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Resolving social issues through business
The Ricoh Group's policy is to “Align ESG with business growth.” We position ESG initiatives as future financial targets because we look for them to bear financial fruit three to five years hence. ESG and business growth are not pursued separately. We believe that ESG and business growth are the two wheels that work in tandem.
We are advancing the “Align ESG and business growth" by resolving social issues through our business activities, such as helping customers improve productivity and enhance creativity through the delivery of digital services, and providing environmentally friendly products and services.
Four material issues to resolve through business
The Ricoh Group has identified seven material issues to realize a sustainable society. The four key issues of “Creativity from work," “Community and social development," “Zero-carbon Society," and “Circular economy" are “Resolving Social Issues through Business," and together with the three important social issues of “Robust management infrastructure" to support them.
Key social issues are linked to the issues at workplaces, such as offices, frontllnes, and society. By accumulating solutions to these issues one by one, we can simultaneously solve social issues and achieve business growth. Ricoh Group will continue to accelerate business growth by resolving social issues and contribute to the creation of a sustainable society through business.
Creativity from Work
To provide digital services that transform how customers work and help them with productivity improvement and value creation
Community and Social Development
To contribute to the maintenance, development, and efficiency of community and social systems. We leverage our technical expertise and customer connections to expand areas where we provide value
Zero-Carbon Society
To decarbonize the entire value chain and create business opportunities by contributing to carbon neutrality
Circular Economy
To create business opportunities by building a circular economy business model for ourselves and our customers
Creativity from Work
Case Study
Providing business-specific solutions packages,
helping SMBs digitalize processes and transform their workplaces
Social and customer issues
Increasing productivity is a pressing issue in Japan, where the labor force continues to shrink. DX must be accelerated by promoting the use of ICT.
On the other hand, the shortage of digital human resources to promote DX has become a problem, and that is one of the reasons why ICT utilization is still insufficient, especially for SMBs.
Ricoh Group Initiatives and Strengths
Provision of packages of solutions for each type of business to SMBs. Ricoh supports the DX for small and medium-sized enterprises by taking advantages of Ricoh's strengths.
Ricoh's Strengths
- Identifying on-site issues faced by customers, identify business needs, and develop products
- Mid-tier and small and medium-sized customer base accumulated in the office business
- Nationwide sales and service network and ability to accompany customers from implementation to operation
Pursuing business growth and ESG-centric management
Promoting a shift in sales structure from selling goods to the selling of service.
We will respond in a timely and accurate manner to contribute to greater operational efficiency and creativity and continue to change as a partner to our customers
In this way, we will accelerate the creation of new recurring revenues in the growth area of digital services and achieve medium-to long-term profit growth.
Contribution to social Issues resolution
- Supporting SMEs‘ DX with digital capabilities and contributing to Creativity from Work
- 86,769 installations in FY2023, contributing to the creation of a total of 56.72 million work hours
- Contributed to reduction of GHG emissions due to reduced travel
Business growth
- As a result of the continued growth of the Scrum package, the accumulation of high-margin recurring revenue has been accelerated, resulting in an increase in annual sales to 59.4 billion yen (FY 2023).
Community and Social Development
Case Study
Expanding medical equipment maintenance by reskilling customer engineers,
contributing to a safe and reliable medical care infrastructure
Social and customer issues
Japan's healthcare industry is undergoing rapid structural changes accompanied by advanced technological innovations, and there is a need to improve operational efficiency by introducing highly innovative devices and systems with digital and AI technology, and to respond to the accompanying reform of working styles.
In this context, ensuring the quality of medical equipment installation and connections to networks, as well as on-site responses such as periodic inspections after starting operations and repairs in the event of a failure, is becoming increasingly important from the viewpoint of the quality and efficiency of medical care as well as the safety of patients and medical professionals.
Ricoh Group Initiatives and Strengths
Customer Engineer’s re-skilling activities. We are contributing to the maintenance of infrastructure for safe and secure medical care by expanding the scope of our maintenance activities from conventional offices to medical devices.
Ricoh's Strengths
- Maintenance service network covering a wide range of areas including remote areas
- Network skills of customer engineers accumulated in the office business
Pursuing business growth and ESG-centric management
Doubling the number of medical device service personnel by the end of FY2025. We will continue to enhance our business by acquiring new customers by expanding our medical device partners and by cultivating relations with customers by medical device maintenance.
