= Agfa-Gevaert =

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= Agfa-Gevaert =
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Introduction
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Agfa-Gevaert N.V. (Agfa) is a Belgian-German multinational corporation
that develops, manufactures, and distributes analogue and digital
imaging products, software, and systems.

The company began as a dye manufacturer in 1867. In 1925, the company
merged with several other German chemical companies to become
chemicals giant IG Farben. IG Farben would go on to play major role in
the economy of Nazi Germany. It extensively employed forced and slave
labor during the Nazi period, and produced the notorious Zyklon B
chemical used in The Holocaust. IG Farben was disestablished by the
Allies in 1945. AGFA was reconstituted (as a subsidiary of Bayer) from
the remnants of IG Farben in 1952.

Agfa film and film cameras were once prominent consumer products.
However, in 2004, the consumer imaging division was sold to a company
founded via management buyout. AgfaPhoto GmbH, as the new company was
called, filed for bankruptcy after just one year, and its brands are
now licensed to other companies by AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH, a holding
firm. Today Agfa-Gevaert's commerce is 100% business-to-business.

Timeline
==========
* 1867 The company Aktiengesellschaft für Anilinfabrikation
'(Corporation for Aniline Production)' was founded in Rummelsburg (now
in the Lichtenberg borough of Berlin) as a manufacturer of dyes and
stains. It became a public limited company in 1873. The founders were
Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy (son of composer Felix Mendelssohn
Bartholdy) and Carl Alexander von Martius.
* 1894 The company L. Gevaert & Cie was founded in Antwerp,
Belgium, arising from the workshop for the manufacture of photographic
paper belonging to Lieven Gevaert.
* 1897 Appearance of the 'Agfa' trade mark.
* 1898 Introduction of X-ray plates and film products.
* 1903 Production of first cinematographic film.
* 1925 As part of the consolidation of the German chemical industry,
Agfa became part of IG Farben. The photographic activities are
combined with those of Bayer, including a camera factory in Munich.
* 1928 Acquired Ansco, an American photographic manufacturer, whose
products were sold under the Agfa-Ansco brand name.
* 1936 Agfacolor Neu a pioneering color film for amateurs and
professionals.
* 1940 Agfacolor negative-positive color material is used for the
first time for a feature film 'Frauen sind doch bessere Diplomaten'
('Women make the best Diplomats') by the German UFA film studios.
* 1941 American assets of Agfa were seized by the U.S. during World
War II as enemy property and became General Aniline and Film Corp.,
whose photographic products reverted to the Ansco brand name.
* 1942 Introduction of intensifying screen products.
* 1939-1945 Agfa used forced laborers in large numbers, including
concentration camp prisoners in the Munich subcamp (Agfa Kamerawerke)
of the Dachau concentration camp and in the Dutch transit camp Kamp
Westerbork. Forced laborers were also used for Agfa AG in the "Agfa
camp" subcamp of the Munich-Stadelheim juvenile prison between 1943
and 1945. Parts of the Agfa company management were indicted after the
war in the I.G. Farben trial before an American military tribunal.
* 1945 When the Allies broke up IG Farben to reduce the size of German
chemical industry, Agfa reappeared as an individual business. An Agfa
plant located in what was to become East Germany became the foundation
of ORWO.
* 1952 Re-establishment of Agfa AG as a wholly owned subsidiary of
Bayer in Leverkusen.
* 1964 Merger of Agfa AG and Gevaert Photo-Producten N.V. with Bayer
AG and Gevaert each holding a 50% interest in the new operating
company.
* 1970 Introduction of Agfacontour Professional Sheet Film.
* 1972 Introduction of mammography film / screen products.
* 1981 Bayer buys out Gevaert and becomes 100% owner.
* 1988 Acquisition of Compugraphic Corporation (prepress systems).
* 1990
** Sale of magnetic tape business.
** Introduction of Computed Radiography (CR) products.
* 1994 Introduction of PACS products.
* 1996 Acquisition of Hoechst's printing plate and proofing business.
* 1997 Sale of the company's film recorder division to German CCG
Digital Image Technology.
* 1998
** Acquisition of DuPont's offset printing and graphic arts film
business.
** Sale of the company's Copier Systems business to Lanier Worldwide
Inc.
** Acquisition of CEA AB (X-ray film products).
** Acquisition of Monotype Typography Inc.
* 1999
** Acquisition of Sterling Diagnostic Imaging (X-ray film and
equipment).
** Separation of Agfa from Bayer. Initial public offering of
Agfa-Gevaert shares on June 1. Agfa listed on Brussels and Frankfurt
stock exchanges.
* 2000
** Acquisition of Krautkramer, a producer of ultrasonic systems for
non-destructive testing.
** Acquisition of Quadrat, a Ghent-based European producer of
radiology information systems.
* 2001
** Acquisition of Autologic, an American producer of systems for
prepress automation.
** Acquisition of Talk Technology, a producer of medical voice
recognition systems.
** Acquisition of the German company Seifert and the American company
Pantak, producers of industrial X-ray equipment for non-destructive
testing applications.
** Acquisition of a minority interest in MediVision, a developer and
manufacturer of digital imaging systems for ophthalmology.
** Agfa stopped its desktop scanners and digital camera business in
September 2001. Agfa does not provide any further support.
* 2002
** Acquisition of Mitra Imaging Inc., a developer of medical imaging
and information systems for healthcare.
** Bayer sells its remaining 30% stake in Agfa.
* 2003
** Opening of new printing plate factory in Wuxi, China.
** Sale of non-destructive testing business to General Electric.
* 2004
** Acquisition of Dotrix, a Belgian producer of digital colour
printing systems for industrial applications.
** Acquisition of Lastra, an Italian manufacturer of plates, chemicals
and equipment for the offset printing industry.
** Sale of the consumer imaging division to a company founded via
management buy out, named AgfaPhoto, and held by an investment
company. After one year, AgfaPhoto files for bankruptcy.
** Acquisition of ProImage, an Israeli developer of browser-based
digital workflow solutions for the newspaper and printing industries.
** Acquisition of Symphonie On Line, a French information technology
company and developer of EPR (electronic patient record) systems.
** Sale of Agfa Monotype Corporation, a provider of fonts and
font-related software technology, to Boston-based private equity
investor TA Associates.
* 2005
** Acquisition of GWI, a German developer of healthcare information
systems for medical records, nursing, business management, and
facility administration.
** Acquisition of Heartlab, Inc., a U.S. developer of cardiology image
and information management systems.
** Acquisition of Med2Rad an Italian developer of radiology
information systems.
** Introduction of industrial inkjet products.
* 2009
** Acquisition of Insight Agents, a European developer and producer of
contrast media.
** Acquisition of Gandi Innovations, a producer of large-format inkjet
systems.
* 2010
** Agfa Graphics and Shenzhen Brothers create the Agfa Graphics Asia
joint venture to reinforce their position in the Greater China and
ASEAN region.
** Acquisition of the Harold M. Pitman Company a US supplier of
products and systems for the graphic industry.
* 2011 Acquisition of WPD, a Brazilian supplier of healthcare IT
systems.

