What were the key trends and industry developments in 2022?

The developments of 2022 will pave the way for commercial print trends in 2023 – so what were they? We have seen a real shift towards automation. Print businesses now place even more value on increasing uptime across the entire print lifecycle. This covers everything from pre-press to finishing, including logistics and fulfilment. Automation has helped businesses better serve their customers. It’s also enabled staff to spend more time bringing strategic value.

Sustainability is another key development. Customers now hold suppliers accountable as they assess their supply chains and find more sustainable print options and solutions. This has sharpened market competition and positively impacted the industry as a whole, an impact we support wholeheartedly at Ricoh. 

What are the biggest opportunities and commercial print trends in 2023?

In 2023, we believe Ink Jet will become more prominent. With Ink Jet, you can obtain faster run speeds, increase job volumes, produce smaller print runs and enables full-colour printing on all jobs, extending the historic break even between Digital and Offset. We are particularly proud to be innovating and leading the way in this technology. 

This year, there will also be a continued need for greater efficiencies in production through automation, but through focusing on integrated workflows and robotics and AI. We have written about the benefits of AI for print service providers here.

Data will also become ever more important as the industry looks to create efficiencies in production, particularly around big data that identify cost and efficiency savings for brands and marketing agencies. 

Another trend is partnership and collaboration. To ensure a strong relationship with a client, you must treat it as a partnership and collaborate. Operating in sync enables you to support all aspects of the business and helps nurture opportunities to spark new business. You can read about one of our partnerships here with Aura Print. 

How have economic, political, and supply chain challenges prepared you for 2023?

There has been a growing need for adaptable and flexible businesses over the past few years. One of the ways we have developed our business model was by moving away from the traditional supplier-customer relationship. We have made it clear that our clients can come to us as a trusted advisor to provide the necessary support in times of uncertainty. Ensuring we always stay true to this mantra will set us up for a strong future. 

Fostering these stronger customer relationships has also allowed us to identify synergies that generate shared business outcomes. 

One of the synergies we have identified with clients is finding greater efficiencies in our processes by streamlining our vendors’ network. These trusted relationships and efficiency levels will only develop in the years ahead. We’ve honoured the importance of our customer relationships in our new Champions of Print video. 

How can suppliers better help printers navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities in 2023?

It is crucial to be an advisor who does not solely focus on the production and output of the business but can support clients on broader challenges. 

We have adopted a delivery service that focuses on our customers’ growth by creating extra capacities which move away from the traditional relationship. Throughout the organisation, we have seen the benefit of providing post-sales business support and EDGE Business Development, helping clients diversify and grow.

How can suppliers do more to promote the effectiveness of print to the broader business community in 2023?

For organisations to promote print effectiveness, there is a need to become more active across the complete supply chain. To demonstrate how effective print can be compared to Digital Campaigns and to be part of the design process, not just a fulfilment of work.  

Working with industry bodies such as the BPIF and IPIA, as well as collaborating with other printers and marketing agencies, will enable originations to demonstrate the benefits of print.

Explore our Anything in Print hub if you are interested in understanding more about Ricoh’s commercial print offering. 

This article was originally published in PrintWeek 

Related articles: 

https://insights.ricoh.co.uk/digital-printing/customer-value-in-print 

https://insights.ricoh.co.uk/digital-printing/power-of-print

https://insights.ricoh.co.uk/digital-printing/celebrating-our-champions-of-print 

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Question: What was the most important lesson you have learned? 

Answer: Print will always be popular. It will change, but I think we can all agree that it will remain an essential part of the communication mix for years to come. 

However, we need to modernise our approach. We need to be smarter in how we implement print for our customers, employees and our own business, making sure we respond to new demands, adapt to new working practices and be more efficient.

Ricoh has been at the forefront of innovative trends, working with our customers to build environments that use digital and print technology to improve capabilities, employee experience, productivity and operational efficiency.

Question: What do you think are the implications of hybrid working for print businesses? 

Answer: Print customers shifting to an outsourced on-demand service geared up for hybrid working will have new expectations. 

Therefore, the print industry needs to attract a younger and more diverse workforce while retaining and upskilling its existing one. We need to build diverse perspectives to meet new expectations and ambitions. 