We will further promote customer engineers re-skilling and expand the scope of maintenance to non-medical devices (ex, solar panels, and smart locker). We will expand the scope of value delivery from offices to workplaces and society.
Contribution to social Issues resolution
- 50%Contribute to the maintenance of infrastructure for reliable and safe medical care, with a wide-area maintenance service network and capabilities that can handle network connectivity for medical devices.
- Help improve infrastructure for 30 million people in healthcare, education and community development by 2030
Business growth
- Acquisition of new customers by expanding the number of medical device partners
- Add-on for Office Printing and Office Services, focusing on medical equipment maintenance
- Expansion of maintenance target areas other than medical devices
Related information
Zero-Carbon Society / Circular Economy
Case Study
Developing A3 color MFPs with industry-leading environmental performance,
helping create a zero-carbon society and circular economy
Social and customer issues
Climate change issues such as extreme weather events such as heavy rain and heat waves, which are referred to as global warming, have become a matter of urgency throughout the world, and global warming is steadily advancing. In order to maintain a sustainable global environment, it is important to further strengthen efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to promote the effective system and technologies of utilizing limited resources throughout the entire life cycle of the company.
Ricoh Group Initiatives and Strengths
Utilizing our long-standing expertise in product manufacturing to reduce the environmental impact of the entire product life cycle (from procurement of raw materials to disposal and recycling), we use plastic recovered materials in collaboration with material manufacturers in parallel with product development.
Ricoh's Strengths
- Recovered more than 50% of the plastic used in the MFP, the highest level in the industry for an A3 MFP
- Reduced carbon footprint of the entire life cycle by approximately 27% compared to the previous machine.
- Production sites use 100% renewable energy for electricity.
Pursuing business growth and ESG-centric management
We are strengthening our product lineup by making products in anticipation of trends in laws and regulations related to circular economy and human rights DD, as well as trends in demands for environmental performance.
In addition, we are helping our customers achieve better ways of working as edge devices that seamlessly connect analog and digital and support DX in our customers' operations.
Contribution to social Issues resolution
- Use more than 50% of recovered plastic
- 27% reduction in carbon footprint over the entire life cycle
- Contribution to Reducing Carbon Footprint of Products in FY2023 by Approximately 59,000 tons of CO2 Emissions
- Reduction of CO2 emissions has helped to decrease estimated social costs in FY2023 by approximately 530 million yen*.
*Calculations based on the EU ETS price from the World Bank's "State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2024" report.
Business growth
- Differentiate through leading response to growing demands for de-plasticization, carbon footprint disclosure and carbon offsetting
- Contributed to winning global business contracts with ESG requirements
Related information
Case Study
Developing label-free thermal technology that prints directly on packaging,
helping customers adapt products and business models to circular economy
Social and customer issues
To achieve a sustainable society, it is increasingly expected that citizens, businesses, governments and other entities will voluntarily and proactively reduce their carbon footprint in all aspects of society.
Along with this shift, consumer awareness is changing, and ethical consumption is gaining momentum. Companies are being asked to develop products and change their business models in response to these changes in consumer attitudes.
Ricoh Group Initiatives and Strengths
We have developed a technology that enables direct printing on transparent film, resulting in label-less packaging. This technology helps reduce the carbon footprint by decreasing the need for labels and ribbons, reduces dead stock by standardizing packaging materials that vary by product, and increases productivity by eliminating the need to prepare and replace labels and ribbons.
Ricoh's Strengths
- The industry's first partial coating technology that allows for both easy visibility of contents and ingredient labeling
- Expertise in solving customer problems in the logistics, distribution, medical, and transportation infrastructure industries, backed by the world's leading market share in thermal paper and thermal transfer ribbons
Pursuing business growth and ESG-centric management
Starting from the convenience store industry, the company has expanded to large and medium-sized supermarkets. In addition to food packaging, the company is also expanding into other industries such as pharmaceutical packaging and logistics packaging. In April 2023, we launched a new company, RN Smart Packaging Co. Ltd, and aim to achieve sales of more than 1 billion yen by 2025.
Contribution to social Issues resolution
- Reduction of environmental impact (reduction of carbon footprint 80% or more compared to thermal labels)
- Dead stock reduction
- Productivity improvement
Business growth
- Adoption by two major convenience stores in 2022
- Expansion to 10 billion yen or more in sales by 2025 with a view to expanding into other industries and overseas expansion