Company structure
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Agfa is headquartered in Mortsel, Belgium, with sales organisations in
40 countries. In countries where Agfa does not have its own sales
organisation, the market is served by a network of agents and
representatives. At the end of 2011, the company had 11,728 employees
(full-time equivalent permanent) worldwide. Agfa has manufacturing
plants around the world. The largest production and research centres
are based in Belgium, the United States, Canada, Germany, France,
Italy and China. Net sales for 2011 totalled 3,023 million euros.

Since January 1, 2019, two new entities emerged within the
Agfa-Gevaert Group: Agfa HealthCare (ITCo) and Agfa (MainCo). Agfa
HealthCare groups all IT-related activities of the former Agfa
HealthCare business group. The newer Agfa includes the activities of
the former Agfa Graphics and Agfa Specialty Products business groups,
as well as the Imaging activities of the former Agfa HealthCare
business group.

Agfa Healthcare
=================
Agfa Healthcare is a developer of medical imaging information systems,
with main offices in Mortsel (Belgium), Ghent (Belgium), Waterloo
(Ontario Canada), Shanghai (China) and Vienna (Austria).

Agfa division business groups
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The activities of the Agfa division have been subdivided into three
groups: Offset Solutions (the prepress business of the former Agfa
Graphics business group), Digital Print & Chemicals (the inkjet
business of the former Agfa Graphics business group and the activities
of the former Agfa Specialty Products business group) and Radiology
Solutions (the imaging activities of the former Agfa HealthCare
business group).

Products
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In 2004, Agfa-Gevaert withdrew from the consumer market, including
photographic film, cameras and other photographic equipment.

