space-and costs

Microfilm saves space-and costs

Interest in microfilm and de mand for the associated equip ment that goes with this tech nology, is now accelerating as Islands government and big busi ness hasten to cut costs and reduce their paper usage and space demands—and space costs money!

Office users, particularly in Fiji atul Papua New Guinea, report greater interest and the desire at least to “hear out” microfilm propositions, but they criticise the lack of local processing facili ties.

Big companies, such as Burns Philp (South Sea), say they already use microfilm, roll or fche for some applications, and admit that they will use it more, but they explain all processing must be carried out in Sydney, not at their headquarters in Suva.

Suppliers claim that individual Islands markets for microfilm do

not yet warrant the investment of local processing plants, but they hint that “a first one” may not be “far away”.

The three “giants” of micro film in the world — 3M, Kodak and Bell and Howell—are all in the Islands, with varying strengths, plus several of the smaller micro film suppliers.

One of the Americans, 3M, set up a Port Moresby branch in February last year and appointed Mr Geoff Ballance as PNG man ager.

Mr Jim Hutchinson, 3M Aus tralia’s director of market ser vices, who is responsible for 3M Islands operations, claims current Islands microfilm usage is rising steeply.

In PNG, Mr Hutchinson told PIM, that manual duplicators have sold strongly. He predicts that the market is moving to wards automatic duplicators.

There’s an increasing range of flat-bed and flow cameras, and a full range of readers finding customers. The PNG Government, he says, is now starting to replace its paper files with microfilm.

In Fiji, 3M uses a direct repre sentative, Sirtag Ali, and it re ports a “fair spread” of micro film throughout the dominion with some interesting commercial application.

No one supplier, Mr Hutchin son says, has a dominant share of the microfilm market in Fiji, and he adds that 3M is now con sidering setting up a Fiji process

ing plant.

While he can see no computer output to microfHm(COM) oper ation as a service bureau in Fiji imminent, he predicts the first PNG COM operation “soon”.

COM is an advanced machine which automatically converts computer data—which would nor mally be produced on big print out paper—directly into micro film.

New Caledonia is reported as a smaller market so far for micro film, although the reverse is true for larger computers in these two territories.

Mr John Nixon, NCR’s top man in Noumea, reports little interest in microfilm in the New Hebrides, Solomons and New Caledonia.