Note:  See an exclusive video interview by Cary Sherburne with Brian Balow, VP Professional Services, discussing this new venture.

Experts help production printers find new avenues of efficiency and improved customer experience 

MALVERN, PA – Ricoh Americas Corporation today announced the formation of its Ricoh Consulting Group, aimed to empower production print customers to reach new business goals. This newly formed team of production experts leverages practical, real-world experience to deliver professional services via a practice-based approach focused on specific production areas including color management, workflow automation and strategic business systems consulting. Knowing that customers are seeking to gain new efficiencies, achieve a strategic advantage and convert cost savings into both top and bottom line growth, this team focuses solely on uncovering new ways to improve output quality and an improved customer experience. The formation of the Ricoh Consulting Group is the company’s latest step in its services-led go-to-market approach, as it looks to deliver resources beyond hardware and software offerings to help customers achieve success.  

In today’s fast-paced, high pressure business world, printers are hard-pressed to find ways to adapt to a rapidly changing marketplace. The Ricoh Consulting Group takes aim squarely at the pain points that keep many printers today from reaching their goals. Its experts embrace and leverage industry-specific insight, operational experience and expertise to make informed assessments and recommend practical solutions.  

“For many years, I’ve trusted Ricoh to help me develop a strategic business plan and implement new technologies to reach our business goals – and we’ve proven to be successful,” said Jim Sinclair, Print Production/Reprographics Manager, Lions Clubs International. “The partnership and dedication I’ve seen from my Ricoh team is unmatched. It’s due to this relationship that I was happy to embark with them as they launched the Ricoh Consulting Group. I’m looking forward to the results of this next journey, and I’m confident the Ricoh team will deliver.”

The Ricoh Consulting Group offers the following services:

• Strategic Business Systems Consulting – a practice focused on delivering a holistic and hands-on analysis of crucial areas of a customer’s operation. Ricoh’s consultants examine overall business plans, operating strategies and potential workflow gaps. Common services performed include Operational Reviews, Voice of Customer Studies, Market Rate Development and Project Management services for complex solution implementations such as MIS and e-Commerce. With an eye toward increasing operational efficiency and delivering on the ROI of complex projects, the team also develops strategic business plans to address growth strategies.
• Workflow Automation – a practice focused on conducting in-depth workflow assessments of e-Commerce, Web Storefront and MIS technology platforms via an extensive qualitative and quantitative analysis. The end result of these assessments is a strategy and roadmap for customers to leverage existing and new technology investments required to integrate and automate manual intensive workflows.  
• Document Composition & Multi-channel Distribution – aimed to help customers with communication management strategy development and execution. Features of this service include: streamlining design; determining invoice distribution paths for electronic presentment, payment and distribution; creating business rules to create content, splits, sorts, grouping and house-holding; identifying content required from host applications; funneling jobs according to their requirements; and helping to ensure high efficiency and throughput while driving down waste and cost.
• Color Management – an offering that uncovers ways to help ensure an end user’s vision matches their execution. Ricoh’s color management consulting services address common issues with color “gaps” or limited color capabilities, including providing G7 Master certification services. This service addresses the needs of both small print service providers and large enterprises that seek to streamline the color management process and automate a heterogeneous environment including toner, inkjet, and traditional offset. 
• Business Continuity Services and Disaster Recovery Services – empowers customers to assess their business continuity plan in the case of a variety of disasters, as well as helping them develop strategies and enable Disaster Recovery as a Service to minimize losses and maintain business continuity in the face of those disasters.

“Today’s print business is increasingly complex and advances in technology and customer expectations have accelerated the pace of change beyond the reach of most companies,”said Brian Balow, Vice President, Professional Services & Strategic Vertical Markets, Production Printing Business Group, Ricoh Americas Corporation. “Seeing this change, our vision with the Ricoh Consulting Group is to help accelerate and transform the way our customers think about and do business in the future. We’ve seen printers struggling to adapt, unsure of how to proceed in this new world of work.  We’ve also seen thriving service providers unsure how to take their business to the next level. That is exactly why we’ve tapped these experts with vast amounts of ‘street knowledge’ to help our customers solve these complex issues and capitalize on services that address new market opportunities. We know that together we’ll achieve benchmark performance levels.”

To find out more about how the Ricoh Consulting Group can help your business grow, evolve and protect continuity in a measurable fashion please visit: www.ricoh-usa.com/rpp.