Ricoh 2009 Annual Report Download - page 5

ANNUAL REPORT 2009 4
T o O u r S h a r e h o l d e r s a n d C u s t o m e r s
To Our Shareholders
and Customers
Fiscal 2009
Highlights
Progress of the
16th MTP
Creating New
Customer Value
RICOH
Milestones
Sustainable Environ-
mental Management
Corporate Social
Responsibility
Financial
Section
Achievements under the 16th Mid-Term
Management Plan
The Ricoh Group aims to help customers improve their
business processes and productivity through its core Imaging
and Solutions business. To this end, we have been working to
change the business structure of our Imaging and Solutions
whereby we will not merely manufacture and sell copiers,
printers, and other equipment but offer optimal document
management systems supported by digitized and networked
imaging equipment.
Under its 16th Mid-Term Management Plan (from April
2008 to March 2011), the Group has been focusing on
leveraging its excellence in customer contact, solutions, and
image processing technologies, as well as global coverage
and the breadth and depth of our product mix. We believe this
approach will allow the Group to be well positioned to meet
increasingly diversifi ed demands from a greater number of
customers and ultimately make this segment a more powerful
mainstay of the Group’s business.
With this belief, the Group launched a number of new
models of multifunctional color copiers in fi scal 2009 to
achieve a fuller lineup. Notable examples of these new
products include the imagio MP C5000 and imagio MP
C2200 multifunctional digital color copiers for offi ce use. The
former enables consecutive color printing jobs producing 50
sheets per minute. The latter is suitable for small offi ces. The
introduction of these new products helped the Group achieve a
signifi cant market share in the color copier and multifunctional
color copier markets in Japan and elsewhere in the world.
Expansion of our business portfolio in the printing market
is another focus. To this end, we have been working to enhance
low-end categories by making our color laser printers and
other related products even more attractive to customers and
by building and developing the production printing segment
as early as practicably possible. In line with these policies,
we released the IPSiO SP C310, a color laser printer with high
productivity and compact size onto the market during fi scal
2009. When it comes to the production printing business, the
Group’s achievements during the year include the launch of
the RICOH Pro C900 with high print speed both in color and
monochrome, high-quality image production, and stable and
reliable operation. With the enhanced product lineup, the
Group can better satisfy customers’ needs for color print-on-
demand (POD), which allows corporate customers to obtain
the necessary number of sheets printed anytime at low cost
for commercial printing and in-house printing purposes.
To achieve further growth of the Imaging and Solutions
business, Ricoh acquired IKON Offi ce Solutions, Inc. in
November 2008. IKON, a U.S.-based independent channel
for document management systems and services, has a
strong network of offi ce and production printing systems and
services primarily in the U.S. and Western European markets,
long-standing relationships with many leading clients,
and printing and other outsourcing business structures
and expertise. We expect that combining IKON’s strengths
and Ricoh’s product development and solutions provision
capabilities will drive our Group’s business to expand even
further.
Going forward, the Group is planning to create a new,
differentiated service business called Business Process
Outsourcing by drawing on Ricoh’s resources and expertise.
To make it happen, the Group intends to develop solutions
platforms and enhance its solutions sales networks.
In the Industrial Products segment, our resource allocation
policy is to prioritize business areas that have a high growth
potential. We will also intensify collaboration with other
technological and business areas to create new businesses
by using a multidisciplinary approach. Achievements in this
segment during fi scal 2009 include the start of a new device
and module business, enabled by collaboration between the
planning, development and production, and sales units of
semiconductors, electric components, optical equipment, and
other related products.
In both the Imaging and Solutions and the Industrial
Products segments, the Ricoh Group will strive to grow even
further in emerging markets.
We recognize that technology-driven competitiveness
is the key to generating and increasing customer value and
improving the profi tability of each segment. To these ends, the