If you’re not familiar with our Customer Success Team, and what we do, allow me to explain. At its heart, our mission is to empower customers by working with them to ensure they get the maximum value from their products and software. 

Why is this important? Well, commercial digital print technology has undeniably advanced, and has far-reaching implications and benefits for customers. Additionally, integrated technology and software can enable many new processes and approaches, often far beyond the initial purchase reason. So we consider it our duty to give customers the tools and support they need to use their technology investments to their fullest! We strongly believe that the best way to go about this is by nurturing lifetime relationships built on mutual trust. 

Customer Satisfaction: The Cornerstone of Our Strategy

That’s why, for us, customer satisfaction isn’t just a metric or box-ticking exercise: it’s the very cornerstone of our strategy. A good day is one in which we’re able to share a spirit of collaboration, co-creation, and success with our customers. By imparting actionable insights and fostering continuous learning, we facilitate usage, adoption, and ongoing education around how customers can maximise the usage of their products and software. As a post-sales team, we work alongside and complement the work of account managers, sharing our many years of in-depth knowledge and experience to help customers best understand and deploy their purchased solutions. 

In essence, the Customer Success Team isn’t just a support function; we are strategic allies, driving innovation and forging lasting connections.

As such, I’m delighted to share that, over the last three years, we have been recognised for our achievements in customer experience, business transformation, and service delivery. 

Customer Experience: Digital Innovations with a Customer-Centric Approach

We’re always looking for ways to do more, and do better. In 2023, recognising the need to adapt and evolve continuously, we renewed and revitalised our commitment to customer experience, significantly improving the quality of our after-sales care. We transitioned from reactive to proactive support , embracing digital technologies with a customer-centric approach.

Essentially, By leveraging digital innovations, we successfully enhanced customer satisfaction and resolved any issues that arose more efficiently. Retention rates soared from 90.5% in 2021, to an impressive 99% in 2023, and conversion rates outpaced industry averages. Quarterly review meetings and detailed account plans strengthened customer relationships, leading to increased usage of their investments. The introduction of our customer Success Manager role, and a pilot project focusing on DocuWare as a document management software solution, are just two examples of our dedication to continuous reflection and innovation.

As a result, in November 2023, The Direct Commerce Awards (which have recognised the achievements of the best B2B and B2C direct and multichannel retailers for 25 years) recognised our Customer Success Team for our excellent customer experience solutions.

Business Transformation: A Data-Driven, Consultancy Approach for Customer Success

To stay relevant and add value for our customers, we must continually assess our strengths and opportunities for improvement. We must consider how we can evolve our approach to best serve the many wonderful organisations we work with. Throughout 2022, we transitioned from a traditional service model to customer success-led partnerships. The change involved developing a closed-loop process for customer feedback and utilising performance data to maximise the benefits of our assets for our customers, thus building strong relationships and creating an outcome-based consultancy approach.

Similarly, we responded to changing customer needs, such as the demand for shorter print runs, and hyper-personalisation in digital print.

This transformation didn’t go unnoticed. In October 2022, The Customer Success Team won the Business Transformation category at the More2 Direct Commerce Awards in London. The Direct Commerce Association (DCA) hold the award annually, created it to recognise excellence in the retail sector. An independent panel of experts judges the entries. 

Service Delivery and Development: Personalised, Proactive Support

As a team, we’re committed to delivering unparalleled service. Our desire to settle for nothing less than excellence drives us to understand each customer’s unique needs. By doing so, we ensure they can fully leverage their technology capabilities. Through personalised support, proactive outreach, and a consultancy approach, we deliver long-term value for customers. Evidently, we strive to exceed expectations and foster lasting partnerships. As such, in November 2022, Ricoh’s Customer Success Team scooped its second award in as many weeks. Consequently, we were delighted to win in the Service Development category at the Stationers’ Innovation Excellence Awards.

Looking Forward: Customer Success in 2024

Finally, our team has not just adapted to changing industry dynamics. It’s actively shaped them. We’re driving forward with innovations that enhance customer engagement and outcomes.  Our commitment to continuous improvement and strategic partnership makes every achievement a stepping stone to even greater success. We couldn’t be more excited to see what 2024 will bring.