This will drive innovation and new ways of doing business. Investing in people who engage with your customers and encourage new and exciting ideas is essential. We believe this will underpin the discovery and retention of new business relationships and drive the print industry forward.

Question: What is the biggest challenge facing digital print and how will changing trends affect the print industry?

Answer: Digital print needs to become more impactful, innovative and meaningful to compete effectively with online and digital-only campaigns.

In 2022, we expect more digital migration, impacted by the continued improvements of inkjet platforms. We also hope to see concerns around housing customer data and managing cybersecurity addressed through robust MIS software solutions.

Question: What innovation, new technology, or development are you most excited to see in the coming years?

Answer: We are very excited about our Z75 engine, which we previewed this year. 

Looking to the future, the print industry needs to optimise the value of print as a critical component of the marketing mix; it needs to attract younger and more diverse workers, focus on sustainability, and reduce carbon emissions. I look forward to seeing how we progress with these causes as an industry. 

Question: What is your organisation’s main goal for 2022?

Answer: To continue supporting, working and collaborating with our customers and partners within the print sector. We will help our customers to scale up and skill up in new directions and enhance their competence in delivering purpose-driven solutions.

Additionally, as a global digital services organisation we aim to drive alignment with the wider Ricoh portfolio. We see an increased number of customers taking advantage of our digital offering, i.e. cyber security, IT solutions, workplace solutions, sustainability solutions and manufacturing services.

Question: Is there a wider industry trend that you think will significantly make an impact over the next 12 months?

Answer: Hybrid working patterns may change print and fulfilment requirements. It will likely make production more localised to see a reduction in shipping, containers, and waste, as well as an increase in personalisation. 

Print businesses need to capitalise on the existing infrastructure in the upcoming year while challenging their current workflow process, identifying where manual processes could cause errors or slow production and transitioning these into digital. 

The quick wins and short-term benefits need to be identified first, and then an analysis needs to be undertaken as to where productivity gains could be made. 

This needs to be done carefully and considerately. Business leaders must take the time to further develop workers by upskilling them and nurturing their existing skills to optimise investments and collaborate efficiently with suppliers. 

Print businesses must ask for innovations, workflow reviews, and – most of all – remain curious about what is possible.

Question: Ricoh has announced a couple of DTG partnerships recently (Aeoon/Josero), so this is a market that’s important to the company. Can we expect any more news or developments on this front? 

Answer: Ricoh has an extensive range of commercial printing, corporate printing, and signage solutions. It is experiencing growth in these sectors, and it will continue to commit significant R&D resources and spending to improve its solutions in the DTG market. 

This Q&A was originally published in digital printer magazine in 2022.

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Digital technology is growing all the time, at a ridiculously fast rate. Just think about the devices that are part of everyday life, and compare them to what we were using even 10 years ago. Smartphones, TVs and watches, 5G, apps and streaming services.

It’s no wonder the value of print is frequently called into question.

But, this digital evolution actually enhances the power of print for your business. Why? Because it delivers an experience your customers cannot get from their screens. In this article, we’ll go through six ways that print matters in today’s media mix, and why using print will make a lasting impression on your customers.

1. Print matters because it provides credibility

Print offers a higher level of credibility when compared to online content – with 82% of respondents to a MarketingSherpa customer satisfaction survey saying they trust print when making a purchasing decision.

Using print is a sign that your business is serious about business. After all, anyone can send an email – just think about the spam we have to deal with everyday. Print provides a much more considered approach which won’t get lost in the digital noise.

2. Print matters because it has a long lifespan

When your customers open an email, engage with a social post, or visit a website, that content disappears as soon as they move on. So, if you want your digital media to make an impression, it might only have a few seconds to do it.

With print, however, you are providing your customers with content they can constantly and repeatedly reference, for months or even years, as leaflets, brochures or posters in an office. They can also be passed along to friends or colleagues, maximising their reach.

3. Print matters because digital fatigue is real

The impact of digital marketing is waning due to oversaturation. According to SG360°’s 2021 customer survey, 75% of participants said they were overwhelmed by the number of digital ads they were seeing daily – not surprising, after a marked increase in consumption following the extra leisure time provided by the pandemic.

This is good news for the power of print, as printed media becomes an effective tool for cutting through the digital clutter and engaging directly with your customers.

