ADDING C O LORO R TO Y OUR W ORLD

Transcription

1 ADDING C O LORO R TO Y OUR W ORLD Aficio is Ricoh s overseas brand for digital office equipment. Its world is multifunctional and increasingly colorful. Soon to join the exciting Aficio range will be an array of printers all designed to empower office users around the world with complete document solutions. Since its launch in 1996, Aficio has become the top name internationally for quality, performance, and affordability. It s No. 1 in digital monochrome copiers in Europe and the United States. These achievements complement Ricoh s primacy in the Japanese market. This special section of the annual report highlights some of the myriad ways Ricoh through Aficio is working to ensure that it remains the best in its industry. 86

2 Transmission Creation Color Information Flow Storage/ Retrieval Output Printers Multifunctional Copiers With the domestic launch of a new printer range in fiscal 1999, Ricoh now boasts a balanced lineup of office output systems featuring both copiers and printers positioning the Company to become the world leader in outputting solutions. A J.D. Power Asia Pacific survey found that Ricoh shot to No. 1 in customer satisfaction in the office printer category, just months after revamping its printer offerings. The Company is already top in digital copiers. Black & White 7

3 D I FFERENCE MA KING A W O RLD OF D I F F E R E N C E 8 Technology and support are the keys to providing complete document solutions in this increasingly digital world. The reason is simple. Digital and networking technologies have transformed the office landscape. In many ways that has been a tremendous boon. But complexity can bring its own problems, which is why Ricoh decided several years ago to explore new ways to make Aficio the simplest, most productive and most satisfying user experience in the world. The simplest way to define what office equipment should be is to consider the appliance. It does what you want day in, day out. It rarely breaks down. It is child s play to use, and is never intrusive. The emphasis on appliance simplicity has conditioned Ricoh s whole approach to document solutions. Take a look at the latest Aficios and you ll soon see what the technology delivers. All the systems are compact. Much of this is because Ricoh has shrunk its engines without compromising reliability. The same engine can now be used to power a host of multifunctional capabilities, from copying to printing and faxing. The bottom line for offices is that they can reliably save space and money. Speed is another key consideration. There is nothing worse than waiting what seems like hours to do a simple copy job. Those days are gone. All our machines offer lightning-fast startups. For walk-up jobs, many machines even have sensors that wake up machines automatically. The first copy speeds are among the fastest in the world. And all our products optimize throughput. More and more Ricoh copiers are color models. They use multifunctional digital technologies to process documents fast. In printer mode, for example, new models automatically identify whether each page in a document is color or monochrome and print out accordingly. Over the next few years, users will see yet another change in the way Ricoh strives for appliance simplicity. It s a system that employs remote scanning and network printing so you can manage all documents electronically, on paper, or in a combination of both. It gives users greater power and flexibility in streamlining the flow of information by eliminating needless duplication. While pursuing copier-based multifunctionality, Ricoh also meets demand for networked printers. One of our color laser models, the IPSiO Color 5000, is the smallest and delivers the fastest first page in the 600-dot-per-inch (dpi), A3 color printer category. Of course, all this hidden complexity needs support. Ricoh is the best in the business at providing it. To that end, we maintain the Ricoh global support structure, which helps users with questions or problems. It includes operations that send out teams to potential customers to identify their specific needs and office setups, with a key focus on their computer and other information systems. We take both preventive and protective approaches to the user experience. No Ricoh business is an island. All Group operations are part of a worldwide information-sharing system that covers everything from technologies to service and customer feedback. Put together, our technologies and support all make a world of difference in document solutions. The Pan European Help Desk at Ricoh Europe B.V. in the Netherlands comprehensively assists customer engineers and dealers.