The post Driving Innovation in Customer Success: Ricoh UK’s Award-Winning Approach appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

Thanks to the emergence of AI chatbots and increasingly sophisticated robotic technology, people often associate process automation with the near-future takeover of our jobs and home lives.

While the advances of this technology are striking, the depiction of automation can be over sensationalised. In reality, automation is behind the digital evolution of most organisations as they endeavour to transform their operations. When it comes to digital transformation, businesses of all sizes have had varying degrees of success and sit at very different stages on this journey.

Now, dwindling productivity and economic pressures are driving interest in business process automation as organisations look to optimise budgets, streamline workflows and boost efficiency across their organisation.

Recent research by Ricoh Europe found that digital transformation could increase EU and UK GDP by 3.4% over the next five years, equivalent to €622 billion of growth. It’s an alluring productivity boost at a time when many businesses face stagnating economies and resource cuts.

Employees are overwhelmingly in favour of automation. 69% are ready to embrace automation tools to reduce admin and tedious tasks. So t’s vital that businesses bring employees on the digitalisation journey. This will help to alleviate any fears of a ‘robotic takeover’ and demonstrate the benefits it brings.

So how can businesses best explain the purpose of automation, what’s the difference between workflow tools and process automation, and how can you ensure that employees remain at the centre of decision-making?

Streamlining workplace activity

In our world of apparent immediacy, manual processes are a huge no-no for customers and employees. Human processing creates unnecessary delays and causes errors. Accounting teams, for example, reportedly misclassify one in 20 invoices as a result of doing things manually. Customers expect a perfect and fast service, with digital transactions becoming a minimum expectation rather than added bonus. Standardising processes with automation helps to improve customer service by speeding up responses, reducing the margin of error, and boosting quality of work.

Meanwhile, employees are craving automation so they can focus on more fulfilling work that drives innovation. Processing paper-based documents requires time and patience, leaving less time for the creative projects and problem solving that will move the dial for the business. Our research showed that 64% of European workers would find work more enjoyable, if only they had time for creative tasks. Ridding employees of their heavy admin burdens and boring manual processes helps to improve engagement and make them feel more valued.

As well as boosting workplace culture, automation has clear productivity benefits. For businesses, manual processes represent a high labour cost, and low value-add. Not to mention the compliance and security challenges associated with physical documents. Along with optimising resource and offering peace of mind that documents are securely stored, process automation also offers environmental benefits as businesses use less paper.

Click to read Why you need a professional document management solution

Workflow vs process automation

Transformation often exists in pockets across an organisation. Some may have automated individual processes, such as digitalising receipts. Others have automated entire workflows within a department, like the full HR onboarding process. Before implementing new technology to digitalise a process, IT teams need to understand the finer details of the problem. Would automating one specific workflow solve the issue, or is there a broader business problem at play which requires more technical infrastructure?

Workflow tools automate one process, starting at one point and ending at another, such as HR dealing with a job application form. Products like DocuWare enable automation of document workflows, reducing paper costs and getting businesses the information they need faster. Meanwhile, process automation works across multiple workflows with several data and contact points. Take HR onboarding for example. It is a multi-step process that incorporates documents from multiple locations. Automation platforms, like Axon Ivy, reduce the number of touchpoints across the entire process, boosting its efficiency and speed.

Working with a digital partner helps organisations make informed, strategic transformation decisions and select the solutions that meet their needs. It’s even better to choose a one-stop shop partner that ensures better alignment of platforms across an entire organisation.

Putting people at the centre of process automation

Whilst technology can solve some incredibly complex problems, it won’t be a success if you don’t have employee buy-in. A lack of employee consultation and communication around a company’s digital strategy and the benefits it brings, could lead to misinformation and resentment. Our research revealed a strong association between wellbeing at work and a sense of having a say in workplace decisions. While 56% of European employees said their job is a source of happiness, this figure increased to 67% for those that feel like they have a say in decisions that influence how they work on a day-to-day basis.

Regular communication with employees about implementing new automation tools will be vital to maintain trust. Employers should clearly convey the benefits that come with automation to alleviate fears and misconceptions around automation making employees redundant. Automation is not about cutting jobs but improving resource and paving the way for businesses to do more innovative and creative work.