4. Print matters because it forms connections

If you want to form a lasting impression on your customers, you need to create content they will engage with. A Temple University study evaluated responses to physical and digital media, and found that while participants processed a lot of digital media quickly, they spent more time with individual print ads.

In turn, this led to a stronger emotional response from the printed media – and ultimately, better recall of information when they came to make a purchase decision.

5. Print matters because it can be customised to each recipient

While digital technology has come a long way, producing content mass-marketed across huge online audiences, innovations in printing have also greatly evolved, enabling images and text in printed pieces to be uniquely tailored to an audience of one.

This allows your business to focus your budgets on printing relevant offers, images and formats for your customers. And because today’s digital presses can print affordable, short-run work, you can take advantage of much more highly-targeted print campaigns.

6. Print matters because it complements digital media

It might be easy to think this article is dismissing the merits of digital media and telling you to focus on print. In fact, it is incredibly effective to combine the two, with print driving customers to view online content like videos, eCommerce sites, or additional content.

You can do this easily with today’s print techniques, such as the inclusion of QR codes, personalised URLs or augmented reality markers. There is huge creative potential between print and digital, and your business should explore how they can work in tandem to deliver your customers effective marketing content.

Want to discover why print matters for your business? Ricoh is here to help

Now that we’ve covered the key reasons why print maintains relevance in the digital age, you might be planning on assessing how print can help your business improve relationships with your customers – by giving them effective marketing that drives growth and delivers results.

Ricoh has years of experience as a collaborative, people-first partner, and we understand how the powerful combination of digital and print can capture attention, generate excitement, facilitate engagement and support mission-critical business activities. 

We’d love to help you connect more deeply with your customers. Contact us to get started.

Topic first discussed on Business Booster.

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As we head deeper into 2022, leading businesses are setting their strategies to make the most of what lies ahead. And there are several key questions to address:

1. What will be the main drivers in our markets?
2. What issues and challenges are we likely to face in the current climate?
3. What opportunities are set to arise from those challenges?
4. How do we capitalise on those opportunities in a way that benefits our customers?

Of all of these questions, the last is the most important. More than ever, 2022 is going to be about customer benefits, customer satisfaction and customer experience. In this article, we’ll share our insights into why customer satisfaction is so important – and how to weave it into your own business strategy…

Gain a better understanding of your customers

To improve customer satisfaction, benefits, and experience, you need to know what your customers require from you. But how do you find out? 

You might get a reasonable idea from asking yourselves the four questions we mentioned in the previous section, but ultimately, the only way you get a true understanding is by talking to your customers directly. Approach them with an open mind, really get under the skin of their unique challenges, and work together to grasp the specific opportunities that arise.

Approach your customers with an open mind

Many organisations or suppliers will walk through their customer’s doors, armed with preconceived ideas of the ‘right solution’ and a determination to impose that solution. But this one-size-fits-all thinking does not allow for the unique challenges each customer may be facing.

Instead, you should engage with your customers. Ask them what their problems are – and listen. Formulate fresh solutions that purposefully meet their needs, work collaboratively to provide long-term support that truly works for them, and you’ll have a chance at developing a lasting relationship with a very satisfied customer indeed.

Encourage your customers to explore new perspectives

At Ricoh, we’ve found that when businesses are open to new perspectives, and are prepared to explore previously unimagined avenues, startling results can be achieved – far beyond a one-dimensional calculation of application and machine. 

“Challenging, pertinent questions from the Ricoh team made us think differently about the type of space we needed, to enable effective and efficient staff productivity; Ricoh’s approach and questioning set it apart from other suppliers and opened our eyes to the art of the possible.”

FRAIKIN HR MANAGER, HENRY HORSFALL

Such results can only lead to greater customer satisfaction, and a better relationship between you and your clients.

Four ways that Ricoh’s approach promotes customer satisfaction

Let’s go through some of the steps we’ve identified and explored as effective ways to support our partners in the print industry: 

• Bring best practice insights from across industry

Expertise, insight and different perspectives are extremely valuable commodities in 2022. Collaboration and discussion between a talented mix of people can lead to new ideas, fresh inspiration and positive action that shapes your business towards success.

We ask questions, listen, and share best practice learnings from across our varied customer base.

