Kentmere doomed

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Sal Santamaura
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Re: Kentmere Doomed

Post by Sal Santamaura » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:00 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

vanman wrote:Well, It's started.
It has been reported on another site that Simon R. Galley has announced Harmons intention to close (asset strip?) The Kentmere factory at Stavely in 2008 and "transfer some personnel and manufacturing equipment to The Harman Technology facility at Mobberley".
I predict that the next step will be to shove all the equipment on a ship at Liverpool Docks and send it to India where all of us who have contacted "call centres" in that country know their attitude to customer care (as an ex-customer I would like to say a BIG hello to Barclays, British Gas and B.T.).
What other options will be open to Harmon when the lease runs out?
The future lies in the east!
Vanman.
Pete Watkins, what do you hope to accomplish by trashing Ilford all over the Internet?

I've previously printed on Kentmere products, both as Calumet Brilliant Bromide and, under Kentmere's own label, as Bromide and Fineprint VC. I was impressed with their performance, but on several occasions had QC issues, and discontinued using them. I'm looking forward to having those products manufactured in Ilford's factory with its top-tier quality control.

vanman
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Kentmere Doomed

Post by vanman » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:31 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Sal,
I've used Kentmeres P.O.P. and Document Art (got some in the freezer, when it's gone it's gone) papers for some time now and I like them both. I've used other Kentmere products in the past with no real problems. Kentmere owned their factory, it is being closed and presumably sold off, Harmons factory is on a lease. A fairly short lease.
It is a great Britsh tradition to ship our industries overseas.
Corus, the former British Steel, is now Indian owned. Many jobs were lost!
Rover cars, a former massive employer in this area is now Chinese owned. Thousands and thousands of jobs were lost! Not just in that factory complex but in the sub-contractors factories.
It is heavily rumoured that both Jaguar cars and Land Rover will soon be Indian owned.
The Landrover Factory is in a very fashionable area to live and land developers will be in like a flash if they get the opportunity.
The Jaguar factory is sited between two major shopping complexes on the outskirts of The City of Birmingham. The road connections are superb. The site is worth far more as retail land than as a car factory.
Dyson made hundreds of people in Nottingham unemployed and moved production to the far east.
These are only a few examples of what is happening to our country, do a bit of research on what has happened to British industry in recent years, try starting with the British shipbuilding industry and then tell me that you would be suprised to see Harman Technologies move the plant abroad!
You need to live in a country to know what is really happening there.
Vanman.

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IanG
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Vanman

Post by IanG » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:38 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

At least you've been outed as Pete Watkins.

Kentmere production is moving to Mobberley, that means the coating plant which Ilford needs to manufacture Berge materials. The Ilford coating machinery is too large.

That doesn't leave much to sell abroad.

Ian

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Kentmere Doomed

Post by vanman » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:51 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Ian,
Pete Watkins is a name.
Didn't I state in the quote from Simon Galley that "some of the manufacturing equipment" from the Kentmere plant was being moved to Mobberley.
I'm sure that I said that, ah! yes I've read it again.
I did say that, or rather quote that from Simon Galley's staetment in my post.
Where in The U.K. is The Algarve anyway?
Vanman.

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Post by vanman » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:54 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Sorry Ian,
I meant The Agean not the Algarve, It's late and I've got to hit the M6 early in the morning.
Goodnight.
Vanman.

Sal Santamaura
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Re: Kentmere Doomed

Post by Sal Santamaura » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:19 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

vanman wrote:...Harmons factory is on a lease. A fairly short lease...
I wouldn't call a 20-year lease (with 18 years remaining) short. Plenty of time to make other arrangements.
vanman wrote:...tell me that you would be suprised to see Harman Technologies move the plant abroad!...
I wouldn't be surprised to see Ilford's plant (not Kentmere's) moved someday, but suspect that right now this is pure speculation and posted by you to plant a seed of doubt in the minds of those who use or would consider using Ilford products.
vanman wrote:...You need to live in a country to know what is really happening there...
No I don't. The effect of globalization and outsourcing to low-wage countries has been just as profound on employment in the US as it has been in Great Britain.

My (continuously devalued) US dollars go to manufacturers that support my product needs. At the moment, for black and white film/paper, Ilford offers the most. I have no connection with Ilford other than being a satisfied customer. Its special sizes sheet film program is particularly appreciated.

I find it ironic that, after railing against British firms being purchased by the Chinese, you attempt to steer Ilford customers to film "from the east." It seems a substantial overreaction to your problem getting some specific film during the last special order period. Why not work with Silverprint this time? The path you're on is a bit of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.

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Re: Kentmere Doomed

Post by keffs » Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:14 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

vanman wrote:Well, It's started.
It has been reported on another site that Simon R. Galley has announced Harmons intention to close (asset strip?) The Kentmere factory at Stavely in 2008 and "transfer some personnel and manufacturing equipment to The Harman Technology facility at Mobberley".
I predict that the next step will be to shove all the equipment on a ship at Liverpool Docks and send it to India ......
Vanman,

You certainly appear to have some non-photographic agenda here. Perhaps if you gave more details of the announcement so we can discern the fact from your "opinions" it would give your opinions more credence.

The following is from APUG, and posted by Simon Galley on 21/12/2007:
<<Since the takeover of KENTMERE Photographic Limited and after extensive discussions with the mangement of KENTMERE it has become obvious that the best solution going forward is to close the KENTMERE factory in Stavely in 2008 and transfer some personnel and manufacturing equipment from Stavely to the HARMAN technology facility at Mobberley in Cheshire.

We have been working closely with KENTMERE Photographic personnel who have been extremely supportive to ensure the smooth and seemless transfer of products from one facility to another. Our original statement has not changed at all, all KENTMERE monochrome products that were manufactured at Stavely will remain and will now be manufactured at Mobberley, no products will be discontinued, and we are currently looking at the base options going forward for the possible re-introduction of KENTMERE Art Classic.

We have produced very, very large stocks of KENTMERE manufactured product to ensure we have plenty of time to enable the equipment transfer from KENTMERE to HARMAN technology Limited to take place and to ensure that the Mobberley produced KENTMERE products are as close to the originals as is humanly and technically possible.
>>

So, what has actually started? A business decision to move the manufacturing of products from one site to another. What else?

Steve

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Kentmere Doomed

Post by vanman » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:47 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Remember this post from last year?
So Document Art has still not re-appeared and POP has gone. See Retro Photographics web site. I e-mailed Silverprint asking about the availability of POP and they can't even be bothered to answer!
It's really sad that a company claim that they cannot produce a paper that they had no problem producing (at a popular price) eighty years ago.
Get an answer from the much revered Simon about this!
Vanman.

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Post by keffs » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:27 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Vanman,

What on earth is your problem?

Has your prediction ("I predict that the next step will be to shove all the equipment on a ship at Liverpool Docks and send it to India") come true, or was that just ***p? Or has your crystal ball failed you?

Steve

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Post by keffs » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:39 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Vanman

Just checked out Retro, as you suggetsed, and you have got it wrong. Can't you read? Or do you just not understand it?

Try the following: "...work needs to be done at Ilford to overcome these difficulties, which will naturally take some time". Thus POP has not gone, it is currently unavailable, but should be soon.

And as for Document Art, this was discontinued long before Kentmere was acquired, so how you can blame Harman for this is amazing.

Steve

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