Ensuring successful business transformation

As IT managers look to automate new parts of the business for efficiency and productivity gains, it’s key to integrate plans as part of a wider business strategy. Rather than viewing each solution in isolation, IT teams should be problem-orientated. Start with the issue at hand: the right automation technology will follow.

To ensure successful business transformation, leaders need to engage employees in the process from the beginning. They must also clearly communicate the advantages that automation brings.

Get in touch with one of our consultants and find out how we can help your business. Contact us

The post How process automation unleashes a more creative workplace appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

The age conversation has taken on a new tone in the last five years. It’s an old adage that every generation is suspicious of the next while rolling its eyes at its predecessor. But today, there’s a new generational friction between what’s now simply shorthanded as ‘the Gens’ – Gen Z, Gen X, Gen Y, the list goes on.

The media often exacerbate conversations like these, but it’s clear that a new set of language and assumptions about age is touching all corners of society. A recent study by HubSpot found that 60% of organisations in the US are experiencing increased age polarisation; while these are US numbers, the UK often follows suit.

What can organisations do to ease Multigenerational Workplaces?

There are now four generations in the workforce simultaneously, a first in modern history. Within Ricoh UK, we have apprentices working side-by-side with people who have been with us for over four decades – it’s one of our core strengths – but if we fail to create an environment where everyone can thrive, we risk losing out on a range of benefits.

We have already started looking at these issues and put in place apprenticeship schemes and career development programmes which champion multigenerational talent. Likewise, we have flexible working in place to make work ‘work’ for all.

The benefits of championing a multigenerational workplace

Creating cultures and workplaces that nurture inclusion across all generations is essential for employee experience and our company’s overall success. It will benefit us in invaluable ways, opening up a more robust talent pipeline, sustainable succession planning, better people retention and increased business resilience.

As a growing digital services company; we also lead with inclusion to ensure our people have the skills, knowledge and training they need to thrive in the digital world. Technology like automation empowers people regardless of difference, we want our teams to feel prepared to reap the benefits of technology and help our customers do the same. In any organisation, people are the keystone to unlocking true digital maturity.

Launching our Multigenerational Workplace Affinity Group 

This year, alongside my role as Marketing Director for Ricoh UK, I am taking on a new position as the Executive Sponsor for the Multigenerational Workplace. As part of the role, I’ll lead our affinity group, welcoming employees of all ages into the discussion.

We’ll explore assumptions, biases and stereotypes and share stories and experiences. Our long-term goal is to support our People & ESG team in introducing initiatives and shaping policies to bridge the generational gap.

As part of the group’s launch, we’ve been considering the challenges facing us when opening up the multigenerational conversation. Here are some key points we’ve been discussing; it might help you consider your organisation’s needs.

The paradox between age and the individual

Age is at once more straightforward and more complex than other diversity strands like gender, ethnicity and disability. Every individual can be excluded or discriminated against based on their age.

We can also assume several things about each age without edging into unfair or unconscious bias. For example, we will all begin our careers, and most of us will retire. In both circumstances, there will likely be some commonality between individual needs.

But to lead with inclusion, our approach has to be centered around the individual.

Different ages have different priorities

Employees span the full range of life stages and experiences within a multigenerational workplace. Some may be raising young children, while others caring for ailing parents. Some may be purchasing their first home, while others are researching retirement options. Through the work lens, some people are at the grassroots of their careers, and others are thinking about winding down.

We’re focusing on ensuring we don’t prioritise and homogenise one single lived experience. It’s crucial not to assume that age means someone will be experiencing all the same options, concerns and feelings at different life stages. For instance, apprenticeships are open for all ages.

Intersectionality between other diversity strands

It is often not just age that matters when thinking about multi generations. Intersectionality with gender, race or other characteristics also plays a crucial role.

Research covering nine European countries found that access and uptake of training opportunities were affected by the interaction of both age and gender, with older female workers being the most disadvantaged. A separate study found there is also some correlation between age and ethnicity regarding downward mobility in the workplace.

Culturally, we’ve also noticed a disparity between men and women requesting part-time contracts, whether it be to cover childcare, look after family, prepare for retirement or simply by personal choice.

Through our Affinity Group meetings, we want to work closely with our colleagues involved in the gender, ethnicity and disability conversation to understand more about this factor and whether it should be a key objective of our Ricoh UK action plan in the future.

