Ricoh produces electronic products, primarily cameras and office equipment such asprinters,photocopiers,fax machines, andprojectors, and also offersSoftware as a Service (SaaS) document management applications such as DocumentMall, RicohDocs, GlobalScan, Print&Share, and MakeLeaps. In the late 1990s through early 2000s, the company grew to become the largest copier manufacturer in the world. During this time, Ricoh acquiredSavin,Gestetner, Lanier, Rex-Rotary,Monroe, Nashuatec,IKON and most recentlyIBM Printing Systems Division / Infoprint Solutions Company. Although the Monroe brand was discontinued, products continue to be marketed worldwide under the remaining brand names. In 2006, Ricoh acquired the European operations of Danka for $210 million. These operations continue as a stand-alone business unit, under the Infotec brand.[2]
1936: The company was founded. Before relocating to Chūō, Ricoh was first inMinato, Tokyo.[3]
1955: Ricoh made their firstdiazo copier.Ricopy 101 was a diazo wet copier for desktop blueprint duplication.[4] The model received certification ofMechanical Engineering Heritage #54 by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) in 2012.
1960s and 1970s: Ricoh made wrist watches for both the Japanese domestic market and international markets, briefly entering into a partnership withHamilton Watch Company, for the creation of the Ricoh Hamilton Electric watch.[5]
September 2005: Ricoh launched its newly-designed logo for the Ricoh brand, designed byLandor Associates. The prior logo designed by PAOS had been introduced in 1986 .[10]
November 2006: Ricoh announced the integration of the head office of Ricoh Europe B.V. (REBV) inAmstelveen,Netherlands, with NRG's European headquarters inLondon,United Kingdom. This was completed on April 1, with the former NRG HQ inLondon becoming the Strategic HQ and the former REBV HQ in Amstelveen becoming the Operational HQ. This mirrors a similar process which took place in the US with Lanier and Ricoh USA. This integration was the first step within each country in Europe.
July 1, 2007: A single country organization was created in Austria, with integration also taking place in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
January 25, 2007: Ricoh announced purchase ofIBM Printing Systems Division for $725 million and investment in a 3-year joint venture to form the new Ricoh subsidiary, InfoPrint Solutions Company, with a 51% share.[11]
February 2008: Ricoh partnered with PrinterOn to set up two new HotSpot printers: The SP C410DN-KP color printer and the SP 4100N-KP monochrome printer which allows Wi-Fi enabled users to print documents from any location.[12]
August 27, 2008: Ricoh announced its intentions of acquiringIKON Office Solutions for $1.6 billion; on November 1, Ricoh completed the acquisition.[13]
May 2011: Ricoh announced a cut of 10,000 jobs worldwide up to March 2014 from the 40,000 workers in Japan and 68,900 others overseas. The company would also shift 15,000 workers to areas with more growth potential.[14]
July 1, 2011: Japanese optical glass-makerHoya Corporation said it would sell itsPentax camera business to Ricoh, in a deal the Nikkei business daily said was worth about 10 billion yen ($124.2 million).[16] On July 29, 2011, Hoya transferred its Pentax imaging systems business to a newly established subsidiary called Pentax Imaging Corporation. On October 1, 2011, Ricoh acquired all shares of Pentax Imaging Corp. and renamed the new subsidiaryPentax Ricoh Imaging Company, Ltd.[17][18]
October 1, 2011: Ricoh announced the establishment of Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company, LTD.[17] On August 1, 2013, the company name was changed toRicoh Imaging Company Ltd.[19]
January 8, 2016: Ricoh India stated they partnered withSiemens to offer digital lifecycle management software.[20]
July 19, 2016: Ricoh India admitted to an estimated₹1,123crore accounting fraud.[21] CEO and Managing Director Manoj Kumar, and Chairman Tetsuya Takano resigned from Ricoh India as a result.[22]
January 18, 2017: Ricoh Limited announced the acquisition[23] of Avanti Computer Systems, headquartered inToronto, Ontario, a leading provider of Print MIS (Management Information System) targeted for the production print market. The acquisition enabled Ricoh to further expand the value its production print workflow delivers to customers, as well as to help improve management efficiency and productivity of customers in the production printing market.
The Ricoh Group has sales and support, production, and research and development operations in nearly 180 countries. It has its world headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and regional headquarters in Japan, the Americas, Europe, China, and the Asia-Pacific.
Americas Regional Headquarters Ricoh USA, Inc., located in Exton, PA, USA, covers the United States and Canada while Ricoh Latin America, located in South Florida, covers the Latin American countries
Europe Regional Headquarters Ricoh International B.V., located in Amstelveen, the Netherlands and London, U.K. covers Europe, Africa and Middle East
Asia/Pacific Regional Headquarters Ricoh Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., located in Singapore, covers South-East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and China
Ricoh has 272 subsidiaries (72 national and 200 overseas) which specialize in technology- and customer-research groups around the world.[27] For example, Ricoh Innovations, a research subsidiary of Ricoh Company, operates inSilicon Valley,California, focusing on technology, cloud, mobile solutions, and customer research.[28]
