Ricoh Targets In-plants

In-plants were a main topic of discussion at a recent New York press conference held by Ricoh’s Production Printing Business Group (PPBG). Speaking in a hotel overlooking Times Square, Ricoh executives explained how the company has been gearing up to serve the needs of the in-plant market. They then introduced a 90-ppm color printer, which the company feels is perfect for in-plants.

To emphasize how seriously it is taking the in-plant market, Ricoh even asked Program Marketing Manager Mike Loyd, former director of Louisiana State University Graphic Services, to explain to the crowd of reporters the unique challenges in-plants face. In-plants, noted Loyd, are charged with producing a variety of documents for demanding customers. To survive they must meet every commitment they make and become strategic partners with their parent organizations. They must also add new services to replace printing that has moved online. Providing variable data printing, he added, is often difficult for in-plants when their customers can’t make time to organize the data.

Ricoh is determined to become a leader in the production printing market (where companies beginning with the letters X, K and H usually grab all the attention).

“The vision is to become a leading force in the production printing environment by 2010,” said Tim Vellek, vice president of PPBG.

To do this, Ricoh has created a business model based on “new” customer requirements for production printing. Customer service is a paramount; 75 percent of PPBG’s employees are customer-facing, noted Carl Joachim, vice president of marketing, and they are being extensively trained, even to the point of being able to run the equipment.

Ricoh used the event to unveil its new Ricoh Pro C900, which boasts the ability to print 90-ppm, in color or black and white, on a variety of substrates, from 110-lb. cover to 165-lb. index. Operators can load paper and toner on the fly.

The in-plant is a key target market for this device, which will be priced more affordably than a NexPress or iGen3 (not to exceed $125,000, according to Ricoh’s John Falena), and is built with productivity and quality in mind.