Starting the conversation

After spending time this Christmas with my two Gen Z children and my parents, who are classed as baby boomers but would never use the terminology themselves, I am looking forward to beginning the multigenerational conversation at work in 2024.

From my experience, the younger generation is mindful, earnest and independent. They’re unlike any generation before them, masters of an unlimited knowledge source and window to the world.

Equally, I see the other end of the spectrum with my parents. They’re developing their technology skills daily to communicate with me and the rest of the family. And with openness, they both try to understand society, not always getting it right but always trying, nevertheless.

Whichever ‘Gen’ you fall into, as individuals, we all have a unique strength to bring to the world and the people we work with – if there’s one goal of our Affinity Group, it’s bringing that idea to life.

The post The Power of Multigenerational Workplaces appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

What were the main trends and key industry developments in 2023? Have they shaped your predictions for 2024?

The post Print Predictions for 2024 appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

In a world where workplace and employee experience are key factors for business success, Sodexo, an integrated facilities management company, had to find the right transformation partner to deliver solutions that met its unique needs. With operations in 45 countries, over 430,000 employees, and  80 million consumers served daily, Sodexo understood the importance of providing an enhanced experience for employees in their London office.

In this conversation, Sodexo’s Julie Ennis outlined the challenges they faced, the partnership provided by Ricoh, and how Sodexo elevated their digital maturity to create a thriving work environment.

“Our people are benefiting from the outcomes of this transformation, and in turn our business benefits through increased wellbeing, productivity and collaboration, I look forward to continuing the journey and partnership.”

Julie Ennis – Sodexo’s CEO of Corporate Services UK and Ireland

Sodexo and Ricoh’s people-first ethos

Julie recognised that where people work affects their productivity and well-being. Global changes to workplace culture demand a people-first digital strategy — one that’s both flexible and agile. As such, Julie’s team identified early the need to adapt their workplace for the ‘new normal’ — and, more importantly, for the future. Attracting and retaining talent was becoming increasingly costly and challenging, so Sodexo needed to differentiate itself with environments and digital experiences that fostered creativity and well-being.

Julie went on to explain how she was first drawn to Ricoh as a complementary partner for Sodexo, as both organisations shared a similar, people-first belief system. Ricoh’s emphasis on Fulfilment through Work empowers teams to work smarter and enhance their quality of life. The founding principles set out in Ricoh’s Three Loves — “Love your neighbour, Love your country, Love your work” —  align perfectly with Sodexo’s core tenets of loyalty, transparency, integrity, and respect.

Furthermore, both Sodexo and Ricoh see digital maturity as a step further than a ‘one-and-done’ project, and agree that digital transformation is an ongoing process; it’s critical that organisations prioritise and grow their digital maturity to enhance the experience of employees, suppliers, and customers.

Read the Raconteur article on Digital Maturity: Transformation Comes of Age

How to roll out successful transformation

At the tail end of the pandemic, Ricoh worked quickly to implement a virtual receptionist system to greet visitors. The reception area now also has drop-down audio-visual and digital signage equipment for town hall meetings. Adjacent areas have Ricoh smart lockers, hot desks, and work pods for informal meetings and individual working.

The single-floor office has been split into three zones. A highlight is the open-plan collaborative area that also functions as a town hall. Employees can enjoy solo working desks, smaller meeting rooms, and a showcase area with larger meeting rooms.

Similarly, there are meeting rooms for two, five, and ten people equipped with Microsoft Teams Room solutions and conferencing equipment. One feature Sodexo particularly appreciates is the smart hubs that instantly connect laptops to conferencing equipment. Now, people no longer need to scrabble around for leads.

Leverage data insights for transformation success

In the background, IoT sensors collect data on people’s flow and facility use. The sensors measure air quality (better air increases productivity), time at a desk, and number of people in a meeting. This data can show that in one month, a room was used 73% of the time at 60% occupancy. The figures can be analysed to help make decisions on fine-tuning spaces to meet employees’ needs. Future innovations include an app to book desks and meeting rooms using a live, real-time, 3D view of the workspace.

Sodexo combined its existing resources with Ricoh’s specialist input and technical integration skills for long-term success. They ensured people were central to every decision. Ricoh’s installation expertise, project management, and problem-solving helped deliver the new workspace on time and budget. This was possible because they understood their existing digital maturity and used that to inform and set tangible goals.

