Ricoh at Print 17: The Momentum Continues

Ricoh collaborates with customers to shape future of inkjet and unlock new business opportunities

Building on its ten years of production printing leadership, Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced its continued collaboration with customers to pioneer new solutions to tomorrow’s challenges. Edwards Brothers Malloy, OSG Billing Services and Heeter have each expanded their partnerships with Ricoh in unique ways as they look to better serve their respective markets. Edwards Brothers Malloy has enhanced its print capabilities, traditionally reserved for book printing, to attract new commercial print customers and create additional revenue streams. OSG has significantly grown its ability to handle high-quality, high-volume jobs, operating simultaneously in several locations. Heeter leverages Ricoh’s expertise with inkjet and sheet-fed products, as well as offering vibrant, consistent color to clients across various channels and devices through the use of Ricoh Color Management Services. These three successes demonstrate Ricoh’s unique approach to partnerships centered on tailored solutions that address customers’ unique business environments and desired outcomes.

“Seeing these successes grouped together does so much to highlight our commitment to building strong partnerships by listening to our customers, and tailoring solutions to meet their needs,” said Jeff Paterra, Executive Vice President, Commercial & Industrial Printing Business Group, Ricoh Americas. “Whether businesses are building on a strong track record, looking for expert guidance to get to the next step, or trying to pivot to an entirely new customer base, we encourage them to take a look at Ricoh. Our team approaches each conversation as a two-way street, so we can put our expertise to work for their unique needs. Our partners’ insight is an integral part of how we decide to grow and develop our portfolio – and these three industry leaders are examples of just that.”

Edwards Brothers Malloy, a well-established book manufacturer, turned to long-time partner Ricoh when it wanted to add to its offerings and further extend its direct marketing capabilities. In addition to the InfoPrint 5000 Edwards Brothers Malloy depends on for book printing, the printer has added a RICOH Pro VC60000. By collaborating closely with Ricoh, Edwards Brothers Malloy has found the RICOH Pro VC60000 implementation to be a success. Demand continues to grow for the company’s added commercial print services so quickly that it is considering installing a second RICOH Pro VC60000 platform to further expand their new revenue stream.

OSG, a leading provider of integrated multi-channel print and electronic solutions, has experienced a business boom while partnering with Ricoh, and as a result the company has added a fourth RICOH Pro VC60000 to keep up with volume needs across OSG’s sites nationwide. It is the first American company to implement the RICOH Pro VC60000. Now, with the addition of its fourth, OSG has put growth in motion, allowing it to meet more customers’ demands and complete higher volume jobs more quickly, as well as adding redundancy to help handle higher volumes across multiple sites and improve uptime.

Heeter, an innovative commercial printer that has consistently grown with Ricoh in recent years, turned once again to their production print partner to help ensure color consistency in its campaigns. The commercial printer utilizes multiple communications channels and print devices to deliver their clients’ messages, and consistency across all of these is imperative to success. Utilizing Ricoh’s Color GAP Analysis has helped the commercial printer uncover existing strengths and opportunities for improvement, and identify specific color management goals and how best to achieve them. With Ricoh’s Color Management Services specialists, Heeter has been able to more confidently assure clients they can provide crisp, consistent color for client messaging, no matter which device or channel it originates from.

“Campaign color consistency is paramount to success,” said John Fulena, Vice President, Commercial & Industrial Printing Business Group, Ricoh USA, Inc. “Inconsistent color can look unprofessional, and cost time and money. We are happy to report that Heeter is one of the best-performing companies we have ever partnered with for Color GAP Analysis. Its results in our accuracy and consistency tests are fantastic, which provides excellent peace of mind for its clients who want to ensure a strong brand and effective messaging.”

Ricoh partners with Idealliance to advance production standards across the industry

Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced an expansion of its partnership with Idealliance, a nonprofit that serves thousands of members worldwide and strives for a more sustaining, competitive and compelling graphic and visual communications industry. As part of its ongoing commitment to empowering digital workplaces, Ricoh will offer Idealliance’s G7 Master Qualification, Online Certification Training and Curve4 Software, as well as an option to join Idealliance itself through Ricoh. This collaboration demonstrates Ricoh’s continued commitment to push the print industry forward by making expertise and mastery more widely available. Ricoh experts will be on hand at Booth 2022 at PRINT 17 in Chicago, September 10-14, where attendees are invited to “Take a look at Ricoh” and learn more about these offerings, and much more.

“A strong, capable print industry fosters the kind of competition where stakeholders are motivated to innovate, pushing the industry even further forward,” said John Fulena, Vice President, Commercial & Industrial Printing Business Group, Ricoh USA, Inc. “Idealliance’s training and certification work goes far in helping individuals work smarter, a global mission for Ricoh. In talking with our customers, it has become clear that better training is an important issue to them. Those conversations inspired us to work with Idealliance to help printers gain the skills and implement the best practices that help Idealliance-trained organizations succeed.”

These four offerings are an exciting next step in Ricoh’s work to leverage its expertise to the benefit of its customers:
• G7 Master Qualification helps operators ensure color consistency throughout jobs and campaigns at a time when the need for consistent branding across multiple channels has never been more important to attract and retain customers. This qualification helps print operations learn how to implement ISO printing standards and achieve color consistency across different hardware, systems and locations. The program highlights best practices to help reduce waste, increase uptime and drive efficiency. Ricoh’s own experts on the Color Management Services team walk customers through the certification process. This team leverages years of experience identifying and remedying color “gaps” and helping produce high-quality color across channels and devices to bring users up to G7’s high standards. The resulting color consistency and improved efficiency can help streamline and enhance production, growing and strengthening customer relationships.
• Idealliance Online Certification Training represents an extensive portfolio of online training resources, enabling print operations to work with a world-class organization to put growth in motion. These certifications and programs demonstrate Ricoh’s commitment to partnering with customers to develop skills and implement best practices that help businesses grow. Programs include Color Management Professional Certification and MailPro Certification, along with other media production and business development skills training. Certification is for two years, and it includes a printable certificate, program logos and listing in Idealliance’s Official Online Certification Directory, helping end-users find competent, certified companies.
• Curve4 Software is a software tool that helps calibrate print systems to G7 to deliver consistent color, verifying prints and proofs for conformance and quickly and easily evaluating and preparing control strip and test charts. Complex and cross-channel color demand continues to grow, and Ricoh has taken notice and made sure to partner with Idealliance to make color consistency simpler. By combining this powerful software with the insights from the G7 Master Qualification program, users can help ensure color consistency and quality at high levels.
• Idealliance Membership allows organizations, including enterprises, service providers, academies, dealers and consultants, to join the association. Organizations that join Idealliance are invited to benefit from and participate in the group’s work to formulate solutions, business practices, guidelines and standards, all of which greatly benefit visual and graphic communication companies. Idealliance members’ access to discounts, training and tools combined with the association’s reputation can help drive business.
“Ricoh continues to help customers uncover their true business challenges and deliver a customized, strategic solution that addresses them,” said Timothy Baechle, Vice President, Global Print Technologies & Workflows, Idealliance. “That’s a commitment we share. We are glad to partner with this major industry player to help bring the benefits of Idealliance’s collaborative efforts to an even larger audience. This new chapter of our partnership will certainly help our industry grow.”