PPN News September 2014 by Ricoh International

PPN News

Share Strengths, Grow Together

The Preferred Partner Network newsletter | September 2014

Munich Magic

Ricoh Internationalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Business Partner Conference scores another hit P2

Looking into the Future of Business

Business Partner Briefing

Moment by Moment in MĂźnchen P7

ROEL, Ricoh and Real-Life Sites P10

Meet the Customer Support Team! P11

RICOH PPN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2014

Ideas that Drive Change Ricoh International’s Business Partner Conference in Munich Welcome to this latest edition of PPN News, in which we revisit our highly successful Business Partner Conference in Munich with stories devoted to the event highlights and to the in-depth MDS session.

Ricoh’s Vision for the Future Why Emerging Markets are Key

As always, there are some great business cases courtesy of our business partners: in this issue you can read success stories from Cillion, Darwish and ROEL. And there’s a chance to meet our Customer Support department and discover the faces behind the phone calls! Of course, no issue would be complete without the latest Ricoh innovations – this time they include our Arabic user interface software, a key introduction for emerging markets. And last but not least, Henning Rudbech explains what’s behind the name change from distributor partner to business partner.

Colophon Published by Ricoh International BV Editor in Chief Tom Kips Managing Editors Pim van Schaik, Kim Zeglarske Contributors Marieke Bornebroek, Wouter van Breukelen, Bart Geers, Miriam Halabicova, Jos Huijsmans, Andy Hutchinson, Steve Hustinx, Robert Janssen, Alfonso Roig, Elena de Ruiter, Andrea Saporiti, Alex de Vroedt and Anna Zhukhlina Editing Jane Szita Graphic Design Ape to Zebra www.apetozebra.com Email marcom@ricoh-international.com Address Ricoh International Nieuw Kronenburg Prof. W.H. Keesomlaan 1 P.O. Box 114 1180 AC Amstelveen, The Netherlands Copyright for all published material is held by Ricoh International BV unless specifically stated otherwise. Permission is required for the use of articles by a third party. Please apply to us in writing.

In the right place at the right time: Henning Rudbech outlined Ricoh's strategy for the coming year.

3 Ricoh Europe CEO David Mills' presentation was enthusiastically received.

MUNICH A city where economic prosperity, good living and Gemutlichkeit (cosiness) go hand in hand, Munich was an appropriate location for this year’s Ricoh International Business Partner Conference. After all, business innovation, solid success and age-old tradition happily coexist in the Bavarian capital, making it the perfect place to learn more about Ricoh’s 18th mid-term plan and discuss the way forward for fiscal year 2015. The 250 people who attended the event included enthusiastic participants from 80 different countries in the EMEA region, as well as special guests from the Emerging Markets Business Centre of Ricoh Company Limited Japan. This was in line with one of the major themes of the conference, which was soon introduced by Henning Rudbech, CEO of Ricoh International, as he announced the prime focus of the 18th mid-term plan. “I stand here as CEO of Ricoh International, but I have recently accepted the position of CEO of the Emerging Markets Group,” he told his audience. Global approach, local expertise The message could not be any clearer: the major emphasis for Ricoh International is on accelerating business in the emerging markets of the EMEA region – in accordance with one of the key strategic objectives set out in the global 18th mid-term plan. The CEO of Ricoh Europe, David Mills, joined Henning Rudbech in highlighting the importance of this direction for Ricoh’s future: “The emerging markets are a key element in our growth strategy,” said Mills. “Dubai will be a key hub for us, and we will be making investments there.”

As Henning Rudbech elaborated, what this means for Ricoh and its business partners is “a global approach but with local expertise.” This, he stressed, “is the way we transform the why of doing business into the how of doing business. We have a competitive edge in these markets because we can deliver.”

Ideas that drive change Ricoh International's motto for FY14, Ideas that Drive Change, was the theme of the conference. The event certainly lived up to its theme, with participants encouraged to explore and exchange a wide range of ideas during the event, reflecting Ricoh International’s conviction that ideas generation is the best way for partners to really transform their businesses. As well as exploring new ideas, attendees could get to know Ricoh’s new products and solutions, introduced by the Ricoh International team. These included the Pro L4100, Ricoh’s first large-format series, interactive projectors and a product showroom presenting new features especially geared to EMEA markets. One of these, an Arabic interface for MFPs, gained this eager response from one conference participant: “Exactly what I’ve been waiting for! The Arabic display will really add value for my customers as they are mainly government entities operating in Arabic.” Other showcased solutions revolved around vertical markets, including financial services and healthcare. A special effort was made to highlight opportunities in the education sector too, with Ricoh’s interactive classroom among the many innovations on show. Finally, for the last two days of the event, selected partners could attend special PPBG and MDS sessions. Collaboration creates opportunities Another focus of the conference proved to be collaboration. This is how Ricoh Europe CEO David Mills put it: “We want to be involved in business change supplying products that can facilitate this change. The word collaboration is the key word in achieving this.” The business change in question

extends from transformations affecting workforce, work mode, the mobile workplace and new ways of working – all of which present great opportunities for Ricoh International, its partners and their clients.

