Ricoh Europe has secured the number one spot in colour production printers just three years after stating its intent to lead in the market. The recently published figures from Infosource for production devices/colour press cut sheet, for Western Europe, show that Ricoh’s share of the market in Q1 2011 leaped from 22.2% to 33.1%.[1]
“Print service providers in the commercial and corporate sectors have confirmed Ricoh as their brand of choice,” says Stephen Palmer, Production Print Director, Ricoh UK. “The Ricoh Pro C900, combined with our service ethic and Ricoh Business Driver Programme, proved to be an ideal asset in the print room. The launch of the Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition has further accelerated sales, especially within the commercial printing sector.”
Ricoh customer, Thomas Wiesinger, managing director of Wiesinger Media, operates six print shops in Germany. He says, “We chose the Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition for its great quality, productivity and excellent registration performance. Competitive pricing and Ricoh’s customer-centric approach helped seal the deal,” he adds.
Peter Verhoeven, General Manager Prepress4You is based in the Netherlands and is also the owner of a Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition. He says: “Ricoh has a thorough knowledge of the industry and immediately had faith in our plans. That creates a bond. When we saw the new system for the first time earlier this year, we were immediately hooked. It measures up to the much larger systems in terms of speed and quality, but it is much more cost effective.”
Steve Taylor, managing director of UK commercial printing operation Wincanton Print, says, “The quality and stability of the colour output of the Ricoh Pro C901 is exceptional. We are feeding a lot of offset substrates through and it handles them all well. Clients love it too, and it is opening up new doors of opportunity with them.”
Former offset only firm Ripping Image, London, works in demanding colour environments such as fine arts, and its director Pete Cooper, says: “Absolute colour quality was our number one priority. Our reputation for great colour is important to us. So before investing in digital production colour for the first time, we examined all the main players’ products but none could match the offset-like reproduction and colour consistency of the Pro C901. The fact it doesn’t slow down for heavier materials is also a huge benefit for us, as well as its smooth integration into our prepress workflow.”
About Ricoh
Ricoh designs, develops and manufactures a complete range of print and document management, hardware, software and services which are tailored to meet individual customer needs. Its devices print, copy, scan and fax documents as an integrated part of the IT network and enterprise content management system. Software is used to audit usage, manage document flows, simplify business processes, control print expenditure and secure access. The company takes an innovative approach to research and development, having invented the first digital black & white copier and introducing the colour-capable device.
Ricoh established an Environmental Protection Office in 1976, and has been striving to minimise the effect of its activities on the environment ever since. Ricoh UK’s environmental credentials are second to none; it operates a zero-waste policy at all of its manufacturing plants and is investing in carbon reduction technologies to reduce the environmental impact of its operations rather than merely offsetting its carbon footprint. The company operates a dedicated ‘Green Centre’, where old machines are re-commissioned and recycled in line with WEEE Directive guidelines and accredited with ISO14001:2004 for environmental management. Ricoh has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard that requires an organisation to measure, manage and reduce its carbon footprint and, for the fifth consecutive year, has also been named as one of the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World” by the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Further information can be found at www.ricoh.co.uk.
[ [1] Infosource market share report, Q1 2011. Figures based on sales by manufacturer from January 2011 to March 2011 in Western Europe in production devices/ colour press cut sheet category compared to sales from October 2010 to December 2010.]
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