New Ricoh Unit Dedicated To Production Print
Ricoh's New Production Printing Business Group to Provide Solid Infrastructure for High-Volume Production Needs.
CHICAGO, September 10, 2007 – Ricoh Americas Corporation announced today the establishment of its Production Printing Business Group (PPBG), at GRAPH EXPO® 2007, being held in Chicago at the McCormick Place South from September 9-12. PPBG, located at booth #3046, was created to specifically focus on the unique, customer driven requirements of data center, in-plant and graphic arts environments.
Team Assembled
During the past several years, Ricoh has been preparing to enter the production printing market. Now, with a dedicated direct sales team, channel operations, and solutions engineers working to define, build, implement and support production solutions, customers have a new alternative as they evaluate vendor offerings. A portfolio of proven, and evolving monochrome and color products, and best-in-class alliance partners enables PPBG to the meet demands of production printing and publishing customers.
The development of PPBG began with the acquisition of Lanier in 2001, bringing with it an established direct sales and service organization. In 2004, Ricoh purchased Hitachi Printing Solutions, and its high duty cycle, cut-sheet and continuous-feed manufacturing facilities. PPBG has built on the infrastructure of these acquisitions to establish a new organization focused on production printing. In conjunction with the recently formed InfoPrint Solutions Company, a Ricoh / IBM joint venture, Ricoh is well positioned to provide customers with the broadest range of solutions and services in the production printing market.
Focused on Applications
PPBG will take an application-focused approach to the market, based on environment and industry. Understanding the unique requirements of production applications, leveraging evolving Ricoh and partner solutions, and focusing on service excellence will be key leverage points for the new business group.
"Ricoh has been investing in PPBG’s infrastructure for several years in preparation for this announcement. We have attracted some of the best, most experienced people in the industry, and are well positioned to offer our production customers a new alternative,” said Tim Vellek, vice president, PPBG, Ricoh Americas Corporations. “PPBG offers customers an exciting line-up of products and services, focused squarely on the needs of corporate in-plants, graphic arts, and data center environments, which will continue to evolve rapidly, particularly in the area of production color.”
PPBG Executive Slate
PPBG’s executive team is led by Tim Vellek, vice president, and Michael Benedict, vice president of Technology Services, managing pre-sales technical support, software engineering, and customer service and support. Carl Joachim, vice president of marketing, leads the product marketing, sales support and business development efforts.
“We are very excited about the formation of PPBG, as expanding Ricoh’s presence in the production printing market is one of our top corporate priorities worldwide. We see the continued development and expansion of production printing as a critical component of our future and it is our goal to become a leading provider of production printing solutions,” added Vellek.
The Production Printing Business Group (PPBG) of Ricoh Americas Corporation is dedicated to delivering state-of-the-art, high-speed production systems that provide efficient document workflows with high-volume production printing and finishing. Incorporating superior engineering, reliable technology, and extensive software and finishing options, PPBG helps production centers cost-effectively modernize and streamline their operations to meet today’s rapid turnaround and high-quality demands.
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