal, if in the form of unbought inventory, too much backing paper, wages, whatever.

 

[Dean Williams]

Isn't selling a little bit of Agfa sheet film or Kodak ortho film worthwhile?

The larger a production facility is, and the more a company has to depend on 24hr a day up time, the harder it will be for them to make small runs of specific products. So slower moving products either have infrequent, but large production runs, which can lead to shortages of that product between runs, or they cut production to concentrate on products that have a better potential for monetary return. That's what happens to items like Verichrome Pan, Tech Pan and APX sheet films.

If Bergger can do it, why can't the big companies do it?

Bergger farms out their product production to other companies, such as Forte. They are not "doing it". Being a smaller company, Forte could make more frequent runs of certain products for specific buyers, like Freestyle, Bergger, and the Classic Pan films.

 

[rjr]

Dean,

"Bergger farms out their product production to other companies, such as Forte. They are not "doing it". Being a smaller company, Forte could make more frequent runs of certain products for specific buyers, like Freestyle, Bergger, and the Classic Pan films."

Yep. Which is one of the reasons for batch variations in these products - every production run is very limited if compared to -say- Agfa, where the lines run 24/7 with consistent output over a long time.

 

[DKT]

my rumor--talked with a service tech a day or two ago. Seems that there's a dispute of sorts between Serco and Ilford, and Serco is holding all the spare parts. The new support company hasn't finalized any service agreements with Ilford, but they are doing some limited tech support for the processors *if* they have the part--which in our case they didn't. I was told that there is no vendor to make the parts and there is no word on when they'll be available again. No parts are being made currently. I asked about a rough timetable for when they'd be available and was told it could be 6 months to a year...which, I appreciate the candid answer & honesty, but wasn't what I was expecting. Oddly enough, I have found that Serco in Europe will sell us this part, but the US company so far hasn't been much help. We're going to need more than one part, and the cost might be prohibitive--but we may have no choice depending on how much it costs to get it made by a machine shop.

So--buyer beware, now is not the time to go after any deals that seem too good to be true on Ilford processors. I know a university in my area that bought a machine last fall, and I've been offered at least 2 brand new ones in the past few weeks, at really low prices. Like 4 grand brand new which is incredible since we paid about 10K back in '93 for ours. But what kind of warranty can they offer on that? They have to legally support those things for 7 years past last one sold, and they can't even support the stuff right now....so I dunno. I wish them the best and hope they get bought out or resurrected or something so the service contracts come back and the parts are made again and all that. But it needs to happen soon, not a year from now. 6 months is even too long.

KT