• Offer discovery sessions to unlock business value

Encouraging your customers to seek discovery sessions with your experts can help them think in new ways, sharpen their competitive edge, and understand that they will not be alone in their journey – that they have a partner to share it with.

We offer these sessions at our world-class UK Customer Experience Centre in Telford; where integrated hardware and software services and solutions are presented in ways designed to shift paradigms of thought about what is possible in industry.

• Put the right team in place to develop your own strategy

Just as important as providing your customers with support, expertise and services in a way that meets their unique needs, is exploring how you can support your own business and people, in a way that meets yours.

We put together a strengthened Strategy and Services Development team to explore opportunities for business growth, and for measuring the progress and levels of customer satisfaction that this delivers to our print partners.

• Commit to long-lasting relationships

Customers need to know that they can trust their supplier; that their supplier knows and understands them and their challenges; that their supplier delivers on its promises, solves problems, and helps it to operate effectively in business. All of this combined creates greater customer satisfaction and growth in the value of their business.

We have made this pursuit our priority, for both ourselves and our customers, in 2022.

Work with us to unlock your own potential and improve customer satisfaction

One of the best ways to take advantage of opportunities with your customers in 2022 is to work directly with a collaborative, people-first partner like Ricoh.

Ricoh has years of experience at working alongside your business to develop the right strategy for you, your people and your customers – integrating effective solutions and working practises for your organisation, through exciting initiatives like our Ricoh EDGE programme.

We’re on hand to listen to your challenges and share the latest business strategies, print innovation and industry insights with you. Get in touch to find out more.

Article originally published in Printweek January 24th 2022.

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So, if we all experience life differently, how can a print business hope to meet the needs of every one of their customers? Today, a catch-all approach is destined to fail – and so is a workforce that doesn’t have the diversity to represent and reflect the people your organisation is talking to.

You can’t innovate if you can’t relate. And innovation is at the cornerstone of success when everything is on the move.

Diversity versus the print industry

Diversity has been a challenge for the print industry for many years, but combating the status quo and driving change is more important now than it has ever been. As print businesses strive to gain a competitive advantage, modernisation – a journey of digital transformation – is getting ever higher on the agenda. And the reason is, fundamentally, printers’ customers have also changed.

This kind of change is a huge challenge, and if they have not already done so, print business owners must assess whether they are equipped to address such a momentous upheaval with the skills and experiences of their existing teams.

How diversity leads to a competitive advantage

For many in the print industry, this huge challenge is one they are not prepared for. Yet, attracting new skills and new ideas is now an urgent requirement to ensure you can claim or retain a competitive advantage. 

Leading brands like Ricoh have already battled through this process. Ricoh identified that building a more diverse talent pool was fundamental to its success, both for its own approach to the many markets it operates in, and also for the benefit of its customers – who can gain by extension from Ricoh’s own injection of fresh thought. 

Data suggests that diversity drives innovation by up to 20% – and it’s innovation that will lead print organisations into the future.

The importance of perspective

Perspective is everything. The only way for your business to look at things from the right angle is to make sure you’re looking through the eyes of someone who understands your customer’s wants and needs. As a female Sales Director in the print industry, and part of a leadership team where half of us are women, I’d like to share how diversity drove success for our business.

“We are already finding and developing new and effective ways of working with our customers that utilise this new mix of skills, outlook and experience. This is relevant for our customers in the print industry because the diversity that we represent is a mirror of their own customers, whose backgrounds and personalities and motivations are varied. We can, therefore, help printers to interpret and understand what their customers are trying to achieve. We understand the voices of their customers because in many instances those voices match our own.”

Tanya Howe, Sales Director, Ricoh Graphic Communications

Why is diversity in print innovation crucial right now?

Different types of markets are emerging, and even though in the past customers have been served well by traditional print sectors like transactional print, it is now vital that print businesses actively support niche print services in both the commercial and corporate space. 

These different markets have a new range of clients that have different behaviours, experiences and characteristics and that in turn requires a renewed perspective and position.

