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PRINT.IT
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COVER STORY
Ricoh is the fastest growing
printer company in the UK and
Europe. It has only been selling
printers via Channel Partners for
eight years, but is already No 3 in
colour lasers printer sales and 5th
with mono lasers.
For buyers in business and the
public sector, Ricoh printers are an
obvious choice. With a 25% share
of the MFP market and a 51%
share in production print, Ricoh
has extensive knowledge of the
requirements of professional users,
from low running costs and reliability
to ease of use and productivity.
The insight that Ricoh has
gained from manufacturing, selling
and servicing departmental MFPs
has shaped its printer range.
Robust design and long-lasting
components, low TEC ratings and
high capacity consumables, intuitive
interfaces and easy connectivity –
all reflect Ricoh’s experience in the
business-to-business market and
underline its printers’ suitability for
the most demanding users.
Ricoh Pledge
Other manufacturers will no doubt
make similar claims about their
devices, but Ricoh is in the enviable
position of being able to back up its
assertions with hard facts.
Last year, as part of a strategy
to raise awareness of its printer
range and to demonstrate the
confidence it has in its products,
Ricoh launched the Ricoh Pledge.
Now extended for another year,
this gives any buyer of a mid-range
Ricoh printer who isn’t completely
satisfied with the product, the
opportunity to get their money back
within 30 days of purchase. Ricoh
makes this incredibly easy to do:
just tell Ricoh you aren’t happy and
it will arrange collection from your
premises and refund the money in
full.
Since the Ricoh Pledge was
introduced nine months ago, less
than 0.5% of customers have taken
Ricoh up on its offer and asked for
a refund – and some of these only
did so because they had chosen
Ricoh is encouraging businesses and public sector organisations to
‘Discover Ricoh’ and find out for themselves why Ricoh is Europe’s
fastest growing printer company.
Discover Ricoh
The insight
that Ricoh has
gained from
manufacturing,
selling and
servicing
departmental
MFPs has
shaped its
printer range
Frucom discovers Ricoh
Frucom is one of Europe’s leading
suppliers of exotic frozen produce. It
has more than 120 corporate clients
around the world and in its 16-year
history has shipped more than 7,000
tonnes of product.
The company prides itself on quality
and customer service and strives
for excellence in every aspect of its
business, from delivering produce in
spec and on time to the professionalism
of its customer communications.
Like many modern businesses,
Frucom is a dispersed organisation with
employees working from a number of
sites, including home offices. Most of its
processes are now electronic. However,
as managing director Nick Daly explains,
print still has its place.
“Digital is the default at Frucom, but
there are still occasions when we need
to print, sometimes out of necessity
but more often out of preference. I
mainly print sales ledger day-books
and detailed commodity specification
sheets, as I find the printed page helps
me understand complex material. And,
of course, it’s great for highlighting and
scribbling in the margins,” he said.
When the time came to upgrade his
home office printer, Nick considered a
number of options including, for the first
time, a Ricoh device.
“I was aware of the Ricoh name from
the Ricoh Arena and from advertising for
its copiers, but I only recently discovered
that they also make desktop models.
After making a few enquiries, I was
recommended a Ricoh SP 3500SF black
and white MFP. This is perfect for my
needs. Mono output is fine for the types
of document I print and how I use them
– i.e. for reading and working on rather
than sharing with clients – and it lets me
print without worrying about the cost.”
Combining a small footprint with a
solid build and business-class features,
like an automatic document feeder,
colour scanner and generous toner
capacity, the SP 3500SF is the perfect
fit for small and home offices.
It is still early days, but Nick says
he is delighted with his choice. “This is
much more of a business machine than
my previous MFP and has relieved a lot
of the frustrations I experienced before:
the paper tray is bigger so I don’t
have to keep refilling it; I won’t have
to change the toner so often; and the
automatic document feeder saves me a
lot of time when scanning and copying.”
He added: “Prints and copies are
very clean and crisp and I haven’t had
a single paper jam. It feels like a really
solid, well-built piece of kit, yet is still
very compact and easy to use. It’s a big
improvement on what I’m used to.”
Now that Nick has discovered Ricoh,
would he recommend its products to
others? “Yes, definitely,” he said. “This
is the first Ricoh product I have used,
but I’m sure it won’t be the last.”
Steven Hastings, Distribution
Channel Director, Indirect Sales,
Ricoh IT
