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Company History

1970 - 1984: Coining OA acronym

Ricoh of America, Inc.

Jan. 1970: Ricoh of America, Inc. established in New Jersey ( running until 1984), through integration of New York office and Ricoh Industries U.S.A., Inc.

Mar. 1970: Ricoh Pavilion appears at Japan Expo '70 with theme "Better Vision for Humanity".

RICOM 8

Apr. 1971: Ricoh introduces the "RICOM 8", the first office computer.

May 1971: Atsugi Plant, Japan founded as key manufacturing base for business machines and communication and information systems.

Nov. 1971: Total Quality Control campaign intoroduced.

Nov. 1971: Ricoh Nederland B.V. established in Holland (renamed Ricoh Europe B.V. in 1986).

1972: Ricoh launches the "RICOH PPC900", its first dry-electrostatic-transfer plain-paper poster.

Jan. 1973: Ricoh Electronics Co., Ltd. (REI) founded in the USA.

RIFAX 600S

Apr. 1973: "RIFAX 600S", first high-speed facsimile machine for offices, succeeds in transmission between Tokyo and New York via satellite communications.

Apr. 1973: Hasama Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd. founded (renamed Hasama Ricoh, Inc. in 1977)

May 1973: Rapifax Corp. established in the USA for marketing of facsimiles (renamed Rapicom, Inc. in 1978).

Jul. 1973: Ricoh Optical Industries Co., Ltd. founded in Iwate Prefecture, Japan.

Feb. 1975: Ricoh launches the "RICOPY DT1200", a wet-type plain-paper machine that becoming the world's top-selling copier.

Ricoh becomes the first recipient for the Deming Prize in the office automation industry.

Nov. 1975: Ricoh becomes the first recipient for the Deming Prize in the office automation industry.

1976: Establishes the Environmental Promotion Section

Jul. 1976: "RIFAX 600S" plays active role in Montreal Olympic Game.

President Mikio Tatebayashi passes away(22nd). Shinichi Miyoshi appointed chairman(26th). Takeshi Ouye appointed president(26th).

Oct. 1976: President Mikio Tatebayashi passes away(22nd).
Shinichi Miyoshi appointed chairman(26th). Takeshi Ouye appointed president(26th).

Dec. 1976: Ricoh Credit Co., Ltd. established.(renamed Ricoh Lease Co., Ltd. in 1984)

Mar. 1977: The corporate headquarters completed and opens at Aoyama, Tokyo.

Ricoh introduces the acronym OA, for office automation, at CeBIT in Hannover.

Apr. 1977: Ricoh introduces the acronym OA, for office automation, at CeBIT in Hannover.

Jul. 1978: Ricoh Deutschland GmbH established in Germany. Construction of Numazu R&D Center completed in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan .

Dec. 1978: Ricoh Business Machines, Ltd. founded in Hong Kong (renamed Ricoh Hong Kong Ltd. in 1987).

May 1979: Ricoh Systems, Inc. established in California to carry out R&D (later merged with Ricoh Corporation in 1987).

Materials R&D Center formed at Numazu R&D Center, Japan

Jul. 1979: Materials R&D Center formed at Numazu R&D Center, Japan (renamed Chemical Products R&D Center in 1990).

Jul. 1980: Toda Technical Center established in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Ricoh UK Ltd. established.

Jan. 1981: Ricoh begins marketing Ricoh brand dry PPCs in Europe.

Mar. 1981: Service Parts Center established in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Apr. 1981: Ricoh begins marketing Ricoh brand dry PPCs in North America.
Construction of Ricoh Electronics Development Center completed at Osaka Plant, Japan.

Fukui Plant

May 1982: Fukui Plant, Japan, founded for production of sensitized paper.

Jun. 1982: Ricoh introduces the "RICOPY FT4060", the first dry-toner plain-paper copier.

Jul. 1982: Hatano plant begins operations in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Nov. 1982: Ricoh introduces the "RICORE 3000", a digital document processor.

Takeshi Ouye appointed chairman (1st). Hiroshi Hamada appointed president (1st).

Apr. 1983: Takeshi Ouye appointed chairman (1st).
Hiroshi Hamada appointed president (1st).

Jun. 1983: Ricoh launches the "RICOH LP4120" laser printer.

Oct. 1983: Ricoh launches the "RIFAX 1300", a first plain-paper facsimile machine.

Dec. 1983: Ricoh UK Products Ltd. founded.

Feb. 1984: The "RIFAX 1300HS" awarded Nikkei Product Excellence Prize.

Mar. 1984: Chairman Takeshi Ouye passes away.

Apr. 1984: Ricoh Corporation established by Merger of Ricoh of America, Inc. and Rapicom, Inc.
Eleven service subsidiaries merged into two-Ricoh Service Co., Ltd.(Tokyo, Osaka) . (renamed Ricoh Technonet Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Osaka) in 1988)
Ricoh establishes Manufacturing Technology R&D Center at Atsugi plant, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Imaging Technology Development Center established at Ohmori Office, Tokyo, Japan.(renamed Imaging Technology Center in 1995 and then Imaging Technology Division in 1999) General Electronics R&D Center formed at Ohmori Office.

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