Here we provide answers to frequently asked questions about research and development at Ricoh.
Q1. How much does Ricoh spend on R&D each year?
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In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009 (fiscal 2008), R&D expenditures on a consolidated basis were ¥124,406 million, or 5.9% of net sales. On a non-consolidated basis, R&D expenditures were ¥113,275 million, or 11.9% of sales. |
Q2. Please describe the research structure at Ricoh.
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While Ricoh engages in research and development primarily in Japan, in pursuit of global optimization we have established R&D sites in the U.S. and China. In Japan, the Research and Development Group primarily engages in research of elemental technologies and core technologies, and the Corporate Technology Development Group engages in practical development for the purpose of commercialization. Ricoh operates five R&D bases in Japan, with the Research and Development Center in Yokohama spearheading the R&D effort. The activities of these R&D centers range from basic research in areas including materials, simulation, analysis, optical design, communications, and devices to applied research in environmental technologies, office systems, solutions, software, and other sectors.
In the United States, Ricoh enjoys the benefits of Silicon Valley as a location for innovative research and development to create new business opportunities. In China, we engage in R&D in Beijing to take advantage of a wealth of excellent R&D personnel. In Europe, R&D activities are driven by alliances with leading-edge research organizations.
 Global R&D |
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How is Ricoh involved with
environmental technologies? | |
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Ricoh has designated environmental technologies as a high-priority R&D area and actively engages in environmental R&D. Ricoh contributes to the realization of a sustainable society by developing technologies from three perspectives to reduce environmental impact at every stage of product life cycles: energy conservation and global warming mitigation, materials conservation and recycling, and pollution prevention.
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Q4. Does Ricoh offer research center tours?
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Ricoh does not open the research centers to the general public. However, the Research and Development Center in Yokohama conducts student tours from February to May. |
Q5. How many patents does Ricoh have?
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The patent situation at the end of fiscal 2008 was as follows.
Number of Japanese issued patents: 17,913
Number of Japanese published patents: 5,177
Number of foreign issued patents: 12,615 |
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Does Ricoh engage in joint research with universities,
external research organizations, or other companies? | |
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Ricoh engages in many joint research projects in Japan and overseas with universities and other specialized research organizations as well as with other companies. To cope with a rapidly changing market environment, it is important to accelerate activities by collaborating with research organizations that offer complementary capabilities and strengths rather than keep all R&D activities in-house.
Open R&D |
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