Ricoh’s Graphic Communications Division offers more than production inkjet presses, toner presses, and wide-format inkjet printers. Over the past 40 years, Ricoh has re-invented itself as a global technology company that provides integrated digital workplace services and print and imaging solutions to many types and sizes of businesses.
If your print or graphics business needs expertise for building an integrated automated workflow or improving profitability, Ricoh’s Professional Services Division can help. Subject matter experts from the Graphic Communications Division can help resolve issues related to printing processes, personnel, color control, data security, hardware, and software.
The group specializes in “co-innovating” with printing and graphics business to deal with growth-limiting issues such as labor shortages, color-management troubles, and data-analysis dilemmas. Ricoh professionals also advise graphics companies on how to create higher-margin applications or expand into adjacent markets.
Like Ricoh, “Print businesses must periodically reinvent themselves to stay profitable,” explains Gavin Jordan-Smith, Chief Global Sales – Strategy Division and RGC North America Sales Officer, RICOH Graphic Communications.
Other recommendations might involve using Ricoh’s software and automation solutions to match colors from both analog and digital printing devices or to complete more jobs each day with fewer press operators.
He notes that Ricoh helps printroom managers streamline their processes no matter what mix of printing and finishing equipment they use. For example, Ricoh helps larger companies connect digital devices to the Heidelberg Prinect or Kodak Prinergy software they already use for their offset printing workflows.
Ricoh’s Broad Perspective
Ricoh’s Graphic Communications Division has cultivated a deep understanding of the technical, economic, and business issues that print businesses face as they transition beyond offset printing presses to add new digital toner presses, production inkjet printers, and/or wide-format roll-fed and flatbed inkjet printing systems.
For example, organizations that brought Ricoh digital toner and production inkjet presses into offset-printing environments often struggled previously with disconnected pockets of automation and inconsistent color reproduction among devices.
Ricoh’s technical knowledge comes from their years of experience developing inkjet printheads and printing systems for use in offices, in-plant print shops, commercial printing enterprises, sign and display companies, and industrial manufacturing plants.
Ricoh inkjet printheads are not only used in Ricoh-brand printers, but also in popular printing systems developed by EFI, Durst, Flora, and Domino.
Ricoh’s economic and business insights come from consulting with thousands of users of offset presses and digital printing devices.
Workflow Assessments
One of Ricoh’s most popular services is a workflow assessment, in which teams make on-site visits to observe how jobs are processed. During the assessment process, the consultants ask questions such as: How did this job come in? Where do you want to grow? Where are you falling short? What applications do you want to produce?
After the assessment is completed, Ricoh’s workflow analysis consultancy group will recommend ways to resolve pain points.
Ricoh has partnerships with many different providers of software and color-management technologies and can offer each client the best available solution for their requirements, even if the solution did not originate from Ricoh.
Building Lasting Relationships
According to Jordan-Smith, Ricoh’s consulting services are popular because Ricoh salespeople talk to potential clients about their business development goals and workflow pain points before discussing Ricoh’s latest printing and software technologies.
“It’s all about understanding what our customers are trying to do,” he adds. “Our customers are telling us what they need. We are not coming in telling them what they need.”
In 2024, the Ricoh professional services team conducted workflow assessments in more than 200 graphic communications and printing facilities worldwide.
Ricoh also hosts meetings at their Customer Experience Center in Boulder, Colorado.
“We ask attendees to tell us about their business and what keeps them up at night,” explains Mark Little, Senior Director, Global Product Marketing, RICOH Graphic Communications.
Common concerns include automation, workflows, talent shortages, and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).
Little points out that before (and after) investing in a new printer, a print shop typically needs help and support to maximize the return on their investment. Automation is a hot topic this year because so many shops are having trouble finding qualified employees.
“Not everyone is blessed with an operator with a lot of previous experience,” said Little. But Ricoh builds expert knowledge into the automation systems they use to control production and color quality.
Little says lasting relationships are built as Ricoh helps customers find ways to solve costly production and business challenges and scale their businesses.
Integrated Workflow for Graphic Arts
Ricoh’s co-innovation approach to consulting has helped the company identify opportunities to develop software for unmet needs. For example, Ricoh recognized the need for a platform that would connect all the company’s online commerce sites and prepress and production workflows to the Print MIS software and data-analytics tools for business decision-making.
At drupa 2024, Ricoh introduced an integrated end-to-end automated workflow to minimize confusion in graphic arts companies with multiple job input streams and several different types and brands of printers and finishing equipment.
The integrated workflow is designed to minimize manual touchpoints and provide a clear picture of the costs and status of every job currently in production.
The workflow builds upon programs that Ricoh had previously developed to automatically preflight, impose, and batch jobs.
Here’s a quick overview of some elements of the workflow:
RICOH TotalFlow® Production Manager enables users of sheet-fed printers to monitor, manage, and automatically load balance a mixed-fleet of up to 15 devices, including inkjet, toner, and offset presses. It maximizes device utilization with intelligent scheduling based on job attributes, including media and finishing, and tracking due dates. It can provide shop-wide awareness of scheduled and completed jobs.
RICOH TotalFlow® Prep rapidly creates print-ready PDF files out of multiple file formats, including scanned documents. It includes Ultimate Impostrip® advanced imposition that easily defines and automates custom imposition, advanced folding, and detailed marks for cutting.
TotalFlow Prep also creates barcodes to identify which pages have advanced binding and cutting requirements. Visual job tickets preview how the job will print and can be used with optional proofing approval and proof-printing steps.
FusionPro® combines customer data with predefined templates for creating personalized, relevant messaging in direct mail, marketing collateral, and other business documents.
RICOH TotalFlow® Batch Builder automates the production of short-run digital jobs in midsize-to-large commercial print providers and in-plants. Production managers can use 100 job-specific attributes to determine which elements of incoming jobs can be batched for printing and finishing together. Batching streamlines scheduling and maximizes thereby streamlining ticketing, scheduling, routing, and other tasks.
Avanti Slingshot™ is a JDF-certified print management information system (MIS) for estimating, inventory management, job onboarding, job ticketing, fulfillment, and chargebacks. It can connect islands of automation, eliminate workflow breakpoints and supply information such as estimated costs vs actual costs.
RICOH Auto Color Adjuster is a device that provides precise color management and matching capability without the need for a color specialist. In just minutes, shops can use the standalone device to effortlessly create ICC profiles, match colors from pre-printed samples, and run jobs across multiple systems—all with pinpoint accuracy.
RICOH Supervisor™ provides graphical data to drive decisions to improve efficiency and profitability. The system gathers operational data from connected production print devices and software applications, then uses a business intelligence engine to present the data in clear, visually appealing dashboard views. Business owners can use the data to formulate insights to maximize return on investment, and data-driven decision-making and improve overall business outcomes.
Don’t Buy on Price Alone
When reaching out to printing-equipment manufacturers for quotes on new equipment, Jordan-Smith advises print shops to consider factors others than pricing: “Work with the printer manufacturers to get the solutions best for your business. Tell them what outcome you want to achieve, then listen to what they have to offer.”
“If they come back to you only with a price, treat them like a price player,” suggests Jordan-Smith. “But if they listen to you and seem concerned about your business, ask them about the biggest business problem you want to be able to solve. You might be surprised with the answer.”
A single silver bullet solution to fix print-business problems doesn’t exist, notes Jordan-Smith. “Nobody makes one software that can do it all.”
New solutions will continue to emerge as the needs of commercial, in-plant, and industrial printers continue to evolve.
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