RICOH CORPORATION ANNOUNCES

Art Post (Guest)

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ricoh Web Site: www.ricoh-usa.com

CONTACT: Russell Marchetta Jennifer Kuhl
Ricoh Corporation Peppercom
(973) 882-2075 (212) 931-6111
(732) 539-6389 - Cell (917) 371-1607 - Cell
russell.marchetta@ricoh-usa.com jkuhl@peppercom.com

RICOH CORPORATION ANNOUNCES
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES

Ricoh Merges Business Units and Consolidates Brands to Strengthen Customer Value

West Caldwell, NJ, March 14, 2007 – Ricoh Corporation today announced the merger of business units, the consolidation of two brands and the formation of Ricoh Americas Corporation through the consolidation of Ricoh Corporation and Lanier Worldwide, Inc. The new organizational structure will take effect April 1, 2007.

This consolidation will streamline the new Ricoh Americas Corporation and ensures it will provide customers with the most comprehensive solutions and services. It will also combine the strengths and resources of the two companies to better address customers’ document management challenges.

As a result of this announcement, three main changes will be effective April 1, 2007:
· Ricoh Corporation and Lanier Worldwide, Inc. will legally merge to form one company called Ricoh Americas Corporation. The U.S. business unit of Ricoh Americas Corporation will continue to be known as Ricoh U.S.
· Lanier’s direct sales channel will combine with the Ricoh U.S. direct sales channel, to form one Ricoh U.S. direct organization with the new name Ricoh Business Solutions. Lanier’s direct sales channel will begin a transition from selling Lanier branded products and services to selling Ricoh branded products and services.
· Ricoh’s Gestetner dealer network in the U.S. will merge with the Lanier dealer network and form a new national dealer network selling Lanier branded products. The Gestetner brand will be phased out in the United States.

“Establishing this new unified organization enables Ricoh to redefine our company and our business,” said Sam Ichioka, Chairman & CEO, Ricoh Americas Corporation. “As one company, we will be able to deliver a broader portfolio of products, solutions and services, as well as become a more powerful Ricoh partner for all customers.”

“By uniting Gestetner and Lanier’s dealer’s strengths, capitalizing on their heritage and continuing to leverage the advanced technology and global scope of our parent company Ricoh Company Ltd., we are able to offer a strong brand and more comprehensive resources to our customers,” Ichioka added.

In addition to the Lanier dealer brand, Ricoh Americas Corporation will continue to provide advanced Ricoh and Savin branded hardware and software solutions through its network of independent Ricoh and Savin dealers, as well as through IKON Office Solutions, Inc.

In addition to Sam Ichioka, the executive management team of the newly formed Ricoh Americas Corporation includes: Nori Goto who will serve as vice chairman. Mr. Goto will also retain his current position as chairman & CEO of Ricoh U.S., the U.S. business unit of Ricoh Americas Corporation. Tom Salierno continues in his position as the president & COO in the Ricoh U.S. division. Alan Nielsen, the current vice president of Indirect and Major Accounts Division for Ricoh U.S., will become executive vice president of the Ricoh U.S. Indirect Division. Barry Ward, Lanier’s current vice president of National Sales, will become executive vice president for the organization’s direct division with the new name Ricoh Business Solutions.

About Ricoh Americas Corporation
Ricoh Americas Corporation, headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company Ltd., the 71-year-old leading supplier of office automation equipment and electronics, with fiscal year 2005 sales in excess of $17 billion, a 5.6 percent increase over the previous year.

Ricoh Americas Corporation is a leading provider of document solutions. Ricoh’s fully integrated hardware and software products help businesses share information efficiently and effectively by enabling customers to control the input, management and output of documents. Ricoh’s line of document management devices include, color and black & white digital imaging systems, facsimile products, printers, scanners, digital duplicators and wide format engineering systems. Additionally, Ricoh offers a wide variety of document and printing solutions directly and through strategic alliances enhancing office productivity and document workflow. Ricoh’s document management software enhances workgroup collaboration and offers secure storage, retrieval and sharing of critical information.

Ricoh Americas Corporation directly or through its subsidiaries markets and distributes products in North, Central and South America. For fiscal year 2005, Ricoh Corporation sales exceeded $3 billion, an increase of 8.1 percent over the previous year.

Information about Ricoh's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at www.ricoh-usa.com.
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All referenced product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.

3/14/075:28 PM

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Art Post (Guest)

Here's what I posted on my blog today!

Ricoh Organizational Changes
Ricoh has finally pulled the trigger on the much anticipated merger of Lanier and Ricoh. The new Corporation will be call Ricoh Americas Corporation. The U.S. business unit of Ricoh Americas Corporation will continue to be known as Ricoh U.S.

Lanier's Direct Sales Force will be merged with Ricoh Business Systems and thier name will change to Ricoh Business Solutions and they will sell Ricoh branded products.

Existing Gestetner Dealers and Lanier Dealers will be merger to form a new National Dealer Network selling Lanier branded products and the Gestetner name will be phased out!

I for one had hoped that the Lanier name would just go away, but instead they opted to remove one of the oldest names in the business Gestetner.

The name change of Ricoh Business Systems to Ricoh Business Solutions is ideal for changing market place, however the clout of this merger may hurt Ricoh Dealers. What I mean is that you will now have twice as many reps running around telling customers that they are buying from Ricoh Direct! If they were buying direct they would be buying from Ricoh Americas Corporation right?

Will all of these branches have to turn a profit? Or are they there just to gain market share by selling on price. I believe I read an article where most of these business units were losing money and very few were turning a "real" profit. What's whacked out about RBS is the compensation for thier sales reps, paying commissions on Gross Dollars billed is bad for the industry, and most direct sales locations of all manufacturers have turned great pieces of equipment into a commodities market. When you compensate your reps on gross dollars, who cares how much is made on the box. Unfortunatley Dealers again will bear the brunt of this merger. Ricoh Americas Corporation must take a note from Dealers and learn "how to sell" and "how to sell solutions", Ricoh's Dealers must turn a profit, if not they will be out of business. So why is it that thier branches can not or will not turn a profit? From what I have seen is that the best and most experienced reps are working for dealers and not branches, hmmmmm why is that?

Another thought comes to mind, with the merger of Lanier Dealers and Gestener Dealers, what are they going to call themselves Lanier Direct? I'm sure there are a few Gestetner Dealers that are not happy with the way this has panned out. They spent all these years selling against the Lanier's and now they must adopt the name change.

I sell down the street, just like alot of you, the last thing I need is another 4 reps in my area telling customers that they are direct with Ricoh and another 4 reps selling the same model number.

Don't you think it would be a great time to launch the Great American Copier Corporation, darn... forgot about Xerox, however most of thier boxes are manufactured overseas also.

3/14/077:39 PM

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NealDocusultant Elite P4P'er

from what I know, which is limited, most of the RBS sites that are merging with the Lanier sites are going to be managed by the former Lanier people. What that will do is change that focus from commodoty to solution as that is the Lanier montra. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things go.

3/15/0710:40 AM

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