“Dubai will be a key hub for us, and we will be making investments there” The Ideas that Drive Change motto indeed reflects the fact that customers increasingly need the input and drive of Ricoh International and its partners to get the best from today’s rapidly changing business environment. Collaboration really is the key to success in the global business arena. Paolo Cavenaghi, Commercial Director at Ricoh International, stressed this point: “Together, for me, means not just ourselves and yourselves, but also includes our customers. Only if these three elements work together can we enjoy the results we are striving for.” All in all, the conference was a remarkable success, as was underlined by the visible growth of the Preferred Partner Network (PPN). Ricoh International welcomed 12 new business partners and eight new ITDC distributor partners to this year’s event. “The PPN has shown that you can really grow and develop your business by embracing the programme, where we will work with you on the full cycle,” said Paolo Cavenaghi. He concluded with a call for action for participants to take home with them: “We need to execute and make things happen. We can have great ideas, but if we don’t execute them, nothing will happen.” It has become a tradition of the annual conference for Henning Rudbech to close the plenary session with a powerful message to both staff and partners. This year was no exception. “We want more!” he said. “We want more market share, we want more business!” Going on the eager faces around the room, his words struck a chord with all the conference delegates. —

This edition was printed on a Ricoh IP5000 on Drewsen Pro Ink 60 g/m2

“We want more! We want more market share, we want more business!”

In addition to the focus on the Middle East, several other key regions were mentioned, including Romania where, Rudbech explained, “we are piloting a case with quality refurbishments which we will expand when successful.” Other regions that will be under the focus of the Emerging Markets Group are Turkey (with its newly established operating company), Egypt and Nigeria. Eastern Europe in general was also highlighted as showing plenty of room for growth in both the MFP and printer markets.

RICOH PPN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2014

Partners inspiring partners: Tom Ekevall Larsen and Sigurd Krekling of Cillion (left) with Graphic International's Mithun S. Beeru and Jaimin Patel.

Share the MDS Experience! The Munich conference was the perfect opportunity for Ricoh International’s partners to learn from each other’s MDS journeys MUNICH The third day of Ricoh International’s Annual Partner Conference in Munich was Managed Document Services day – with invited partners warmly welcomed to a special morning session. The session kicked off by revisiting the MDS conference in Abu Dhabi, with a short, high-energy film devoted to the major points of that event. Then it was over to Director MDS Barry Cook, who really set the tone for the day by highlighting a key phrase from the film: “We all have the same challenges, so sharing experiences is key.”

than simply negotiating on price as in the traditional sales model. MDS allows Cillion to prepare its clients for the future, he said, by meeting the need to adapt rapidly to changing business processes. This new orientation opens up a world of opportunities: a request for a scanning solution from a client, for example, can be an opportunity to anticipate the customer’s future needs – demonstrating a document life cycle analysis that clearly shows the customer what needs to change – while calculating the all-important savings potential.

There’s no substitute for experience, and so the main part of the event was devoted to two partners – Sigurd Krekling of Cillion (Norway) and Mitun S. Beeru from Graphic International (UAE) – who shared their own MDS stories and tips. As Sigurd Krekling said of Cillion’s recent journey, “We heard about MPS and MDS three or four years ago, and we thought it was a fantastic way to sell solutions.” As Cillion was “losing more money on non-billable hours than we could possibly earn on projects,” it seemed like a perfect way to turn the business around. The company put its energies into making things happen in this direction, relying on the support of Ricoh International’s Preferred Partner Network. PPN 2.0 certification swiftly followed, with Cillion gaining certification in MPS in 2013 and MDS in 2014, with PP planned for 2015.

Customers are so impressed by this sort of professionalism that Cillion hasn’t looked back and business is booming, said Krekling. The support of Ricoh International ensures that, even with high-level pitches, Cillion can always compete. As he concluded, it all began with a decision and commitment to change – and then following that through one step at a time, by changing the company structure to enable a different sort of business. “After our decision, there was no way back from this ride,” said Sigurd Krekling. “Now our pipeline is skyrocketing.”