“For organisations with ambitions for similar transformation projects, I strongly recommend having quantifiable KPIs in place, in order to measure your success and see how far you’ve come.”

Julie Ennis – Sodexo’s CEO of Corporate Services UK and Ireland

Knowing your goal, and how you will measure success, is critical to successful digital workplace transformation. It’s also necessary to understand your current digital maturity, as this provides a valuable starting point when calibrating your goals and gives you a frame of reference to see the extent of your success at the end of your project.

Measurable success

Sodexo has an existing workplace services team (who are tasked with implementing workplace strategies), and a corporate services team. They worked closely with Ricoh’s consultants, facilitators, installation experts, and project managers. This ensured the technology and solutions implemented would help Sodexo achieve its goal of creating a welcoming space. Now, employees can drop in and connect with colleagues and have a showcase space for clients. The redesign has saved 400m2, reducing the office size from 1200m2 to 800m2, but still supporting the same staff numbers.

“Ricoh has delivered what we wanted, within budget and without cutting corners.”

Harpreet Cheema – Senior Director Digital Development & Data, Sodexo USA

By implementing innovative technologies and streamlining processes, Sodexo enhanced its workplace and employee experience, ultimately driving business success. Sodexo’s London HQ is now an innovative workspace powered by technology solutions. Data backs up these solutions. This improves employee well-being, maximises space use, and makes their technology as efficient and effective as possible. Sodexo has managed to decrease desk numbers from 200 to just 22, while simultaneously increasing office occupancy from 35% to 50%. The workspace now achieves a 4.8 out of 5-star employee satisfaction rating.

Read more about Sodexo’s digital workplace transformation in our eBook.

Click to read Sodexo Case Study

The post Creating a Thriving Work Environment: Sodexo’s Digital Maturity Journey appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

Colourfast Financial has a rich history dating back more than one hundred years.

A history that has traditionally been rooted in all aspects of financial printing from complex Initial Public Offerings to fast turnaround business compliance documents.

To continue to be a service provider of choice in today’s demanding businesses environment you need to innovate.

That is why Colourfast expanded into online B2B and B2C print provision with Getitprinted.com.

Expanding into print provision

It was an ambitious, but carefully considered, move. As we know the world is moving to purchasing products online and it was natural for us to capture some of this market with items such as personalised gifts and jigsaw puzzles.

And one we were happy to get national attention for when one of our products was recently featured on one of Britain’s biggest nationwide channels. ITV’s This Morning is a national institution, and a personalised photo puzzle was gifted to one of the presenters. We have also printed 70 puzzles of metro bank buildings for metro bank, and one of our puzzles was presented to the singer Anne Marie as she likes to do jigsaws.

It demonstrates the power of personalised print supported by high quality print production.

The Getitprinted.com portfolio of services on Ricoh technology were instrumental in production.

Our Ricoh solutions now include three colour sheetfed presses – two Ricoh Pro C9200 presses and a Ricoh Pro C7200x five colour press and a Ricoh Pro TF6251 UV flatbed printer.

Major investments in production technology are always based on costs, speed, and quality. Ricoh gave us everything. We got costs right, speed right and quality right.

We always invest with an eye to the future. New technology has to serve our immediate needs but critically give us the confidence that will help us stay relevant in a fast changing market.

All four systems now manage work across both operations and have been instrumental in securing new contract wins. We can now offer more to our clients and partners.

Colourfast and Ricoh

Ricoh’s EDGE consultancy has been invaluable. It helped us undertake a complete operational review which has resulted in significant growth in print volumes. After reviewing our approaches and procedures we identified ways to be more effective, productive, and profitable.

Was it challenging to go through this transformation process? Self reflection is never easy.  We needed to stare at ourselves in the mirror. Standing still was not an option.

Our partnership with Ricoh has given us the edge on our competitors and continues to support our next steps towards growth.

We wanted to work with someone who could see where we wanted to go, help where we wanted to go, so, with a shared vision we could achieve our goals.

Ricoh has also introduced us to other partnerships with other companies. We are now starting to get benefits from that. The online business has gone up 400% in the last few months, and this number is still increasing.

We are really moving forward into markets we didn’t expect to move into. With Ricoh alongside us, we can face the future with confidence.