Because Agfa-Gevaert still produce photographic films for the aerial
photography market, it is still possible to buy fresh, Agfa-produced
photographic films for use in consumer cameras. They are sold by the
Lomography Society and Rollei and are branded accordingly. This is
because those companies purchase the aerial photography film from
Agfa-Gevaert, and then cut and package it into consumer photographic
formats.

As of 2012, such products carry a small Agfa logo discreetly on their
packaging, but are not sold as Agfa branded products.

By contrast, Agfaphoto branded photographic films are not made by
Agfa-Gevaert at all, originally having been made by the now closed
Ferrania plant in Italy. Agfaphoto films are now produced by Fujifilm
in Japan for Lupus Imaging Media.

Agfa cameras
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Agfa produced a range of cameras which included:
* Ambiflex
* Silette series
* Clipper
* Billy
* Record
* Iso series
* Isolette
* Isola series
* Click
* Clack
* Optima series, e.g. Optima 1A
* Optima Sensor series, e.g. Optima 1535 Sensor and Optima Flash
Sensor
* Selectronic S series
* Agfamatic series
* Agfamatic Pocket series
* Agfa Mini
* matching accessories, such as flashguns

SLR
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* Agfa Flexilette
* Selectronic series (rebranded products of Chinon)

Agfa slide projectors
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Including, roughly in chronological order:
* Agfa Opticus 100
* Agfa Agfacolor 50 automatic
* Agfa Diamator series, like models H, m, 1500

Agfa consumer and professional films
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Black & White films:
* Agfa PD16
* Agfapan 25, 100 and 400
* Agfapan APX 25, 100 and 400 (revivals of 100 and 400 emulsion were
announced by Adox)
* Isopan ISS (Super Special)
* Isopan F (Fine Grain)
* Isopan Ultra
* Isopan Record
* Agfa Vario-XL (C-41 process chromogenic film)
* Dia-Direct (reversal film)
* Scala (reversal film)
* Agfacontour Professional film

Colour reversal (slide) films:
* Agfacolor Neu
* Agfachrome CT 18 and CT 21
* Agfachrome series
* Agfachrome R 100 S
* Agfachrome 50 S and 50 L Professional
* Agfachrome RS and RS Plus Professional series
* Agfachrome RSX and RSX II Professional series
* Agfachrome CT, CTx and CT Precisa series (excluding New Agfaphoto CT
Precisa 100)

Colour negative films:
* Agfacolor CN14, CN17, CN17M, CN17 Special, CNS and CNS2
* Agfacolor series
* Agfacolor XR series
* Agfacolor XRG series
* Agfacolor XRS Professional series
* Agfacolor Optima, Optima II and New Optima Professional series
* Agfacolor Portrait 160 Professional
* Agfacolor Ultra 50 Professional and Ultra 100
* Agfacolor Vista series (excluding New Agfaphoto Vista 200)

While Agfa has retired from the photography branch, and the Agfaphoto
brand was sold to a reseller named Lupus Imaging, the surviving
Belgian industrial branch of Agfa continues to produce, among other
things, B/W, colour negative and colour reversal materials for aerial
photography. Some of these are cut to the usual 135 and 120 formats by
Maco and distributed under the brand name Rollei. Specifically, these
re-branded Agfa materials include Rollei Retro 80S, 200S and 400S,
Digibase CN200 and CR200.

Scanners
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Agfa produced many image scanners in the Arcus, DuoScan, SnapScan,
StudioScan and StudioStar ranges. While they have all been
discontinued and up-to-date drivers for them are not available from
Agfa, Vuescan software supports many Agfa scanners on current computer
operating systems.

Agfa darkroom equipment
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* Agfa Varioscop enlargers
* Agfa Variomat print easels for automatic exposure
* Darkroom safety lights
* Agfa Rondinax and Rondix daylight developing tanks

{{anchor|Paper}}Agfa papers
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Agfa photographic papers were of very high quality; lines included:
* Brovira
* Portriga Rapid
* Lupex

The production of material identical to the last generation of
fibre-based and resin-coated photographic Agfa Multigrade papers has
been resumed by Adox.

See also
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*AgfaPhoto
*Agfacolor
* Gevacolor
*André Leysen
*List of photographic equipment makers
*Christian Reinaudo
*List of photographic films
*List of discontinued photographic films
*Mixlink

License
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agfa-Gevaert