Listen to Ricoh’s Anything in Print podcast with the BPIF on talent and diversity in print

Three stages for the future at Ricoh

Going forward, bringing diverse perspectives to bear on digital transformation within the print industry will be a key part of the way Ricoh builds and sustains client relationships; especially as they continue to develop their consultative approach through programmes such as EDGE, which was launched last year. EDGE delivers a three-stage process of:

• Discovery – where clients assess the barriers to production efficiency, with a focus on people, processes and production systems.
• Transformation – when new or improved structures, roles and responsibilities are created to build on the discovery findings.
• Sustainability – which promotes embedding that transformation as a culture and not a one-off review.

What other benefits does diversity have on the print industry?

It’s not just the print industry that benefits from a focus on diversity. This approach brings many additional benefits to any employer, and a wealth of research exists to back this up. 

McKinsey, for example, has shown that gender, ethnic and cultural diversity on leadership teams can improve financial performance. It also makes your company more attractive as a prospective employer to Millennials and those in Generation Z if they see this diversity already exists in your workforce. Beyond that, diversity is directly linked to profitability and is likely to increase it by 25%.

It’s down to richer and deeper conversations which lead to mutually benefiting strategies, building relationships that last, lower customer churn and sustainable business operations.

Moving forwards with a people-first partner

Our experience at Ricoh has only strengthened our commitment to diversity. We have found our organisation to be more willing to challenge the way things have always been done. We believe that this is giving us a competitive advantage in the marketplace, and with humility in our hearts, we think that print businesses that go on the same journey to build a more diverse workforce will also enjoy that advantage. Fresh talent and fresh ideas don’t just arrive on the doorstep though; you must go out of your way to attract it and nurture it, and therein lies the challenge for print.

Looking for inspiration on how to grow your business in 2022? Start by listening to our Anything in Print podcast on nurturing the next generation in print.

And you can also check out our ‘Anything in Print’ online brochure to discover a new world of opportunity!

Article originally published in Printweek November 22nd 2021.

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It isn’t news to anyone that climate change is at the top of the global agenda, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Increasingly, it will have dramatic effects on customer demand. Not just from their government, but from brands, suppliers and each other.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that this would create a problem for the print industry. In reality, it presents a fantastic opportunity for leading print businesses to converge innovation with future digital print technology, applications and partnerships to deliver a premium service that meets the priorities of today’s society.

The performances of different companies or sectors are diverging. Those who can and have adapted are arching upwards, those unable or unwilling to adapt are trending down. This article will help make sure your digital print business is on the up.

What do your customers demand from digital print?

Customer demands are the cause of this divergence. Certainly online purchasing has accelerated over the past two years, and to a very large degree, won’t return to what we consider normal. Digital printers must build a stronger online capability and back it up with automated processes to be able to thrive. 

Customers demand less plastic, less gloss, and more of a rustic, natural look and feel. In print, we are seeing this manifest itself in the increased use of uncoated papers for general marketing collateral – such as brochures and catalogues. 

Printers and agencies are telling us this is happening. Secondly, paper manufacturers confirm the growth in uncoated paper usage too, causing them to adapt their own operations to produce the required natural grades.

How is the digital print industry adapting to change?

The print industry has always pointed to digital print and on-demand as a great counterpoint to the environmental pressure our industry is facing. Today, there is the capability and technology to do smaller and more targeted runs, so there is less waste. As a result still being effective at reaching the right customers with the right message.

The development of hyper-local print markets takes the argument even further, augmenting the carbon-countering message. Platforms such as Gelato and Printify offer an example of digital technology, allied to the convenience of online purchasing. This now means a product designed in one part of the world, printed and delivered to a customer in another, the same or next day. 

These trends and capabilities send a strong signal about the need for digital printers to think about sustainability as they shape their service propositions in the post-pandemic world.

Listen to Ricoh’s Anything in Print podcast with Gelato

How is the future of digital print enabled by technology?

Printers can get great results on the more sustainable paper stocks your customers demand, thanks to the print engine improvements that different vendors have achieved. For example, Ricoh’s Pro C9200 digital press includes a matt fuser option that allows users to produce offset-like quality on uncoated papers – delivering a premium finish while being more environmentally friendly.

Alongside this advance on the Ricoh Pro C9200 is a feature called Auto Colour Diagnosis (ACD). It controls colour stability and image quality to reduce production errors and ensure customer satisfaction, which ultimately reduces waste. All strong factors in the approval of the on-demand, online print market, as well as improving environmental performance.

