Ricoh Ends Relationship with Ratio

Art Post (Guest)

Effective April 30th, 2010 the sale of all Ratio print controllers and options will be discontinued and will no longer be available for purchase through Ricoh.

Ricoh will continue on-going support for hardware issues for machines in the field and will be able to provide replacement controller boards for defective units. This includes continuing service by providing information on the functions and specifications of RATIO print controllers, and analysis of problem information to determine whether the causes of symptoms reported are caused by the RATIO print controller or our MFP mainframe engine.

We understand that this will impact your business, especially your current machines in the field. We have explored all the options to lessen the impact to your business and feel confident that the Ricoh embedded solution will fulfill the needs of your customer.
Below are the EDP codes for ordering the Embedded Controller:

ModelDescriptionEDP Code
MP W2400/3600Print Option W3600413703
Scan Option W3600413707

MP W5100/7140Print Option W7140406307
Scan Option W7140406313

We thank you for your understanding and look forward to working with you to help your customers seamlessly continue their business.

5/27/109:44 PM

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Original Post

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Art Post (Guest)

Like WHAT!!!!!This was emailed to me from another P4P member. Ricoh states thier embedded controller will suffice.

They still don't know what they are doing with wide format!

Need Ratio stuff? go here

5/27/109:46 PM

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Maxima1Elite P4P'er

FYI. Ratio Germany went out of business and no longer building controllers. That is the reason for this change.

9/17/103:14 PM

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AD (Guest)

OK - this is starting to smell like corporate finger pointing. If Ratio.de is closed, who is operating the US office (financially)? And who is providing plotbase PM? (Still available)
There seems to be a cloud of secrecy around this mess. It's as if Ricoh's not satisfied with pricing themselves out of wide format. Now they have to prove what corporate moron clowns they are by playing 3 card monty with a key component.
BTW, Graphic Enterprises says they can still order the plotbase controller items as of last week. Either they are wrong, or Ricoh has a REAL problem with what's available to sell. COME ON! It's been 6 months since the announcement that started this thread. The few deals that could be made are now forced to another brand or something used, because I have to be able to deliver what I quote.
Left hand, right hand, can either of you find Ricoh's ass?

9/18/1010:23 AM

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Art Post (Guest)

Here's what I heard.

1. Ricoh is not supporting the ratio controllers anymore, due to the fact that they find that thier embedded controller will meet the needs of the AEC market or something close to that effect (I really had to laugh when I heard that)

2. Ratio America which advertises on the P4P forums is selling and support the ratio controller (http://plotbasepm.com/rip_cube) with the rip cube.

3. Ratio.de website is still up and running http://www.ratio.de/

The truth of the matter is ricoh let thier wide format business go down the tubes, and it seems there is no light at the end of the tunnel either. The new 3601 which has been pushed back from an 10/10 launch to a 01/11 launch will not help us compete with the likes of KIP and OCE. I've heard that the new 3601 will have color scanning, usb support and still have the same msrp of the W3600, well that's no ^%$%^&^ help to us.

9/18/1011:33 PM

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AD (Guest)

Thanks Art. After re-reading my post, I'd like to clarify: my frustration is with Ricoh corporate, and the glib post about Ratio closing. The "Left hand ,Right hand" remark was not aimed at any individuals, but at the organizational structure of the company that is so filled with bureaucracy nobody knows what's true ("can't find it with both hands").

9/20/1012:14 PM

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Maxima1Elite P4P'er

Let me further clarify my post. My understanding is this, Ratio Germany has filed for bankruptcy and no longer doing business. Ratio America is now its own entity and doing business seperately. They drive the Plotbase PM website and are selling Plotbase/Rip Cube etc. There is legal discussions that will allow Ratio to work with Ricoh. I think Ricoh recognizes the embedded is not sufficient but is tied legal on their actions. Also, Ricoh is still provide tech support for the controllers that were sold.

9/30/1011:10 AM

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Art Post (Guest)

Maxima, thanx for the update, please tell us what's going on with the W3601 and what we can expect!

9/30/108:50 PM

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TechsupguySenior P4P'er

Way late on this one, but thought I could clarify. Ricoh supports the Ratio controllers and will so long as there is a contract. Dealers, techs, and customers can still call Ricoh for help on these units.

12/18/103:23 PM

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WideformatguyElite P4P'er

RATIO US is now OK'd to sell PLOTBASE software upgrades for all the Wide Format Models (470,240,480,2400/3600, 5100/7140) in addition to external controllers for those models as well. New website is www.ratio.US
PLOTBASE 3.7.3 provides up to date PDF processing, full Windows 7 (server & client) OS support and other updated drivers. Same for PLOTBASE 5.5.3 which updates the MP W5100/7140 version.

2/14/1111:10 AM

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TechsupguySenior P4P'er

New update on this one. Ricoh will be continuing support on existing plot bases up to the latest Ricoh version. However, there is a new player. Ratio US is starting up again. They are releasing new product to support the new PDFs from Adobe and update the Plot Base software. However, this will not be done in connection with Ricoh. Ratio US will have it's own versions and they are no longer supported by Ricoh.

3/7/1112:08 AM

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