Value Creation Process
Becoming a Digital Services Company That Supports Worker Creativity
As a global workplace services provider, the Ricoh Group leverages its extensive customer base, direct touchpoints, and proprietary intellectual property to consistently generate and deliver value, enhancing worker creativity in line with customer needs. We support the evolving nature of work and empower individual creativity, with a strong focus on driving business growth and ESG-centric management to enhance corporate value.
The figure can be enlarged in PDF
Related Information
Our Value Proposition
The changing world of work and customer needs
In recent years, the world of work has undergone significant transformations in employment, organizational structures, work processes, and communication. Customer needs for wherever people work extending beyond traditional offices have become increasingly diverse, driving demand for solutions leveraging digital technology to meet these evolving challenges.
Customer needs
| Employment and organizations: | Customers want flexible IT environments and robust data management and security solutions that support open work styles |
|---|---|
| Business processes: | Customers look to automate routine business processes and develop systems that constantly improve and optimize operations through data-driven insights |
| Communication: | Customers seek solutions that bridge gaps in language, culture, expertise, and perception while also fostering worker creativity |
Workplace focuses that leverage our strengths
Ricoh aims to be a company that supports customers’ workplace creativity by leveraging digital technology to optimize business processes, enhance organizational productivity, and foster high-quality collaboration. We leverage our extensive customer base, direct touchpoints, and digital services based on proprietary intellectual property to deliver value to workers around the globe.
We are focusing on the growth areas of process automation and workplace experience, emphasizing IT services that support our aim to help customers achieve Fulfillment through Work.
Process Automation
We enable our customers to reduce repetitive tasks and boost productivity by optimizing business processes with digital technology, while unleashing their creativity through AI and data to create new value.
We draw on our document processing and AI technologies to design and optimize workflows, ensuring they remain effective through our managed services. We uncover and maximize the value of data embedded in customers’ business processes and documents and routine data.
This approach enables customers to eliminate redundancies, boost productivity, lower costs, and strengthen security and compliance. It also enhances decision-making and encourages more value-driven activities.
Workplace Experience
We empower customers’ creativity by providing optimal environments for seamless communication and high-quality collaboration, enabled by our digital technology.
We optimize IT services and enable seamless communication wherever people work extending beyond traditional offices, offering hardware, software and solutions, and managed services that maintain comfortable working environments.
This approach optimizes collaboration so customers can focus on core tasks, enhancing productivity and creativity.
Creating Value as a Digital Services Company
Transforming our value creation model
As a digital services company, we create value differently from traditional office automation manufacturers, which rely on headquarters-driven processes. We generate value at customer touchpoints. Each region takes the lead in creating value, developing and delivering locally tailored and consumed solutions.
The role of headquarters is to enhance group-wide value by providing a common platform, developing or acquiring software, and accelerating collaborative co-creation across regions.
Enhance customer touchpoint value
-
*1Edge devices: MFPs, cameras, and other network hardware that can process text, image, audio, video, and other data
-
*2Starting from April 2024, the Ricoh Group revised its regional business segmentation
Continually creating value through customer touchpoints
We serve a global customer base of 1.4 million companies using our MFPs. The trust we have built with them and our deep knowledge of their industries and operations represent significant strengths. As their co-creation partner, we identify unique challenges and tailor solutions, leveraging global customer touchpoints to deliver consistent services everywhere.
We enhance our value proposition by addressing customers’ myriad issues with effective solutions. We will expand uptakes by offering our solutions to customers facing similar challenges.
Increasing value by collaborating across regions
We will broaden our value position as a provider of globally consistent workplace services by leveraging our intellectual property and core technologies to develop and deploy solutions across regions.
Related Information
Bolstering Resources for Sustainable Growth
We draw on our ample capital resources to combine our key strengths to deliver optimal solutions to customers. These capabilities are our extensive customer base, direct touchpoints, and proprietary intellectual property (software and hardware). We are reinforcing our resources to deliver even better services. Efforts include developing digital talent to drive customer value and reinforcing our proprietary intellectual property through in-house development, acquisitions, and business partnerships.
Examples of efforts to reinforce resources
Point1Digital professional reinforcement
We aim to better understand customer needs and design and implement solutions by developing and reskilling digital talent and drawing on expertise gained through acquisitions.
Point2Bolstering our proprietary software lineup
We will enhance the profitability of our Office Services business by deploying more high-margin proprietary software. We will augment in-house development by continuing to strengthen our software lineup through acquisitions and strategic partnerships.
Examples include DocuWare, RICOH kintone plus, and RICOH Spaces
Point3Evolving a global common service provision platform
A key driver to expanding recurring revenue is the ecosystem powered by RICOH Smart Integration (RSI). By connecting edge devices, software, and services through this platform, we will continually enhance the value we deliver to customers. RSI allows us to deploy solutions developed in one region to others, accelerating synergies across the group.
Point4Edge devices supporting our digital services company drive
Devices seamlessly connecting analog and digital information are pivotal for us to grow as a digital services company. ETRIA, which we established in July 2024, will drive our expansion by efficiently innovating devices as an industry leader.
