LEADERSHIP
PRINT TECHNOLOGY GIANT Ricoh is a force to be reckoned with and has made great strides in its industry to stay on top in an ever-changing environment . Peter Williams , Executive Vice President of Ricoh Europe , understands that change is inevitable in technological manufacturing : “ Historically , we ’ re a manufacturing company , with our core products being office-based printing items . However , we ’ ve branched out into software development , and therefore moved away from manufacturing as the sole source of our value proposition ; we ’ re a software applications and solutionsbased company now . We ’ re very proud of our roots , but they ’ re no longer the sole part .”
Founded in Tokyo in 1936 , Ricoh has slowly but surely expanded into a $ 20 billion company . It was the first provider of digital machines that moved printers into scanners and made them more integral in the workplace , with the majority of the high technology work done in Japan , a country known for its electronics quality . Ricoh is also an early innovator in inkjet printers , and supplies large quantities of heads to partners and competitors .
The biggest market for inkjet heads is in Europe , and the largest applications for these is now 3D printing . Williams runs the 3D – otherwise known as ‘ additive manufacturing ’ or ‘ AM ’ – group in Europe , and is aware of how important this technology is : “ It ’ s only recently we ’ ve become directly involved with 3D printing . There ’ s a lot of hype around being able to produce body parts , machinery parts , and having 3D printers on space ships so they can self-repair ; to a certain extent , all of those are possibilities . 3D is very interesting but there ’ s still a long way to go before it moves into being on the forefront of peoples ’ minds . There ’ s a huge amount to be done on the material side .”
Ricoh ’ s own 3D printer , the RICOH AM S5500P , is capable of creating high-definition and durable fabricated objects . Regardless of how much work there is to do before 3D-printing becomes mainstream , the launch of this product has given Ricoh a reputation as a major player in AM development . “ We were at Formex in Frankfurt last year , and the presence of Ricoh authenticated the business sector . It was a real honour . People were saying ‘ now Ricoh is involved ,
8 M arch 2016