Winning trust Krekling explained how focusing on service provision allows Cillion to add value for its customers and really win their trust and partnership, rather

Learn from the eagle Essentially, Cillion’s experience reflected the advice of Barry Cook in practice. “Talk about savings, not products,” he told attendees. “Don’t over-educate your system integrators and remember that our opportunities are in the ‘glue’ as well – we should ask our customers, ‘Is SharePoint [or another Enterprise Content Management system] giving you all you hoped for?’” If the answer is no, there’s

a clear chance for Ricoh International’s partners to step in: “We operate in an area around systems like SharePoint: trigger the customer to define a project around the system, and you can improve the outcome.”

“The new road to success is no longer about products, but engagement” As Robert Janssen, MDS Sales Manager, subsequently underlined: accelerating and transforming collaboration is the key, with Ricoh International determined to help all of its partners achieve success. But this was really the day of partner experiences, and he quickly gave the stage to Mithun S. Beeru, whose presentation showed once again what can happen in the real world of Ricoh International’s partners. No doubt many present related to his description of the dire situation before MDS – a world of race-to-the-bottom discounting, shrinking customer budgets and growing competition. But changing the company’s approach to selling savings, rather than products, through MDS solutions proved that “the business is out there,” said Beeru.

The way forward A strategy of improving product knowledge (via the DocuWare certification programme in this case), improving its customer engagement model and pipeline management together with Ricoh’s MDS team, building capabilities through MPS and

3D Prizes: The PPN Awards New awards showcase the technology of the future MUNICH At the Business Partner Conference, delegates from every corner of the EMEA region could hear what Ricoh has in store over the coming years – including its positive response to the changing world of printing. They could also see Ricoh International’s PPN Award winners receive their prizes, as business partners were honoured for their performance. The winners received a stylish trophy produced by a 3D printer – a technology that shows every sign of making an important contribution to Ricoh’s future. MDS certification and other programmes, plus more focused targeting of customers and markets helped Graphic International to boost its turnover and guarantee a place in the top 10% of over 200 DocuWare EMEA partners. Of course, success takes patience – Mithun S. Beeru recounted how it took 21 months to convince one major customer. But with a good product, the right target and a new engagement model, anything is possible, he said, referring to the popular story of how eagles are said to rejuvenate themselves, losing talons and beak – a process that is clearly difficult for them yet essential for their long-term survival. Much like the MDS transformation of Ricoh’s partners: as both Beeru and Krekling stressed, the new road to success is no longer about products, but engagement, and while the transition may be challenging, the rewards can be huge.

“MDS orientation opens up a world of opportunities”

Participants at the conference not only experienced Ricoh’s new products and solutions: they could share the vision of Ricoh’s future expansion. “From our core business in office automation, we are looking at expanding into more consumer markets, expanding our services, growing in production printing but also in the industrial segment,” said Ricoh International CEO Henning Rudbech. In expanding into the industry domain, Ricoh is looking at 3D printing. “Currently we produce the printing heads for the main 3D printing manufacturers, so the

Rewarding performance Meanwhile, the PPN Awards honour our business partners for their performance, based on the pillars of the Preferred Partner Network. For the sales pillar, Jumbo Electronics took home the award for having surpassed their sales targets in close collaboration with Ricoh International. Impromat, Ricoh’s Czech partner, impressed with its marketing effort, while Switzerland’s René Faigle scooped an award for its exemplary service. The new award trophies are extra special as they were produced by a 3D printer – which makes them a symbol of innovation and adaptability, as Bart Geers, Ricoh International’s Strategic Marketing Manager, pointed out. “We need ideas to continue to grow and innovate our businesses,” he said. “The PPN awards are a reflection of that. We have rewarded partners for their performance, and the award they received stands for the ability to change and be innovative.” —

A winning team! From left to right: Henning Rudbech, Miroslav Hasik, Ivan Konecny, Latik Gupta, Jean Tohme, Thomas Rieder and David Mills.

This edition was printed on a Ricoh IP5000 on Drewsen Pro Ink 60 g/m2

To say that the partner presentations were well received is putting it mildly. As business partner Maria Tsiakka from Cyprus put it: “Most presentations are removed from reality, over our heads, but this one you could believe because it is about reality.” Winding up the session, Alfonso Roig, Ricoh International’s Manager MDS Development, underlined the fact that anyway, partners have nothing to lose from engaging the support of the Ricoh team: “No win, no fee,” he emphasised. But the partners are winning, as Ricoh International’s Commercial Director Paolo Cavenaghi then demonstrated with some choice statistics from 2014, with a number of firsts and largest orders, plus an increase in the number of partners starting on and attaining MPS and MDS certification. “Today sitting in this room is the elite,” he said finally, summing up the session. “Now it is up to you if you want to take things forward." — Download the presentations of the Munich MDS event here: https://portal.ricoh-international.com/ portal/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2014/06/MDSDay-Munichv3.pdf