The post How Colourfast Financial honed its competitive edge appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

So it’s not surprising that, when it comes to procurement, businesses of all sizes are feeling the pinch. And if there’s one thing we’re certain of? Organisations are always looking for ways to drive cost efficiencies and get more value. 

A good way to achieve this is by consolidating your supply chain. Doing so removes complexity from your procurement processes so your teams can focus on looking for savings. They can also reduce purchasing admin costs and establish better cost controls.

Enjoy better purchase control and auditability in your procurement

Strong B2B procurement strategies can help you enjoy better purchase control and auditability. This makes it much easier for managers, directors and procurement teams to track and analyse purchasing behaviour. 

For example, consolidating your procurement can help your business better manage finances with advanced data insight. All your invoices, purchasing history, and reports will be accessible through one platform, making it easier to get a ‘birds-eye’ view of your procurement activity. This can highlight what your organisation’s purchasing habits are, in order to make better-informed business decisions.

Similarly, individual employees can be assigned accounts, which can be monitored, keeping track of spending and approvals. You can monitor purchases and buy in bulk where applicable and duplicate orders avoided, helping reduce costs and avoid overstocking.

Save money by reducing admin and IT burdens

Managing multiple suppliers takes time and creates extra work for procurement and finance teams as each supplier needs to be managed separately. This involves researching their services, negotiating contracts, comparing prices, raising POs, making payments and querying invoices. This can be compound further as every supplier might have a slightly different way of working.

In one study by the Hacket Group, procurement departments that achieved high levels of compliance with their procurement processes spent 12% less on IT and telecom equipment, 19% less on human resources services and 20% less on general supplies and equipment.

Consolidating your supply chain reduces administrative burdens and streamlines the procurement process.

Optimise your procurement strategy with The Ricoh eShop

With the Ricoh eShop, you can consolidate your purchasing of IT and office products to a single partner, benefit from on-account payment terms and the ability to easily speak to an account manager.

Why not book a demo at your convenience to learn more?

The post How a simplified procurement strategy adds value appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

Working with many organisations, we’ve seen that they often have complex legacy systems and processes in their mail and print room real estate that need to be more transparent, centralised and enhanced. Therefore, the challenge facing CIOs, Finance Managers, and Procurement Managers is this:

How do you rationalise expensive real estate, centralise mail operations, and overcome legacy systems?

This is essential to enhancing the service delivered to internal and external stakeholders.

We have observed several transformation trends that companies are acting on to optimise their mail and print rooms to achieve just that. They are: 

• Enhancing their data integrity and compliance to address government legislation and investor pressure. 
• Improving efficiency through consolidation to mitigate rising operational costs.
• Focusing on environmental efficiencies to achieve ESG obligations.

By recognising these trends, they have overcome many common challenges, such as underutilisation, little or no integration, suboptimal sustainability strategies (which are impacting profit), and difficult-to-access or poorly secured data. 

Driving transformation in your mail and print room real estate

Below are three instances where we’ve helped a large UK Financial Services organisation to successfully transform and optimise their mail and print rooms.

1) Addressing integration, consolidation, and optimisation issues

Key objectives were to drive efficiency and optimise the use of resources — particularly for the mail room and print room real estate. This was complicated by the post-pandemic working landscape, which has moved largely towards hybrid working models and impacted physical occupancy. 

Here’s the challenge as described by the Finance Director:

“Our mail and print rooms across the UK are expensive, overstaffed, and underused. We have legacy systems and processes we don’t fully manage or control.” 

Our solution

Collaborating with our customer, we created a centralised mail and print hub that consolidated their workflows. We did this by conducting multiple site visits and facilitating alignment across 32 sites by holding 17 workshops. Following these meetings, we provided a detailed (80-page) report of findings and recommendations, broken down into short, medium, and long-term goals.

As a result, the organisation minimised inefficiencies, implemented cost savings, and freed up staff and real estate by taking control of legacy systems. 

2) Meeting ESG targets and minimising environmental impact

An efficiency and sustainability strategy can boost operating profits by as much as 60%. Similarly, investors, customers, and potential employees are now more attuned to the appearance of greenwashing. So, it was vital for our customer to demonstrate a tangible ESG commitment and keep costs down. 