Amassing recurring revenues
To achieve sustainable growth as a digital services company, it is crucial to steadily build up recurring revenue streams. This involves thoroughly optimizing our foundational printing business while encouraging customers to adopt multiple digital services. In addition, by employing a One-to-Many approach, we will scale our solutions to other customers with similar challenges, expanding the number of companies using our offerings. By developing services that meet a variety of customer needs at key touchpoints and efficiently rolling them out to a wider customer base, we aim to improve profitability across the entire Group.
Earnings expansion mechanisms
In the Office Services business, we set three key performance indicators to measure profit growth progress: the number of customers, the number of Office Services deployments, and the recurring sales growth rate.
We aim to increase the percentage of companies adopting our Office Services among our 1.4 million customers, driving growth in recurring revenues.
Key performance indicators and fiscal 2023 results
| Key performance indicators for measuring earnings growth progress | Number of customers | Office Services deployment rate* | Recurring sales growth rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of targeted customers | Percentage of customers deploying Office Services offerings | Growth rate for recurring sales that will become the recurring revenue base (in Office Services) | |
| Fiscal 2023 results | 1.4 million companies |
35% | +10% 17% after factoring in exchange rate impact |
-
＊The Office Services deployment rate and recurring sales growth rate are based on around 970,000 companies, excluding customers of Ricoh Japan’s dealers
Related Information
Value Creation Initiatives
We support the operational efficiency and complexity of customers around the globe by offering an array of integrated solutions in Process Automation and Workplace Experience, which we have identified as growth areas. As well as developing products and services in-house, we are bolstering our customer value proposition by investing strategically to acquire various technologies and services.
Process Automation Investing strategically to enhance capabilities in growth areas
Acquiring advanced AI software start-up natif.ai
Ricoh Group company DocuWare acquired all shares of German software start-up natif.ai GmbH in April 2024 as part of growth investment efforts. natif.ai’s AI-enabled Intelligent Capture, advanced image recognition, and optical character recognition technologies enhance the ability of our offerings to extract information from paper, handwritten, and other documents, for greater automation and sophistication across diverse business processes.
Integrating the Intelligent Capture–related technologies of natif.ai and DocuWare will help customers enhance productivity by digitalizing invoice processing, contract management, and other paper-based workflows, freeing them from these routine tasks.
Areas of strength in the field of Process Automation
DocuWare develops and sells platforms that support business document management and workflow automation. More than 500 pre-sales engineers and system engineers serve customers in 45 countries.
Process Automation Leveraging problem-solving expertise to help small- and medium-sized enterprises adopt digital processes
Customer case study: A wholesaler headquartered in Japan
This customer streamlined operations by deploying RICOH kintone plus, eliminating the need to manually create quotations and manage paper-based contracts. Seamlessly integrating with the customer’s systems was a key factor, prompting it to replace MFPs from another vendor.
Issues
- The customer manually input information into Excel to create quotes. This time-consuming, labor-intensive process increased the risk of errors.
- The customer stored contracts in paper form, separately from the project management system.
→The customer wanted to eliminate such inefficient tasks as manual data entry and paper-based management.
Value provided
- That company now manages daily reports and project information with RICOH kintone plus. Data automatically links to quotes, eliminating manual input.
- It also installed new Ricoh MFPs to scan contracts and link them to project information for centralized management.
- Reducing manual data entry and streamlining project management free employees to focus on more creative tasks.
Ricoh integrated a cloud-based business improvement platform based on kintone® from Cybozu, Inc., adding Ricoh-specific features. Companies can create applications that automate and streamline business processes without programming. This setup provides solid digital transformation support to small and medium-sized enterprises. More than 1,700 companies adopted the platform as of March 2024.
Workplace Experience Drawing on global customer touchpoints to centrally manage meeting rooms across multiple countries
Customer case study: An appliance manufacturer headquartered in Singapore
We harnessed our global customer touchpoints and solutions and Cenero’s expertise to become a global partner supporting this customer’s workflows.
Issues
- Working with multiple audiovisual vendors worldwide resulted in a time-consuming, costly process.
→This customer wanted to simplify vendor management and improve service levels.
Value provided
- We consolidated account management, reporting, and other services for more than 200 meeting rooms across 14 countries including Europe, the United States, Canada, and Mexico. We streamlined vendor and meeting room management to reduce time and costs.
- We stationed an audiovisual (AV) engineer at the customer’s U.K. site. Our AV Network Operations Centre in Poland provides global support, handling technical inquiries, preventive maintenance, and other services.
- We ensure that meeting rooms are always ready for use so customers can concentrate on deliberations.
Cenero joined the Ricoh Group in 2022. That company provides a managed AV service platform with a focus on the Americas. As an AV technology specialist, it helps build and optimize hybrid work environments.
Workspace design example
Strengthening value co-creation at customer touchpoints by collaborating with them to visualize and resolve business challenges
Renovating and reopening RICOH BUSINESS INNOVATION LOUNGE TOKYO
We are closely aligning our business with customer needs, from visualizing their management and operational issues to proposing solutions and resolving challenges.