A history of innovation Right from the start, Ricoh has been at the forefront of innovation. Back in 1936, when the company was founded, copying was a novelty in the office environment. Ricoh went on to offer the first ever high-speed office fax machine in 1974 and to pioneer the multifunctional digital copier in the 1980s. Currently, the industry is moving from digital to smart and beyond – and Ricoh remains in the vanguard.

step to move into producing cutting-edge 3D printers seems a small one,” said Ricoh Europe CEO David Mills. Appropriately enough for a conference built around the theme, Ideas that Drive Change, 3D printing promises endless possibilities. In the medical sector for example, 3D printers can be used to make customisable prostheses at a fraction of the current cost. The technology can even go as far as printing an entire house: as a prime example of the application possibilities, a group of Dutch designers and architects are building a complete canal house using nothing but a 3D printer to produce their construction materials.

RICOH PPN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2014

Partners Become Power Players Ricoh International and Cillion sign a global agreement with Europe’s largest renewable electricity company OSLO How do you win a contract with a leading (and environmentally friendly) company in 23 countries? For Oslo-based Cillion, all it took to transform a local Norwegian client into a global customer was a little help from its friends at Ricoh International. In July, the partners signed a contract with Statkraft, a local client of Cillion, for MPS solutions in 23 different countries. Statkraft, a Norwegian state-owned renewable electricity company, is the third largest energy producer in the Nordic region, as well as Europe’s largest producer of energy based on renewable sources. Statkraft’s objectives were to utilise economies of scale in order to achieve lower global prices and to standardise its IT equipment. Together with Ricoh International, Cillion was able to meet the requirements necessary to win the contract – moving Cillion into another league entirely. PPN News talked to Ricoh International’s Bastiaan van der Bas (Business Manager Ricoh Global Services), and Cillion’s Sigurd Krekling (Manager Business Solutions and MDS), to find out how they did it. Sounds like an exciting deal – tell us more. Sigurd Krekling (SK): The deal includes 23 countries, from Chile to Nepal. Ricoh will deploy around 700 MFPs, all with a service contract. Statkraft also wanted the existing print management solution SafeCom to be implemented in all countries. But as SafeCom is not supported by all the countries in the contract, we have convinced the customer to switch to Equitrac. There is currently a proof-ofconcept project going on at Statkraft in Norway and Germany, again the result of collaboration between Ricoh International and Cillion. How did Cillion start the ball rolling with Statkraft? SK: Statkraft was already one of our local clients, but it had the ambition to have a global contract with one supplier instead of 23 different contracts in 23 different countries. Statkraft therefore issued a request for a proposal for global services. But the funny thing was that Statkraft was under the impression that Cillion was a Ricoh Norway dealer, so they sent the RFP there. Cillion then asked Ricoh International to intervene, and Ricoh International and Cillion responded to the RFP. That’s how the process started. What do you think were the winning factors in the Ricoh International and Cillion proposal? Bastiaan van der Bas (BvdB): First of all, it was the excellent and longstanding relationship that Cillion had with Statkraft which put us one step ahead of the competition.

SK: Yes, but it was also the professional tenSK der response from Ricoh International and its further handling of the process that impressed Statkraft – and this was only possible because of the excellent collaboration between Ricoh International and Cillion. Next to that, the customer mentioned our demonstrable ability to understand and meet their expectations, to deliver the same products and services on a global and standardised level, and to adapt to their changing needs. BvdB: In other words, it was a perfect example of local knowledge and relationships in combination with global expertise. There are multiple reasons why a business partner should collaborate with Ricoh International to win a contract with a global client.

“We felt as though we were an integral part of Ricoh International” How did Ricoh International and Cillion work together? SK: It was the role that Ricoh International has inside Ricoh Europe that got us the tender in the first place. Then the fast and professional approach of Ricoh International’s Global Tender Team helped us to shape a professional tender response that got us into ‘the game’. What’s more, collaboration between Ricoh International and Cillion was great, with an open line of communication. We all had our eyes on the target and we shared a common goal.The different tasks of the tender were quickly divided in a natural way, with each participant sharing information according to a unified plan. From Cillion’s point of view, we felt as though we were an integral part of Ricoh International and not just a distribution company. A different, but equally important aspect of the collaboration was our understanding of how a global tender process works. The Statkraft deal was our first tender of this kind, so we faced a steep learning curve as to how global tenders work within Ricoh International and Ricoh Europe. But now that we understand the process, we are approaching other global acounts in Norway with real confidence. What was the most difficult aspect of the deal? SK: The process was a bit of a challenge, because Cillion had to relinquish control to Ricoh International while still being responsible for most of the direct contact with the customer. But because the specific technicalities of the global contract process were not clear to us, we