Work with a people-first partner to ensure best practices and results.

Customer demands have always varied. But in today’s online and connected world, there’s no doubt that there’s an acceleration of change and expectations. Ricoh has years of experience at the cutting edge of print devices and developments. Specialising in working alongside your business to develop the right strategy for you, your people and your customers.

We can help you be more agile and find greater uptime and efficiency. In addition, lower costs, provide speedier ROI and make the most of your devices and services. Together, we can embrace new customer demands through innovation, insight and experience – and help your business thrive.

Article originally published in Printweek September 20th 2021.

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We live and work in a digital world. Everything is online – shopping, streaming, media and advertising. Every channel is now saturated by digital communications. As a result, it’s no wonder leading brands are looking for new, fresh ways to reach their customers. And that’s why the latest digital print enhancements are proving so effective.

In this article, we’ll cover just some of the ways premium digital print can cut through the noise of online marketing and make a real impact.

What are digital print enhancements?

Digital print enhancements are techniques that elevate standard print products into premium print products. In short, they play a key role in persuading your customers to spend a little more through creative and impactful print and can add incredible power and value to your marketing.

Therefore, if you are looking to use print to communicate with your customers, it is critical that you grasp the opportunity to incorporate digital print enhancements.

Why do digital print enhancements present such an exciting opportunity?

Print buyers across multiple sectors are showing an increased appetite for physical media within their marketing. Of course, creative concepts of digital print enhancements have to be sold in the right way. Therefore you need to understand your customer’s needs to deliver the right samples or examples that will fire up their imaginations and get them excited by your products.

By combining print embellishments with data, strategy and results, you can pinpoint exactly where your customers should be directing their efforts. As a result, this will help them yield positive results from physical marketing.

Which digital print enhancements should commercial print businesses be considering?

Move beyond CMYK to enhance printing with gold and silver metallic, white inks and toners. Clear varnishes that add texture, and an ever-increasing range of expanding colours. Giving your printers the ability to really enhance what they produce. 

Very often, these “5th colours” and effects can be printed inline with CMYK, such as with the Ricoh Pro C7200X series digital printers. In addition, special effects such as foiling can be applied later to add further value.

How do digital print enhancements add value?

By incorporating digital print enhancements into your direct marketing, you can surprise and delight your clients. Consequently building a reputation for innovation and ultimately, increase your profitability. In addition, InfoTrends research indicates margins can be anything from 50% to 400% depending on the enhancements used.

“Why should people pay more money for the same information?” – it is often claimed that print buyers are reluctant to spend more money for print embellishments. However, research suggests this is a myth, with data showing that buyers are willing to pay a premium of almost 90% for digital print enhancements.

Work with a people-first partner to ensure best practices and results

One of the best ways to take advantage of this new opportunity in digital print is to work directly with a collaborative, people-first manufacturing partner like Ricoh.

Ricoh has years of experience at the cutting edge of print devices and techniques. Specialising in working alongside your business to develop the right strategy for you, your people and your customers. Integrating effective digital print solutions and print enhancements for your organisation.

Click to read Anything in Print

Article originally published in Printweek July 19th 2021.

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Agility: once a corporate buzzword, now, an objective on business plans everywhere. Many print businesses are looking to digital technology and software to elevate their operations and boost agility, aiming to save time and cost, enhance productivity and maintain their competitive edge.

For some in the print industry, exploring new software solutions is a natural continuation. Inhibitive in-house systems had already forced business leaders to examine the power of digital technology. Now the market demands cost-effective software, which has a strong foundation to build on, that is flexible enough to meet their unique requirements and scalable to support future business growth.

What to look out for in print software

Businesses should be searching for proven, off-the-shelf solutions they can adapt as required. Choosing a service provider is an important consideration too. Your provider should be prepared to react quickly to meet unique needs and work collaboratively with internal teams to identify the right solutions to the right challenges. 

Technically, workflow and MIS software must be flexible, scalable and compliant in terms of security and data handling. It also must be capable of running within the cloud or on-premises depending on preference. Crucially, print software should be designed to afford better visibility over operations, and offer data intelligence. Optimising processes is valuable, but knowing exactly how long processes take can identify opportunities for improvement. 

