Kodak and Kingsbury have entered into an agreement to produce touch screen sensors – bringing production of a technology predominantly carried out in Asia back to the United States. This agreement puts Rochester on the map for a market that is predicted to grow to $32 billion by 2018. It also means more manufacturing jobs for Rochester – Kingsbury CEO Bill Pollock expects 40-50 new hires in the next year to support this effort, and up to two hundred within a few years.
Kodak will provide the thin film technology, chemicals and substrates for the process, and Kingsbury will design and build high speed, precision machines to rapidly scale up production. Kingsbury will open a new manufacturing facility in Bldg. 318 at Eastman Business Park in Rochester later this year to produce touch screen sensors utilizing Kodak’s silver halide technologies. Kingsbury will begin by producing touch sensors on a pilot line, already in operation.