Here’s what the Head of Real Estate had to say:

“Excess real estate has led to higher energy costs, increased emissions, and a larger carbon footprint. This does not align with our company values and prevents us from meeting our sustainability goals. Firms are no longer seen as a good prospect for investors if they don’t take sustainability seriously.”

Our solution

We helped our customer design a data informed ESG strategy by providing them with key insights including accurate paper and energy usage figures. Consequently, they’ve made their mail and print rooms more energy efficient and have lowered emissions and cut costs. 

3) Maintaining data integrity across processes, while ensuring effective data access management

Failure to comply with regulatory requirements can result in prohibitive legal penalties. Under GDPR legislation, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can now issue fines of up to 4% of a company’s annual turnover, or £20 million (whichever is greater) for the worst data breaches. 

So, it’s not surprising that our customer wanted to protect their organisation’s data, while simultaneously streamlining access and use for authorised employees. Their IT Director explained:

“Our customer data is held in multiple legacy systems. We are at risk of non-compliance to data privacy regulations which can lead to fines, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust.”

Our solution

We integrated their processes and systems to move beyond the legacy issues that put them at risk of non-compliance. Using Ricoh’s centralised document retention and archiving, they now maintain a secure and accessible repository of customer communications, ensuring customer data is secure, traceable, and compliant.

Rationalising your mail and print room real estate

Leveraging Ricoh’s Business Process Management (BPM) consultancy and solutions will help your organisation optimise its processes, cut costs, help you reach your ESG goals, and ensure compliance. As a result, you will build organisational and reputational trust. If you’re unsure where to start, Ricoh can help you enhance your digital maturity and identify areas for growth and improvement.

What to do next?

By identifying your strengths and areas for improvement, you can make better-informed decisions. Doing so will help you drive operational efficiencies and make significant process improvements. Complete our 5-minute multiple-choice survey to instantly receive a personalised report. We’ll explain your current digital maturity across key areas of your organisation, and provide tangible, actionable recommendations.

Complete the Digital Services Maturity Indicator

Click to read Customer Services

The post What mail and print room transformation trends are businesses embracing? appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

So why is there an automation gap between attitude and adoption in the print industry? And how can automation technology benefit your organisation?

Automation technology encompasses all processes and equipment to enable plants and systems to run automatically. These include machines, apparatus, equipment, and other devices. For human intervention to become minimal, investment in technology is necessary. 

Ricoh gathered insights from 152 respondents across 36 roles to better understand where the industry is on its automation journey, and maybe explain why so few are investing in technology and automating. We’ve compiled our findings in this report. Read more to discover:

• Who is automating and why?
• Further, what automation is right for you?
• How to adopt automation successfully
• Finally: how AI can be a useful tool in automation

Click to read Print Automation Survey Report

Business benefits of automation 

Firstly, what are the business benefits of automation? Your organisation will enjoy greater resilience, continuity, and compliance, while saving time and money. Automation minimises the potential for human error and improves employee morale by freeing them from repetitive, manual tasks and allowing them to focus on core business endeavours, creativity, and innovation. 

What type of automation is right for you?

Our research indicated that 80% would like to see more investment in production workflow automation, and 66% would like to see more investment in business process automation. We understand that the difference between the two is subtle, so let’s unpack them and how they might benefit your organisation. 

Production workflow automation

What is production workflow? It breaks down processes and allows employees to understand the steps by which components come together  to produce a finished product. Further, production workflows are important for training new team members, scaling your organisation, and ensuring efficiency and consistency. By automating this through production workflow automation, you can:

• Improve employee and customer experience
• Accelerate digital transformation
• Optimise business processes
• Boost productivity and employee satisfaction
• Ease the compliance burden
• Reduce printing, postal and document management costs

Business process automation

Business Process Automation is a little different, and involves an overhaul of your Business Process Management. This can be vital to overcoming the automation gap! Business Process Management (BPM) is a structured approach to improving the processes organisations use to get work done, better serve customers, and generate business value. Automating and outsourcing this can bring value to your business; if you’re not sure where to start, it’s ideal for tasks that:

• Fall outside of your core business
• Are cheaper to outsource than deliver in-house
• Can be expressed in clear deliverables
• Aren’t a skill that your team ought to learn
• Can be assigned KPIs and measured to track performance

 Learn more about the types of automation and which would work for you.