7 had to put our trust entirely in the Ricoh Global Tender Team. BvdB: I can understand how, when a company has been your client for so many years, handing it over to someone else is tricky. It almost feels like handing over the responsibility for your own child to a total stranger! And there are some grey areas too, as to who takes the lead with direct contacts with the customer. As far as we at Ricoh are concerned, there are difficulties too – we don’t want to be the one pushing away or potentially losing a strategic major account for one of our partners. At some point, we had to react to certain requests from Statkraft, which Cillion could manage locally, but which we are contractually unable to sign for globally. In the end it worked out though, because it’s all a matter of being transparent – after that, trust follows automatically. SK: Another aspect of this deal was for us to learn about and understand new procesess, people and culture within Ricoh International, and to see and understand the process in a bigger perspective than we usually do when dealing with our customers in our local market. In the same way that our customer had to overcome different perceptual challenges, so did we at Cillion regarding what is possible and not possible in a global tender process.

”We see a lot potential – these smaller international accounts are not targeted by our Fortune Global 500 competitors” What would you change in the process for the future? SK: It would be great to know what the actual process of contracting is in advance. This was not very clear to us, and if it had been it would have helped us to contribute to an even smoother tender process. BvdB: You’re right, that’s actually something we need to be clear on in our communications. We need to describe a process, so we are clear on the rules of engagement. But as always in global deals, we have to be flexible. Unfortunately it’s not always black and white in negotiations; we always have to adapt to different situations. We would have preferred to have been involved at an earlier stage, preferably before the RFP is issued, so we could have jointly agreed on a plan of action.

Ricoh is creating new business potential MUNICH Among many other firsts, participants at the recent Ricoh International Business Partner Conference in Munich could enjoy a demonstration of Ricoh’s new Arabic user interface software. Designed for all devices with a smart operation panel (ZSP models), the Arabic UI software officially launches in September. To support this exciting, unique and practical innovation, Ricoh International is also providing brochures in the Arabic language (spoken by 295 million people in the world) to accompany the MFPs that are equipped to use the Arabic UI software.

We speak your language

The move is a good example of how Ricoh aspires to create business potential by doing things differently and continuing to blend innovative technology and consultancy to meet the demands of loyal and existing customers and to attract new clients. Ricoh’s brand is well known for outstanding products. Now, the new Arabic language capabilities ensure that the brand can differentiate itself effectively in the developing markets of the Arab League, so opening the doors to a wide range of new customers. — For Ricoh International’s MFP brochures in Arabic (for MFPs that are equipped to use the Arabic UI software), see Chameleon: https://www.ricoh-chameleon.info/

The Importance of Being a Business Partner PPN members are now known as business partners, underlining their value-adding role AMSTELVEEN Since July, there has been a change in terms for Ricoh International partners. Now, the term ‘business partner’ describes members of the Preferred Partner Network, while the term ‘distributor partner’ applies only to members of the ITDC Network. Ricoh International CEO Henning Rudbech explained the change in terminology during the annual conference in Munich in July. The reason for the change is simply to help stimulate members of the Ricoh International Preferred Partner Network to embark on the PPN journey, a process which allows for important improvements in our partners’ infrastructure and capabilities in order to add value to Ricoh products, including MDS, Production Print and other services offerings, and so succeed in the marketplace. The term ‘distributor partner’ now applies only to members of the ITDC network, which Ricoh is building at the same time as its PPN network and which is also of great importance for the future. Expanding the ITDC network will allow us to market printers as a strong core business in the coming years.

What does this mean for you? For you our PPN members and business partners, the most important thing is to have a clear understanding of where Ricoh is heading and what your role and contribution should be on this exciting journey. We will continue to do our utmost to engage with you on this quest to become and continue a value-adding business partner. Membership of our PPN creates the confidence that comes from being part of a strong group with a clear vision of the future, increasing our mutual trust and ultimately our business together. Of course, referring to you as business partners does not change your legal status as distributors of Ricoh International. So please join us in channelling our energies together in order to improve our business results over the coming autumn months. Let’s continue our great collaboration and ensure that we can once again reach our objectives as business partners. —

This edition was printed on a Ricoh IP5000 on Drewsen Pro Ink 60 g/m2

Do you now see more opportunities for international contracts? SK: Sure – we see a lot of potential in Norway and, looking at our current existing customer base, we are already targeting clients with an international angle. As a matter of fact, we are already talking to several large multinationals. Some of these proposals are based on similar cases completed by Ricoh International elsewhere. We have gained this information through the PPN sharing programme and through the direct line of communication we have with Ricoh International. BvdB: At Ricoh International we definitely see a lot potential, as currently these smaller international accounts are not targeted by our regular Fortune Global 500 competitors, HP and Xerox, while our other competitors like Konica Minolta, Canon and Kyocera traditionally engage these accounts with their local sales forces. This means we have a competitive edge, so you could call this market segment the sweet spot. —

