The last time Ricoh had gathered most of its RFG dealers together was 2019. The show was called ConvergX, and the setting was Las Vegas, home of many a manufacturer-hosted event.
Well, things have changed, and so has Ricoh. Thus, when 100 of its leading dealers converged (without the X) on the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel from Oct. 10-12, the atmosphere had a decidedly different tempo. Goodbye ConvergX, hello Ricoh Partner Summit. And what better backdrop for a summit than mountainous Colorado?
The theme “Vision Meets Action” stressed the execution aspect, and was crafted around four seminars, 12 breakout sessions and two dealer panels. Attendees were also provided a tour of Ricoh’s customer engagement center in Boulder. As Jennifer Healy—the leadoff hitter and Ricoh’s director of marketing strategy and programs for the dealer and partner channel—noted, the event’s purpose was to inspire, provide collaboration, offer growth tools to move business forward and help dealers walk away with a plan of action in tow.
“This meeting is all about you, our dealer,” Healy told the crowd during opening remarks.
With fewer companies in attendance, the Summit took on a more intimate tone. Healy, SVP Dealer Division Jim Coriddi and President/CEO Carsten Bruhn (who joined the company in 2021) headlined the 90-minute presentation during the Oct. 10 opening afternoon. That left much of the following two days open for dealers to attend breakouts, peruse the vertical-driven product expo floor, tour the Boulder production facility and sit in on presentations including Keypoint Intelligence’s dealer panel on ecommerce solutions and its UVERCE product.
The show provided a strong production print flavor, and the impressive Boulder facility underscored the OEM’s commitment to that space. Adding buzz was the announcement of the upcoming release of the RICOH PRO Z75, touted as the world’s first B2 perfecting, aqueous-based sheetfed inkjet press.
During the opening afternoon’s session, Coriddi painted a picture of a print market that, while dwindling, still offers monstrous opportunities for growth. Citing Price Waterhouse Coopers assessment of print as a $53 billion market, Coriddi advised dealers to change their value proposition from print provider to valued consultant. And that, he said, begins with changing the customer conversation and better understanding their business—a theme that was often repeated.
“It’s about us working together to take share,” he noted. “At the end of the day, we need to take a bigger piece of the pie.”
Ricoh’s dealer business unit sales reflected this notion. From January through September of this year, it’s enjoyed 3% year-over-year growth in A3 color units, 96% for A4 (though backorders goosed this stat), and 13% in production. From a revenue standpoint, hardware revenue was up 1%, aftermarket 3% and software 16%.
On the subject of emerging technologies, which was one of the most popular breakout sessions, Coriddi acknowledged that Ricoh is leveraging AI, ChatGPT and 3D printing in its arsenal. He also alluded to other technologies that, while not currently baked into products, will be incorporated in future development.
Coriddi also drew attention to the big announcement from earlier this year that, frankly, Ricoh hasn’t trumpeted from a marketing standpoint—the joint venture with Toshiba. “This is clear evidence that Ricoh is absolutely committed to the print business for years to come,” he said to a round of applause, adding it will be a while until the fruits of the partnership reach the market.
Bruhn’s presentation touched on the company’s financial performance, with FY22 sales growing 9% year over year. Dealer hardware jumped 23% during that same period. For the first half of fiscal 2023, sales increased 7%. In terms of the U.S. dealer business for FY22, A3 and production print growth has been solid. Year to date in 2023 has been equally robust, with production and software complementing a rebounding A4 offering.
Perhaps the most aggressive messaging was Bruhn’s goal of growing the dealer business by 25% over the next few years. He vowed to make Ricoh easier to do business with in the process to help make that goal a reality.
Also during the Summit:
Production Print
In addition to the aforementioned Z75 announcement, dealers go to see the PRO C9500 and PRO C7500 in action during the Boulder tour. The units can handle a 13×38” sheet and coated substrates. The 9500 was shown with the inline Plockmatic PBM 5000 booklet maker.
Among other units on display were the partner EFI Pro 16h UV LED wide-format printer, the roll-to-roll RICOH PRO L5160e wide-format and the Xanté X-55 entry-level flatbed printer. Ricoh also has a sister customer engagement center in Atlanta.
Back at the hotel, a production print innovation panel included a number of large dealers discussing the keys to growth in the segment.
Ecommerce
Keypoint Intelligence’s Anthony Sci joined dealers including Kelly Office Solutions’ Tim Renegar, Woodhull LLC’s Rob Woodhull and OMNI Business Solution’s Greg Conroy in discussing their journey in onboarding the UVERCE ecommerce platform. One of the industry’s hot-button topics, Sci addressed some of the most frequently asked questions and objections dealers have prior to pulling the trigger on the addition of online commerce.
Emerging Technologies
Cenero’s Jason Carr discussed the company’s AV/conferencing solutions in collaboration with the Poly DirectorAI smart camera technology. Eric Porter, vice president of centralized services, provided an overview of the Ricoh Intelligent Assistant chatbot, an AI-driven tool that has been beta tested by a pilot group of dealers for live support. Lastly, Gary Turner, managing director for additive manufacturing, gave an overview of how Ricoh print heads are used in 3D modeling to assist physicians prior to medical procedures.
