Ricoh to 'Open New Worlds' at drupa 2016

The Ricoh stand at drupa 2016 is designed to Open New Worlds for print service providers who are looking for new ways to seamlessly manage workflows, maximize productivity, increase profitability and access additional markets. Ricoh will be located in Hall 8a on stand B46 during the show, which is scheduled to run from May 31-June 10, in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Benoit Chatelard, VP, production printing, Ricoh Europe, explains, "By harnessing the power of digital print and data, and by creating innovative new technologies for multichannel production and communications environments, Ricoh is providing new ways for any print service provider to transform, optimize and grow their business."

Solutions Showcase
A number of hardware and software solutions will demonstrate ways print service providers can achieve these ambitious goals. Demonstrations will include a fully configured Ricoh Pro VC60000 running a variety of media roll-to-roll and roll-to-sheet, and a single engine Pro VC60000 that lets visitors take a close look at the technology that powers it. Furthermore, color cut-sheet presses, including the Ricoh Pro C9110, and the Ricoh Pro C7100x with its fifth toner station.

Print production performance for this broad portfolio of production printers has been strengthened by a number of pre-drupa announcements. Visitors to the show will able to see live demonstrations. These include the new aqueous resin (AR) latex inks for the Ricoh Pro large-format L4100 printer. Also, visitors will be able to see the increased finishing capabilities with the Watkiss PowerSquare 224 booklet maker running inline with the Pro C9100 series, Pro C7100x series, and the Ricoh Pro 8100 series digital presses. In addition, being shown for the first time is the enhanced banner option for the Pro C7100x and Pro C9100 digital presses. Another important addition to the Ricoh portfolio that will be on show at drupa is the Ricoh TotalFlow Cloud Suite, a hosted portfolio of cloud-based services comprising carefully selected Ricoh software and Ricoh-endorsed third-party solutions.

Visitors to the Ricoh stand will be able to experience Ricoh’s innovative portfolio of solutions in a number of zones based on New Worlds of opportunity:

Corporate Printing Zone — Focusing on increased promotional output and print room integration that can grow in-house print services for government, education and financial services operations, among others.  Applications on show will include promotional and personalized collateral, examples from a variety of different vertical markets, and use cases for alternative media, transactional print, monochrome printing and banners. Further CAD print and archiving solutions will be featured.

Commercial Printing Zone — Concentrating on live end-to-end production and lean manufacturing with the Pro C9110 and Pro C7110x and supported by MarcomCentral job submission and Avanti MIS. Visitors will be able to learn more about these highly capable and robust production solutions along with versatile feeding and finishing options.  Among the applications shown will be banners, spot/gloss clear toners, printing on metallic/synthetic materials and packaging.

Ricoh will also be demonstrating large format promotional work. Here visitors will see how print service providers can expand their horizons to grow their business in many different directions, including through increasing print volumes. Applications will include indoor and outdoor signs and display graphics, interior decoration, photos and fine art prints, labels and packaging, and banner solutions.

Nearby, a dedicated production area will be organized on lean manufacturing principles for efficient production of high quality print samples and a diverse variety of show and visitor collateral.

Publishing Zone — Showcasing digital print technologies and workflow for short run color trade book and journal production with examples from leading publishers, including HarperCollins and RELX (Reed Elsevier Group). Applications to be featured include a range of high quality journals and color books  including travel, children’s and cookery books.

Direct Mail/Transactional Zone — In this area, we will show why the rejuvenation of Direct Mail is such a great digital printing opportunity and why seamless integration across the full range of multichannel communications is so important. Ricoh has the ability to provide the hardware, software and variable data expertise to create a full solution from data cleansing (/data.mill), data analytics (e.g. SAS Enterprise Miner), and variable data/media asset management (Fusion Pro/MarcomCentral), to digital printing (Pro C7110) and strategies to make print interactive (Clickable Paper).

Among the applications on show will be a variety of mailers that print service providers are producing for big brand clients using Ricoh technology, as well as a dedicated mailer for the drupa show which will include personalized vouchers.

Industrial Zone — Here, Ricoh will focus on factory automation, the smart factory, track and trace, integrated industrial innovations and specific industrial verticals, especially automotive and healthcare. Technologies on display will include Additive Manufacturing and robotics, as well as a number of other Ricoh innovations including in the field of inkjet head development. Horizontal integration to conventional workflows incorporating FusionPro with Clickable Paper and innovative image capture technologies will also feature.

Creative Studio
In the Creative Studio, emphasis will be placed on personalization and maximizing the range of marketing services a print service provider or marketing agency can offer to its clients. This includes using MarcomCentral for portal-based personalization, FusionPro for variable data campaigns and cross media workflow solutions, as well as Clickable Paper to bridge offline print to online content. Live production will be on a Pro C7100x in this area of the stand, and advice will be offered to visitors on unleashing its full creative potential including through special surface effects such as those achievable through Color-Logic’s decorative and reflective effects technology.

In an innovation zone, Ricoh will showcase its breadth of technology, highlighting the latest innovations, including the Theta 360S camera plus Ricoh’s own Virtual Reality goggles. In addition, lean and green consultancy services including Carbon Balanced Printing, inkjet head technology, digital signage and immersive projection will all feature. Ricoh Customized Solutions being shown will include third party finishing system integration. We will also be showing examples of innovative Additive Manufacturing applications in this area.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to be on the cover of one of Germany’s most popular news magazines, Focus. In a demonstration of end-to-end production with Ricoh solutions, a photograph of each participating visitor will be taken, and we will print the personalized magazine cover ready for their collection.

Chatelard concludes, "Ricoh will demonstrate new ways to Open New Worlds with a focus on business transformation. We will be showcasing game-changing solutions in hardware, software and services for the graphic arts industry, as well as corporate print rooms, publishers and marketing agencies. Ricoh’s commitment to innovation will be unmistakable throughout the stand. Highlighted will be our best-in-class sheet fed and continuous feed line of digital presses powered by Ricoh-centered workflows. But in addition, we believe visitors will be intrigued by the entire suite of new technology on show, from industrial inkjet to Additive Manufacturing and robotics.”

About Ricoh
Ricoh is a global technology company that has been transforming the way people work for more than 80 years. Under its corporate tagline – imagine. change. Ricoh continues to empower companies and individuals with services and technologies that inspire innovation, enhance sustainability and boost business growth. These include document management systems, IT services, production print solutions, digital cameras, and industrial systems.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in over 190 countries. In the financial year ending March 2015, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 2,231 billion yen (approx. 18.5 billion USD).

Source: Ricoh.