It was in keeping with that approach that we renovated and reopened RICOH BUSINESS INNOVATION LOUNGE TOKYO on February 1, 2024, to foster collaborative value creation with customers while tapping advanced AI technology. We position this revamped facility as an executive briefing center. We welcome corporate executives and provide support for everything from creating AI-driven value scenarios and business designs to implementation through dialogue with specialist engineers and workshops that incorporate design thinking. We are developing solutions for essential management issues and co-creating businesses for customers who find it hard to formulate their digital transformation visions or face numerous issues relating to such change.
Harnessing our strengths to create value with customers
RICOH BUSINESS INNOVATION LOUNGE TOKYO draws on our strong customer touchpoints to create value with companies by combining our unique AI technology, which features natural language processing and spatial recognition capabilities, and offers more than 100 customer value scenarios in various industries. As well as proposing solutions and use cases for customers’ visible issues, business designers, digital transformation coordinators, and other onsite digital experts use design thinking in consultation and workshops to help shed light on underlying concerns. We formulated a range of programs to systematically develop experts. Examples include an in-house program that assigns employees temporarily to this facility, a Challenger system in which employees participate on a project basis through our in-house second job system, and a proprietary certification setup.
The scope of value co-creation has broadened from process digitalization, which started with the need to process large volumes of paper documents, to using AI and data for digital documents and digitalizing, managing, and renovating customer workspaces. We will continue pursuing co-creation with customers that benefits society.
Global endeavors that drive Fulfillment through Work
We have begun extending customer collaborations beyond Japan. For example, we set up an experience center in the Netherlands and the Digital Experience Centre in the United Kingdom. These sites enable customers to interact with the latest workplace technologies.
Through these activities, we strive to generate new value that empowers customers to experience Fulfillment through Work by becoming more productive, efficient, and creative. RICOH BUSINESS INNOVATION LOUNGE TOKYO is engaging with customers in comfortable surroundings to cultivate innovative thinking about underlying digital transformation issues and begin resolving them through co-creation.
From February through May 2024, guests from more than 100 companies, up 93% from the previous corresponding period, visited RICOH BUSINESS INNOVATION LOUNGE TOKYO
Key value creation takeaways
- The facility co-creates solution scenarios with customers based on trust through routine contact with them and a deep understanding of their industries and operations
- The facility stations engineers with expertise in AI and other digital technologies as business architects
- It employs a range of tools to help customers gain new insight and resolve their business challenges
Creating value with edge devices supporting our digital services company approach
Launching ETRIA
Ricoh and Toshiba Tec integrated their development and production of MFPs, printers, peripheral equipment, and related consumables for offices to establish ETRIA on July 1, 2024.
Joint venture objectives
The market for office printing is shrinking as changing work environments make remote work and paperless workflows more prevalent. Ricoh and Toshiba Tec are combining their technologies to develop a highly competitive common engine through this joint venture. This will make their offerings more attractive and lower development, procurement, and production costs by taking advantage of economies of scale.
Value proposition
ETRIA will serve companies adopting digital workflows by providing devices that digitalize and seamlessly connect text, paper documents, meeting audio, intelligence on frontline conditions, and other analog information, enhancing the value of that data. The company will thus create customer touchpoints, with its customer base serving as a foothold for offering a range of digital services. Through ETRIA, we will keep investing to improve environmental performance, which customers increasingly require.
Contributing to a circular economy
ETRIA will revamp product design and manufacturing with a view to achieving 100% recycling and contributing to a circular economy. As well as maintaining production efficiency, it will bolster our manufacturing capabilities by emphasizing the ease of disassembling and recycling equipment recovered from the field. We will improve the quality and reliability of such recycled offerings, expand our high-value-added recycling business, and cater to customer needs.
Toner bottle made from recycled plastic containers
Recycled materials account for around 50% of plastic content in the main unit of the RICOH IM C3010 color laser MFP
Customers increasingly requiring ESG sustainability
ESG-related laws and regulations are tightening worldwide, and customers are intensifying related demands. In Europe in particular, the circular economy and human rights regulations are becoming more stringent. Japan is also seeing increasing pressure in public procurement tenders to disclose carbon footprints and offsets. In some cases, ESG compliance is a key evaluation criterion for negotiating a business deal or is even a requirement for participating in such discussions.
Examples of ESG assessments for procurement deals in Europe
- French public-sector deal
A comprehensive evaluation allocated 20% of the assessment to environmental factors, such as recycled materials content and the provision of recycled equipment, and social factors, including product accessibility. Our strong performance in both areas earned us high recognition, culminating in an order for about 10,000 MFPs.
- Dutch private-sector deal
The prospective customer assigned monetary value to environmental initiatives, including product environmental performance, the use of recycled materials in cardboard and plastic packaging, and cartridge collection. It factored those contributions into the overall evaluation. Our environmental performance rated highly, resulting in an order for more than 100 MFPs.