Getting past legacy to address the automation gap 

52% of companies still run legacy systems, even though 45.3% of respondents agreed legacy systems do not provide functional benefits that mirror company direction. It is difficult, if not impossible, for organisations to innovate, retain the best staff, and build their client base if they don’t take advantage of the newest technology. 

Incremental steps for large-scale change

Our report indicated that businesses are hesitating because they think automation needs a huge upfront investment or upheaval, but automation doesn’t need to occur across all business areas and platforms simultaneously. Why not start by assessing your Digital Maturity to order your priorities? You’ll immediately receive a tailored report of actionable solutions to help you get started on your automation journey. Solution areas might include: 

• Digital printing 
• Scanning and archiving 
• Inbound and outbound mail
• Document management

Your automation journey…

Automation doesn’t have to be complicated, costly or intimidating. With the right guidance and support from a knowledgeable, experienced partner, automation can be easily attainable and is vital to survive and thrive as the print industry continues to evolve. As a trusted digital services provider and automation expert, Ricoh can help.

Reach out to learn more.

The post The automation gap: attitude versus adoption in the print industry appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

Smithers reported that the digital printing market is expected to witness a growth rate of 5.7% between 2022 and 2027. This compares to just 0.8% for the analogue printing market. As such, a wonderful opportunity exists to boost staff fulfilment and productivity.

Likewise, Erwin Busselot from Ricoh Europe expanded on the drivers behind this here, citing significant improvement in digital print quality as a major influencer. These enhancements make the switch from analogue to digital print production highly attractive, expanding application versatility, and gaining run-length agility.

Another important factor is the skills shortage, which has been exacerbated by the sector’s ageing, largely immobile, workforce. I discuss this issue further in this podcast. With younger, digitally-native workers joining the ranks, there is the potential to engage them better with evolving digital systems and processes.

The good news is this: the reasons for digital print’s optimistic outlook are set only to gain strength.

Enhanced usability streamlines your ability to deliver high-quality results. Simple setup enables team members of all skill levels to confidently operate presses, while highly automated processes maximise production capacity.

Today’s production printers are increasingly evolving to deliver:

• Improved productivity and staff fulfilment with ease of use.
• Expanded application capabilities with enhanced media handling.
• The ability to confidently switch from analogue to digital print with superlative image quality.
• Increased automation with numerous operational developments focused on efficiency.

Introducing the Ricoh Pro C9500

Among them is the newest addition to Ricoh’s portfolio. The new Ricoh Pro C9500 digital colour sheetfed press features developments that help simplify operations, automate tasks, and maximise productivity.

Further, they include a new base controller known as the RGC OS (Ricoh Graphic Communication Operating System).  It continuously enhances connectivity with various systems and tools and aids functionality. Incorporating an intuitive and easy-to-use user interface allows operators to easily access the home screen from anywhere via a remote browser utility, boosting staff fulfilment. It also offers users greater capabilities for customisation and improved media management operability. Operators will also be able to visualise upcoming maintenance tasks and schedule this in advance, taking into account printing schedules, visible in a diary format, which each operator will be able to view. A number of wizards facilitate simple operations to set up jobs and achieve the best possible print output.

Features designed with ease of use in mind

A new 21.5-inch touchscreen panel that is larger than the predecessor Pro^TM C9200’s panel and consolidates all necessary tasks on one screen, improving operation and enabling greater ease of use. The new “group” function for frequently used media improves efficiency by allowing operators to group several media together. Additionally, Screen Customisation allows users to create different profiles, such as “operator” or “administrator”. The screen displays your most frequently used functions in prominent positions for easy identification.

Similarly, we’ve improved application versatility with improved media handling of paper between 40gsm and 470gsm, and extended input and output options for media up to 1260mm. Additional finishing capabilities for production flexibility include the GBC StreamPunch Plus and the Plockmatic Crease Trimmer Unit.

We developed the usability and versatility of our next generation digital printing systems to enhance user experience. This was in response to the urgent imperative to attract and retain staff. We’re boosting revenue and profitability for agile Print Service Providers.

Discover more about what they can do for you.

The post Ease of use – a sometimes overlooked key to productivity in digital printing and staff fulfilment appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.