295 Million Potential New Customers!

RICOH PPN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2014

PPN Workshop

Floors of the Future

Reaping the rewards of partnership The PPN motto, Share Strengths, Grow Together, was reinforced once again from the Munich stage by Paolo Cavenaghi. The starting point for the PPN workshop was today’s fast-paced business environment, in which the only way to remain sustainable and successful is by anticipating new challenges. PPN provides the perfect framework for this – a collaborative approach with the focus on the kind of development facilitated by the MPS and MDS certification programmes. The PPN event shone the spotlight on a select number of the many PPN benefits available in order to show how success can be achieved by combining expertise and joining forces. The following were highlighted:

Taking marketing a step further If we had to choose just one, the real eye-catcher of the Munich event was probably the Interactive Floor. As attendees walked over it, it seemed that no one could resist trying to score a goal or pausing to play with all the animations. So why not offer this fun solution to your customers? The interactive floor projection system is ideal for multiple promotional contexts. In today’s business, differentiation is the key to success and being able to provide such a great user experience can open new doors for your company. What better way to drive change and generate new commercial chances?

• ATP with the aim of showing customers the global scale of Ricoh operations • The ‘closing the deal’ approach which sets out to share expertise and prove the success of RIBV and partner engagement • Marketing intelligence conveying and anticipating the major market trends in our industry • Professionally designed promotional gear to convey the Ricoh message via billboards, banners and flyers.

Get the interactive floor with customised animations, use it to bring your local events to life, place it in malls, fairs and exhibitions or even in waiting rooms and watch the new business opportunities spring up. Want more information? Please contact: andrea.saporiti@ricoh-international.com -

With PPN 2.1 emerging in fiscal year 2014, the Ricoh International team is aiming not just at sustaining the success of previous years, but at taking it the next level by customising collaboration to the challenges presented by emerging economies and emerging markets. So let's share our strengths and grow together! -

Munich M

Snapshots from this year’s confer business partners embracing fresh every level, with the help of a serie

Product Showroom Financial Services Smoothing the customer banking journey The Financial Services Workshop underlined the fact that the retail banking business, like many other aspects of the financial services industry, is heavily document intensive. For example, the customer on-boarding process requires several documents including a contract, proof of ID, proof of address (sometimes multiple), money transferral authorisation, and so on.

Rave reviews for new solutions like the Green Line and GelJet ranges

The workshop was designed to show business partners how to engage and build business cases around the improvement of efficiency in key processes which will not only validate investments, but potentially even escalate the level of partnership and real lock-in. Another key area of attention during the session was information security – an important issue when the news regularly features stories about banks losing sensitive customer information. Industry-relevant protocols were discussed, as well as the risk of noncompliance with these, and all the information was based on actual events, translated into tangible business approaches for the business partners. The first spin-off cases are already in the pipeline. -

All the latest Ricoh solutions under a single roof – that was the Product Showroom at the Business Partner Conference in Munich. And the business partners responded enthusiastically to the offering – here are some of the things they had to say about the Green Line and GelJet ranges: ‘‘The Green Line products present a solution for customers not willing to invest in new machines at present. We can now offer an ‘as good as new’ solution at a more accessible price. It also gives us the opportunity to target rental business, something that is increasingly being offered by others, especially with used or refurbished machines.’’ ‘‘The Green Line can fulfil our market requirements, especially in production and colour.” “The GelJet Printer could be a very useful solution for clients located in remote places in Zambia where electricity is inconsistent and in some cases non-existent, for example in mission clinics and schools.’’ -

The Interactive Classroom

Commercial Smarts

Exploring the ideas that drive change in education

Business partners get up to speed with Active Management

The Interactive Classroom was packed full with the newest solutions for this rapidly growing vertical market (and others), including the versatile interactive table – ideal for everything from interactive meetings, to analysing a football match to even showing off latest product photos and videos. Here’s what some of the business partners had to say: ‘‘These tools open a tremendous amount of opportunity for us in the UAE. The government focus is on the education and healthcare sector and these solutions will certainly help us open the doors to many applications.’’ ‘‘I’ve been most impressed by the interactive table in the Ricoh learning centre, simply because it was the only product I hadn’t heard about before. Besides, it’s impressive to see how a piece of software can add so much value to some not very special hardware when put together in a solution.’’ -

