Ricoh 2006 Annual Report Download - page 6

5 ANNUAL REPORT 2006
market, reinforce low-end products with color laser printers,
and expand Gel-Jet printers to expand our business domain
and scale. Furthermore, by reinforcing the solution sales
structure and solution platform, we plan to increase
transactions with major customers, particularly those who
have operations around the world.
The Ricoh Group will also allocate greater business resources
to businesses that promise growth in the industrial field. In
addition, we will aggressively promote business expansions in
Office Solutions and Industrial Products in emerging
markets.
As technological differentiation is essential in creating new
customer values and improving profitability in each business,
the Ricoh Group will continue to aggressively reinforce its
technological strengths.
In fiscal 2006, the Ricoh Group released a number of new
products in Office Solutions, including color MFPs and color
laser printers, to fortify the product lines. We have succeeded
in securing larger market shares by introducing the imagio
Neo C600Pro (Aficio Color 5560 overseas), a new-generation
color MFP that can copy or print 55 sheets per minute, the
imagio MP C3000/C2500 series, which realizes high image
quality with Ricoh's original polymerization method with
color PxP toner and high security with the copy guard feature
for the first time on a color model, and the imagio MP
C1500, which features the Gel-Jet technology catering to
low-end models.
In the high-end production printing market, the Ricoh
Group launched the IPSiO SP 9500Pro (EMP156 overseas),
a mainframe system printer that boasts high-speed printing of
156 sheets per minute and high durability, and three other
models. Consequently, we now have a full line of printers
from center printers to desktop printers, which customers can
combine to create the most efficient printing environment for
their needs.
The IPSiO G Series (Aficio G Series overseas), Gel-Jet
printers released for the low-end business printer market, have
been highly praised as business printers offering high-speed,
high-quality cut-sheet printing, and low running cost.
Our printing solutions have been increasingly embraced by
our customers, who recognize the value of our TCO
reduction solutions by combining copiers and printers and
worldwide support and service structure. In our activities for
documentation solutions, which improve work flow, we have
provided software for integrating digital MFPs with
mainframe systems, improved the support structure at
technology centers in Japan, Americas, and Europe for
proposing and implementing optimal environments for using
such technologies, and reinforced the solution sales structure.
In Industrial Products, the Ricoh Group has aggressively
invested in markets and businesses where growth can be
expected. One such example is the establishment of a
thermosensitive paper production and sales company in
China.
As for sales and service, the Ricoh Group integrated the
maintenance and service units of domestic sales companies
into Ricoh Techno Systems Co., Ltd. as a facet of improving
the structure to reinforce customer service and the ability to
recommend solutions. In development, we established the
Ricoh T echnology Center, which converges all the functions
from the development of fundamental technologies for
leading-edge color products to their design, production
preparation, and product evaluation. As a result, we now
have a more effective cross-functional development structure
that can achieve greater product development efficiency.
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
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