Kodak has announced that Laboratorios Gama SAI in Santiago Chile has successfully completed all requirements for Kodak ImageCare Program certification. Now in its 40th year this small but highly successful laboratory joins a Kodak program active in 27 countries worldwide. A major Hollywood production shooting in Chile wanted to work with us but decided to develop their film back in the United States because we were not a certified lab says Maria Mayor Gama's chief of laboratory operations. That made the value of the Kodak ImageCare program very clear to us and we took the necessary steps to begin the very demanding process of certification. Laboratorios Gama is a respected member of the Chilean production market with a long history of well-established relationships. With only 11 staff members the lab has a major share of that country's market for color negative film processing. Their employees are well-trained and very competent and their management is dedicated and highly knowledgeable says Diane Carroll-Yacoby worldwide manager of the Kodak ImageCare Program. They have a long legacy with Kodak. Their customers have come to rely on them for superior quality and service; our goal is to help them to adopt and standardize best practices and to build their business as a result. Acceptance into the Kodak Program is a challenging and time-consuming process that requires a laboratory-wide commitment. For Gama the process took almost a full year because they wanted to make the necessary changes smoothly and to make fundamental changes in the way they worked for their customers. The Kodak ImageCare Program enables everyone in our lab to be sure they are doing what needs to be done in the way it needs to be done and to be fully aware of all parts of the process says Mayor. We have already improved our consistency so we know the program is improving our service. Our goal is to keep making improvements so customers will know this is the way we work every day. Laboratories in countries where the Kodak ImageCare Program is offered can become members through an assessment process. A Kodak technician assists and certifies lab personnel in standardizing and documenting procedures monitoring and controlling processes and in demonstrating an ability to follow quality-control checklists. Even after certification labs are independently audited on a yearly basis with other assessments by local Kodak representatives on an ongoing basis. Kodak also provides training for lab personnel with the aim of achieving optimum and consistent performance. Certification in the Kodak ImageCare program proves that Gama complies with standards of quality even the most demanding filmmakers can rely on says Carroll-Yacoby. Their membership signifies that they deliver the best of what film can offer so customers can trust that when they work with Gama they are working without compromise. Kodak ImageCare Program www.kodak.com/go/imagecare