Momentum

rence show Ricoh International’s h ideas and new opportunities on es of focused workshops and events

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PPN fit e Ben

Using fleet information from a real customer, the conference explored how Active Management can help Ricoh and its business partners to maximise core business (increasing contract profitability) while growing wallet share (highlighting extra opportunities). In a short time, the AM session brought home the real power of Ricoh’s Active Management when employed to its full potential. It can be used to: • Show the customer the real cost of current equipment and highlight replacement opportunities • Drive the right commercial decisions with the sales team • Increase contract volume, replace devices faster, or control total MIF • Even win opportunities with customers resistant to agent installation, thanks to the new USB key. Partners also benefitted from shared concrete examples highlighting how they can get organised internally to achieve commercial growth. To sum up, every new and existing Active Management partner walked away with useful and practical guidelines on how to make the most of this critical commercial initiative. -

Healthcare Services Helping to digitise the patient experience Selling to healthcare institutions doesn't just mean selling hardware – that’s what Ricoh International’s Healthcare Workshop set out to show. The presentation gave partners an insider’s view, leading them through the patient admission, treatment and discharge process. At every step, a different Ricoh solution was explained. For example: a patient arriving at the hospital goes to the registration desk where a referral letter from the general practitioner is handed over and automatically processed by Ricoh's integrated MFP scanning and capture software. By the end of the workshop, partners were convinced that selling solutions to complex environments like hospitals can actually be much easier than expected – given a good understanding of both the healthcare process and the essence of Ricoh’s solution. As one participant said, Ricoh offers “a complete solution for specific customers.’’ -

The Pro L4160 The Munich conference also featured the debut of the Ricoh Pro L4160 series –the perfect solution for partners wanting to extend their offering with high-quality display printing. The exciting new series allows you to print on almost anything – including a huge variety of films, textiles, vinyls and papers. The versatile L4100 series can create impressive signs, banners, wraps and POS/POP displays. It can even be used as a label printer for short runs. -

Just because the Business Partner Conference is over for another year, doesn’t mean you have to wait 12 months to learn from another exciting event – it’s easy to design your own! To help our business partners make the most of new big-format opportunities, Ricoh International is supporting local partner events with speaker participation from Color Concepts, Ricoh Europe’s supplier of large-format expertise, media profiling and commercial training (and a big hit at the Munich conference). To take advantage of this exciting opportunity to add value to your own Pro L4100 event, just send a request to: miriam.halabicova@ricoh-international.com For more information, visit http://www.colorconcepts.nl

This edition was printed on a Ricoh IP5000 on Drewsen Pro Ink 60 g/m2

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RICOH PPN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2014

ROEL Keeps it Real New real-life product ‘reference sites’ help to convince customers in Romania BUCHAREST Ricoh’s Romanian business partner ROEL has launched its new Colour Explosion campaign, designed to convince customers by showing Ricoh’s production printing products at their best – in operation at real production sites. The project will result in a trio of these Ricoh ‘reference sites’ – locations created together with selected partners to showcase advanced Ricoh equipment.

The first reference site is already up and running, and two more are planned. ROEL stresses that the sites can cover anything and everything, from printing on a wide range of media to indoor and outdoor print advertising, car graphics, labels, banners and posters. In response to a mailing concerning Colour Explosion, ROEL has already received requests for advanced discussions from both major print players and companies hoping to increase their product portfolio and win new clients through investment in digital equipment. Proof of production ROEL’s initiative is a response to client demand: due to the large amount of investment required, customers prefer to see Ricoh products running in a real production environment (with different applications), and not only in a controlled and artificial environment such as a showroom. “Discussions with various clients always result in the same question,” says ROEL's Gabriel Constantinescu. “That is, ‘where can we see this equipment in a real production environment?’ So this is a great way for us to show off our products.”

The project will have benefits both for ROEL and for the clients who participate as Ricoh reference sites. For ROEL, the sites will act as a proof of successful integration into a real

The mailing ROEL sent out to the potential Ricoh 'reference sites' (printed on the Ricoh Pro C5100S).

production environment and demonstrate the excellence of its technical support. The varied applications of the sites will also show the versatility of the equipment.

“Discussions with clients always end with the same question – where can we see it working?” Geographical spread For the clients chosen to host reference sites, meanwhile, there is the exciting possibility of having the latest equipment under special financial conditions, plus special arrangements for service and maintenance. Not surprisingly therefore, there is no shortage of volunteers to host a site. Currently, the first reference site is already in action at publisher World Media Graph, and there are advanced discussions underway for a second one.