How to choose a service provider

Finding the right technology partner can help your business both in the short and long term. It goes much further than the product offering that the partner can initially put in place. Print businesses should aim to partner with a company that can take both a strategic and tactical view, focusing on the bigger picture of the company’s growth and development and the more immediate day-to-day demands.

Beyond this, the ideal software partner will be open and transparent and capable of undertaking a more wide-ranging systems integrator role. They will recognise when a company already possesses high-value systems and tools built upon and will be prepared to introduce and manage a third-party application integration if their products do not solve the dilemma.

What to expect during software implementation 

Customers often fear that requesting tailored adaptations to an off-the-shelf solution will mean long lead times before implementation. But this need not be the case. In our experience of tailoring our software to customer needs, the implementation time should be no longer than six weeks from the start of the project. Speed of delivery, even for tailored solutions, should not be a problem.

Nor should cost. Out of the box, the Ricoh Process Director software is a simplified PDF workflow. It can meet the needs of every organisation, from a small to medium-sized print business, right up to corporate enterprises and retailers. It is modular and is deployed on a ‘pay for what you use’ basis.

Businesses need to be agile. Software can deliver it

Being ready for the unknown has become as important as drafting a thorough strategic plan. The shocks of the last year and a half have made this point forcefully, sparking many printers into bringing workflow and software plans forward. They have discovered that getting the right software application and the right software partner can profoundly impact a business’s ability to quickly adapt to changing market demands and position itself for profitability and growth.

Article originally published in Printweek August 17th 2021.

How can we help

Learn more about Ricoh print software including our Process Director Workflow and the Avanti Slingshot print MIS.

And for an extra agility boost, check out our free, downloadable ebook covering the top ten time-consuming tasks you should automate.

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Touch is important when it comes to producing high quality print products your customers will love. Modern print techniques can add different tactile finishes, which produce printed applications that demand to be touched, admired, and interacted with.

These techniques provide creatives with a powerful, vibrant, and memorable way to grab and hold attention. And this is realised through more than just the type of paper you choose – it extends back into the technology, hardware and production processes your organisation chooses to adopt.

Are you ready to explore how these possibilities can produce impactful results that encourage instinctive engagement? Read on to find out more.

Why does touch matter?

Touch is a sense we experience even before we are born and we use it instinctively from the moment we take our first breath. We rely on it to communicate physical and emotional information.

We can’t help but pick things up. Feeling their shape, texture and weight enables us to better assess what we are holding. It helps us make everyday decisions – is the towel dry, the cup of tea hot, the fruit ripe, the seat comfortable?

It can influence abstract concepts too. Such as hardness signifying greater rigidity than softness – and it can also affect what we pay attention to and how we respond.

How does touch drive engagement with print products?

A study by Canadian neuromarketing firm TrueImpact, sponsored by Canada Post, compared printed direct mail with digital email and display ads, using three key metrics: cognitive load (ease of understanding), attention (how long subjects looked at the content), and motivation (persuasiveness).

It found direct mail requires 21% less cognitive workload resulting in higher brand recall. It focuses attention more successfully because of a lack of distractions. Direct mail is also more persuasive than digital media as its motivation response is 20% higher. This shows the true value of considering our sense of touch in your print finishing techniques and processes.

Which print products are most influenced by touch?

The ability to drive engagement through touch adds value to not just direct mail. Point of Purchasing, packaging, greetings cards, invitations, business cards and more can all be transformed with the addition of a haptic element through your print finishing techniques or processes.

And while memory recall is likely to be higher when high quality paper is used, engaging our sense of touch creates a feeling of ownership that prompts action.

How can the digital production process support your print techniques?

Aside from the choice of paper, a haptic element can also be added in the digital production process.

The Ricoh Pro C9200 Series of digital colour sheetfed presses can deliver a matte or glossy feel during the printing of applications, while systems such as Duplo’s DuSense sensory coater add a layer of coating. It can lay the coating on pre-assigned areas to create different thicknesses and achieve a variety of high impact effects. These sensory results can be further enhanced with the addition of metallic designs using Color-Logic.

The capability can open huge opportunities according to InfoTrends. It reported 30% of all colour pages (offset and digital) receive some type of special effects enhancement. However just 0.5% are currently being enhanced with a digital process. The potential is huge, particularly as print buyers are prepared to pay an 89% premium for textured work.

