Originally Posted by
Nathan Potter
The quality of the film product is what is paramount and high quality takes sophisticated equipment and exacting QA.
Consistent preparation of the silver emulsion in B&W and in the extreme with color requires a chemistry supply that is consistent over time. The coating process whether done by spin coat, meniscus coat, spray coat or dip coating has to be phenominally controlled.
Starting from scratch would require a clean room throughout the process from incoming paper/film, paper/film prep, coating, drying, cutting, packaging. Separate line for B&W film, B&W paper, color film. Development costs for color would be extremely high unless a process could be bought along with the dye coupler specs. QA lab would have to be an integral part of the operation.
So here's a wild guess:
10,000 sq. ft. of class 100/10 clean space - 20 million
Equipment (much custom) - 30 million
QA space and operation - 2 million
Development and qualification - 20 million
Production per 1 million ft. sq. B&W film - 4 million
Production per 1 million ft. sq. color film - 15 million
So perhaps 100 million would get you a somewhat slick operation.
Buy an old IC fab and the price goes way down.
Of course a job shop operation could be drastically less expensive.
Nate Potter, Austin TX.
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