ROEL has a clear idea of how future sites should look, says Gabriel Constantinescu: ‘’We don't want an ‘ideal’ reference site – that might seem artificial. Instead we want to place devices in different printing environments – for book printing, transactional printing, graphic arts, and so on. It’s important too that the locations should be spread across different geographical areas – Romania is big and customers are concentrated in certain regions. By having this geographical spread, we can demonstrate that ROEL can ensure great technical support all over Romania.’’ —

Darwish Technology Impresses at QITCOM Ricoh’s Qatari business partner presents its offering to a rapidly growing market

DOHA Ricoh’s business partner in Qatar, Darwish Technology, made a strong showing at the nation’s popular QITCOM event, held at the end of May. This was the third edition of QITCOM, which took place at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha. With the slogan ‘Innovating Today for the Future of Qatar’, the event featured a conference, exhibition and other offerings aimed at enhancing the growth potential of Qatar's burgeoning ICT sector. Not surprisingly, it attracted leading global companies who came to showcase their key products and technologies. With the event’s organisers reporting a total of 200,000 visitors, including regional industry leaders, IT developers, decision makers, investors, teachers and trainers, QITCOM was the perfect opportunity for Darwish Technology to present its products, solutions and services portfolio. Darwish provided visitors and clients with an opportunity to explore the new technologies that can further enhance their business environment, and invited them to enjoy first-hand experiences with the latest products and solutions. Ricoh International assisted the Darwish Technology team with members of the marketing and sales department demonstrating and explaining many new offerings. These included the latest MFP technologies, print management software solutions, and ultra short throw projectors which are perfect for digital signage, among other uses. During the event, a number of existing and potential customers of Darwish Technology visited the booth and were clearly impressed by the solutions presented. QITCOM was also an ideal platform for Ricoh International to gain more knowledge of Qatar’s market potential in order to be able to offer more tailored solutions for specific requests in the future. —

Customer Support: Not a Department, but an Attitude! The Customer Service and Supply Chain divisions play a crucial role in Ricoh International’s client-centric approach AMSTELVEEN “Service is not what you do, but who you are,” says Anna Zhukhlina, Ricoh International’s Customer Service Coordinator. “This is what we try to bring to our clients through our team.” Mieke Meijer, Manager of the Customer Support department agrees: “It always comes down to understanding your client’s needs and knowing what they want most and what we do best. We focus on where those two things meet.” This attitude is what makes the Customer Support department, which consists of Customer Service and Supply Chain divisions, such an essential and effective (if sometimes not highly visible) part of the Ricoh International organisation. Having gone through many reorganisation waves to perfect its structure, the department has proved itself as an important and irreplaceable part of the company. Ricoh International business partners know that they can rely on these specialists to help deliver orders, clear customs efficiently and provide support on logistical issues. Ricoh International has invested extensively to get the right resources on board, train the team to rigorous standards and provide all the tools necessary to bring its

service to the highly professional level in which it is a given that providing customers with even more than they expect is the most powerful way to achieve client satisfaction.

“It comes down to understanding your client’s needs and knowing what they want most" Defined roles Within the Customer Support department the two divisions have well defined roles. Customer Service is a dedicated team of five experienced international customer service administrators. The members – Pardip Chandra, Axel de Groot, Mickey Akkermans, Khadim Mbeguere and new recruit Vicki Leaf – each have their own special area, making for a strong, professional and capable team able to deal with any and every issue that might possibly occur on the client’s side.

The Supply Chain division, meanwhile, is represented by Nick Greenfield and David de Groot. Both of them support the Customer Service team in allocating stock, forecasting sales and treating tender orders with particular care. Both teams work closely together to achieve the best results. In addition, both Customer Service and Supply Chain teams work closely with other Ricoh International departments to ensure customer satisfaction. Cooperation is crucial for this department and there is a strong focus on strengthening everyday relationships with other departments to ensure a high standard of client services. The two Customer Support divisions reflect the fact that customer service is central to Ricoh International’s philosophy and to its future aspirations. “At Ricoh International we decided to shift from being so company-centric to being client-centric and demand-driven,” says Nick Greenfield, Supply Chain Coordinator. “We found that when you do that, some amazing things happen.” —

Keep in Touch You can learn more about the Customer Support department by visiting the Who is Who section on Ricoh International’s portal. For questions or comments, please contact the team by mail or by phone. We look forward to hearing from you!

New Customer Support team recruit Vicki Leaf.

This edition was printed on a Ricoh IP5000 on Drewsen Pro Ink 60 g/m2

Ricoh International’s Customer Support team. From left to right (starting from the top row): Nick Greenfield, Pardip Chandra, Axel de Groot, Khadim Mbeguere, Mieke Meijer, David de Groot, Mickey Akkermans and Anna Zhukhlina.

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This edition of PPN News was printed on a Ricoh IP5000