Ricoh 2014 Annual Report Download - page 49

Overview Action Data & Prole
Innovation
ISO 26000: • The environment • Consumer issues • Community development
Ricoh Group Sustainability Report 2014 48
➤WEB1Technology: www.ricoh.com/about/company/technology/
➤WEB2Research on the Office of the Future: www.ricoh.com/about/company/technology/rd/office.html
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R&D geared to trends in transforming the
ofce
Ricoh has consistently provided new value for
working people by improving the way they interact
with information, pioneering ofce automation in
the 1950s.
We start from a vision of the ofce of the future,
then draw an R&D road map to get there.
Our denition of the “ofce” is the totality of the
way people work, their business processes and work
environment.Basedonthisdenitionandchanges
insociety, we have projected six trends that will
transform the ofce and our concept of working in it.
➤ WEB2
Anticipating demand fueled by these trends,
Ricoh concentrates its R&D on technologies that
revolutionize customer workstyles and minimize
environmental impact to provide new products
andservices that meet market needs.
Daring to innovate
A host of contemporary social issues, such as overpopulation, the depletion of energy and
natural resources, and the effects of climate change, are impacting global corporate activities.
Simultaneously,ITnetworksenabletheuidexchangeofinformationandthecultivationofideas
thatcanbeturnedintointellectualproperties.Thesetrendsrequireamorediverseandexible
workstyle than ever before. To sustain their business activities, companies must address all the
prevailing issues and move with the evolving trends. Ricoh’s R&D focuses on these issues and
trends in its quest for innovation that drives new solutions forward.
Seeking to build an infrastructure that is con-
dence, comfort, and convenience
As IT grows more prevalent, becoming safer and
easier for everyone to use, we can expect society to
benet from higher productivity and become more
prosperous. So, Ricoh is steadily extending its reach
beyond the “ofce” environment to new business
domains. The industrial products market, in particu-
lar, is an area in which we can capitalize on our
technological expertise.
[Greater innovation in new business domains]
Looking into the future, we have begun collabo rat-
ing in new ways on technologies cultivated within
the Ricoh Group. We are keen to create businesses
that contribute to condence, comfort, and conve-
nience in such elds as healthcare, with systems that
help prevent diseases and promote good health,
aswell as the Advanced Driver Assistance System
(ADAS). Particularly, the ADAS showcases some of
our proprietary technologies in laser scanning, pro-
jection and imaging optics, image processing, and
image correction and recognition.
Non-core business outsourcing
Workowcollaboration
Emergingmarkets
Anytime anywhere
Environmentalconservation
Security and safety
P.51-52
Examples of innovative industrial products
• Extendeddepth-of-eldcamerawithwide-ranging
applications, including factory automation and
security; and a multi-spectroscopic camera capable
of acquiring color information about asubject in real
time
• Systemtorecirculateenergythathadpreviously
been left untapped at manufacturing sites
• Dry(water-andsolvent-free)washingtechnology
that dramatically reduces environmental impact in
the production and recycling washing processes.
• Rewritablerecordingtechnologythatfacilitateshigh-
quality, repetitive rewriting for wider applications in
production control and physical distribution
• Trends transforming the ofce