How Ricoh can help you enhance the impact of touch on your print products

Ricoh has developed a series of Digital Works Creative Inspiration Guides showcasing the production possibilities that address key growth areas identified by InfoTrends. The Neon book covers spot colour, gamut extension, and fluorescent. The Metal book focuses on metallics and the Clear book features coating and security. There are books for white and foil applications as well and a forthcoming Touch book will highlight textured finishes.

The series includes a design guide with tips and tricks on how to fully deploy these enhancement print techniques. As well as original artwork for print ready examples.

Find out more with Ricoh’s Anything in Print insight and guidance

Ricoh has years of experience in understanding the vital role print plays in an organisation. We specialise in analysing the needs of your business, identifying the right solutions for both you and your people. Integrating them seamlessly into your workflows – ensuring your people know how to make the most of them.

We can help you discover the right technology, products and processes you need which introduce print techniques that consider and incorporate our sense of touch, and help you take advantage of the opportunity for your business.

Read our ‘Anything in Print’ guide today.

The post Do your print finishing techniques and processes consider our sense of touch? appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

Amidst the many profound changes that digital technology has wrought upon the print industry is one that we at Ricoh feel is often overlooked: the relationship between a printing company and its technology suppliers has fundamentally evolved. Expectations of this new relationship have become a key consideration for us as a manufacturer.

Most printers, as they grapple with myriad pressures, want more from their vendors. In fact, they don’t want them to act like a traditional vendor at all. They want them to act as a partner – being interested in and engaged in the challenges and the opportunities the print business faces, contributing technology, yes, but much more besides – to be a sounding board, a source of ideas, fresh thoughts, knowhow, and a spirit of innovation.

The reason that printers want this level of engagement from equipment manufacturers is simple: their own customers are coming to expect very much the same from them. A print business that wants to be seen as a leader must be bold and confident; it must be a solution provider to its own customers, often in areas outside of its traditional print expertise.

It can seek to meet these challenges itself; it can partner with other service providers who perhaps bring new skills and capabilities; or it can harness the rich vein of digital experience and knowledge that sits within many technology suppliers.

The downloadable ebook covers topics from what makes a successful print company to what success looks like.

Click to read Anything in Print

At Ricoh, our response to these changes in the print market has been to ready ourselves for exactly this kind of partnership role. It is no longer just about price, or “selling boxes”. We can assist print businesses to make a digital transformation because we have already undertaken one ourselves. We can help them to innovate because it’s what we do each and every day. We are not afraid to say to our customers: whatever it is you need to find a solution for, challenge Ricoh!

Through our extensive R&D activity and the partnerships we have forged, we believe we have the biggest portfolio of print & enterprise solutions on the market. We are working with big printing firms and major brands on exciting new applications that bring both our own and other parties’ technology to the fore. Here are just a few examples where we are creating tailored solutions for our customers:

• Bespoke print with security features using infra-red toner
• Integrating robotics and third-party technologies that enable print and pack in one go
• Digital factories incorporating digital experiences
• Utilising applied print solutions
• Building custom-made, secure workflows to connect multiple production sites

These are all real-life jobs that are helping to propel our customers into new and exciting worlds of commercial growth and opportunity. We believe that anything in print is possible and we are committed to taking these kinds of journeys with our customers.

This has called for a new ethos for Ricoh as a technology partner. We have been through the digital transformation, but our culture and how we use it to approach our customers’ problems is also critical. The way we address this now is by taking a purpose-driven approach.

Everything that a print business does – from its big picture strategy to the day-to-day, minute-to-minute processes by which it tries to implement that strategy – must have a purpose. Our consultative outlook demands that, before we even talk about selling a piece of equipment, we must understand what the business is trying to achieve and how it wants to achieve it, from the big picture to the small details.

We’re happy to start small because we have done so many times and watched great things grow from it. As a partner to your print business, this is what you can expect from us: real engagement, and a tailored solution, based on an understanding of your purpose, and designed to maximise the contribution that everything makes to that purpose, at every level of the business. This is our purpose; for us, it’s how solution providers are supposed to work.

(Article first published by Printweek)

The post Suppliers supply the tools, but technology partners power business growth appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.