4 This computer-aided design image shows the RICOH COLOR LASER AP305 (sold in Japan as the IPSiO Color 5000). Ricoh developed a host of new technologies for this model. The design brief was to create the ultimate in maintenance simplicity. If paper jams for any reason, the user just opens the front cover to release it. With other Ricoh models and those of all other makers, the solution is somewhat more complicated. Our engineers discovered that the best way to achieve this solution and minimize jamming was to transfer the paper directly upward from the paper tray. They achieved this by developing a The European Digital Solution Centre in Germany tests the connectivity of Aficio series models sold throughout the region and develops driver software. 1. Charge unit 2. Development unit 3. Exit rollers 4. Fusing roller 5. Transfer roller 6. Mid-transfer belt 7 Photoconductor 8 Relay roller seamless photoconductor belt and mid-transfer belt. This direct route seems obvious. But it has been the Holy Grail of office equipment for years. The improvements also significantly lightened the entire unit without reducing image quality. To help cut weight, the engineers used just two rollers to support the mid-transfer belt. All other companies use at least three. Another great user advantage is that you can print on all types of paper, even on postcards. The direct feed eliminates the possibility of unwelcome bending or wrinkling. 9

5 MA KING THE W ORLD A B E TTERT E R P L ACEC E While building on its product leadership, Ricoh aims to be second to none as a corporate citizen. The prime focus here is environmental management, coupled with assistance from Ricoh operations worldwide to worthy research. Ricoh is now widely considered a pioneer in corporate environmental activities. We have come a long way. In early 1998, for example, Japan s top business daily ranked us the nation s leader in environmental management. In early 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States awarded us its most notable prize for our energy-saving initiatives, the Energy Star Imaging Partner of the Year, for the fourth successive year. Such achievements benefit our customers in many ways. They know we are doing our best to reduce environmental impact. They also know they can save real money by using less energy. We have thereby helped users save literally millions of dollars in electricity consumption. Our approach is schematically presented in the Ricoh Comet Circle. Through it, we are transforming ideas into action, doing everything to promote and responsible disposal, not just by ourselves, but also by our suppliers under our Green Partnership Program and Green Purchasing Plan. To accelerate the goals we seek through the Comet Circle, we have put in place our Environmental Action Plan. This initiative provides specific deadlines, mostly for just before or after the turn of the century. The plan stresses progress in four areas: 1. Environmental management systems 2. Resource conservation and 3. Energy saving 4. Pollution prevention Ricoh has used its environmental management system to help all major Group companies earn certification under ISO 14001, the global standard for environmental management. It is impossible to sufficiently cover all our environmental initiatives here. For more information, visit our website: ( All Ricoh Group members aid efforts to better understand the world we live in. An excellent example is a donation that Ricoh France S.A. made for an intensive biodiversity project in Gabon s rainforests in early The research was organized by Pro-Natura International, a private, nonprofit organization, and involved leading scientists from around the world. This project used the world s largest motorized dirigible to spread a large net above the forest canopy so the scientists could live and work there for days at a time. By doing its best for the environment, Ricoh aims to make the world a better place. 10

6 (Top and bottom left) Ricoh France contributed to a biodiversity project in Gabon s rainforests in early (Right) In 1998, Ricoh Corporation was made the inaugural Energy Star Imaging Partner of the Year by the EPA of the United States. Pictured, from left, are Michael Sarasin, director of Corporate Quality Assurance at Ricoh Corporation, Paul M. Stolpman, director of the Office of Atmospheric Programs, Office of Air and Radiation, EPA, and Kirk Yoshida, chairman and CEO of Ricoh Corporation. Ricoh Comet Circle TM Product manufacturer Parts manufacturer Materials manufacturer Materials supplier User Dealer Private reuse Maintenance Private machine Reuse of products Product Reuse of parts Parts Closed loop materials Materials Recycled materials user Open loop materials Oil recovery Smelting Raw materials generated Chemical Metals Metals Recovery Recycling Sorting and disassembly Shredder Cracked oil Thermal energy recovery Energy recovery (Energy, carbon dioxide) Final disposal Shredder dust Product crushing Landfill 11