ADDA, Singapore, Nov 28, 2008 -- Ricoh Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of Ricoh Co., Ltd, has announced a total investment of US$20 million over the next three years to enter and establish its presence in the production printing market by creating a new sales organisation and the development of two Printing Innovation Centres. The first of its kind in Asia Pacific, the Printing Innovation Centres to be located in Singapore and Sydney will be state-of-the-art centres that demonstrate Ricoh's latest production printing technologies, which include integrated hardware and software solutions.

In conjunction with this, the company is also launching the RICOH Pro(TM) C900 series, its newest production printing engine. According to Nobuaki Majima, Managing Director, Ricoh Asia Pacific, "setting up of the Printing Innovation Centres is a statement of intent from Ricoh to secure the leadership position in the high volume printing segment. We will continue to invest and strengthen our presence and ability to support our customers in the region through key initiatives such as this in Singapore, Sydney and the rest of Asia."

Printing Innovation Centre

The Printing Innovation Centres in Singapore and Sydney, Australia, will be targeted to open in the first quarter of 2009. Supporting customers and subsidiary offices in Asia excluding Japan, the 6000 sq ft Singapore facility will act as a demo arena, providing simulation and replication of real world industry applications, a platform for customers to learn and benchmark best practices and new technology. Similarly the Australian Printing Innovation Centre, a 7900 sq ft facility with state-of-the-art infrastructure will support the growing market and customer base in the Pacific region.

Long recognized as the leader of office equipment with the top market share in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific region, Ricoh has taken bold moves to strengthen their position in the printing sector. Since 2004, it has made strategic acquisitions of industry giants including Hitachi Printing Solutions and IBM's Printing System Division. Today the company is widely recognized as the emerging leader in the Print Production industry, leveraging its strong research and development as well as strategic investments to stay in the forefront of the business.

In the production printing industry, it is estimated that for every $1 spent on printing, an additional $6 is spent on managing the print workflow. As companies recognize significant costs associated with printing, there is an increasing demand for printing solutions to be more supportive of organisations' needs through greater cost-effectiveness, higher productivity and solutions which can meet corporate objectives.

RICOH Pro C900 series

The new RICOH Pro C900 series is part of Ricoh's digital printer series which support variable data printing, a form of on-demand printing which allows for customized promotional materials that could possibly double or even triple marketing response rates.

The RICOH Pro C900 series, the fastest engine of its class at a speed of 90 color pages per minute (ppm), is evidence of Ricoh's state-of-the-art technology. The newly developed EFI Fiery controller, especially designed for the RICOH Pro C900 series, is a powerful processor that rips very fast, producing a sharp image resolution of 1,200 real dpi. It has an extensive capacity to print heavy stock with an 11,000-sheet input and easily refillable toner.

As part of the company's investment strategy, Ricoh will also be increasing its headcount to support its expansion into the Production Printing market. "We have created a new sales division for the Production Printing market and we target to expand this base to 100 by 2010, which includes sales, support and technical talent. Through this significant investment we will help customers realize the creation in value that would result from workflow re-engineering and our increased customer support and care," concluded Majima.