The Edge of Efficiency: Ricoh’s New Frontier in Managed Print Services
In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, organizations are under ever-increasing pressure to do more with less: more output, more flexibility, more collaboration — all while controlling costs, improving security, and advancing sustainability. For many, the printing and document landscape remains an overlooked expense centre, a hidden bottleneck. That’s where managed print services (MPS) step into the spotlight — and where Ricoh is positioning itself at a new frontier of efficiency and transformation.
A Broader Vision of MPS
While traditional printing contracts focused largely on devices and toner, Ricoh has taken a more expansive view: MPS isn’t just about printers, it’s about workflows, information lifecycle, and enabling digital-first operations. Their five-phase adaptive model – Understand → Improve → Transform → Govern → Optimise – ensures that the solution is tailored, scalable and aligned with the business strategy. ricoh.com.my+3ricoh.com.my+3ricoh.com+3
This shift is crucial: By treating print and document output as a component of the broader information environment, businesses can unlock cost savings, streamline operations and free internal resources for higher-value work.
Why Efficiency Gains are Real and Tangible
Ricoh lists a set of key benefits that companies realise through its MPS programs: ricoh.com.my
Controlling costs – By centralising print fleet monitoring, automating supply replenishment and rationalising devices, organisations avoid duplication, waste and hidden expenditures.
Environmental sustainability – Less paper waste, fewer idle devices, smarter consumption: print becomes greener.
Enhanced productivity and agility – With mobile print, secure release, fewer device failures and better support, end-users spend less time wrestling printers and more time doing work.
Information governance & security – Print workflows often fall outside IT’s domain — MPS brings them under control: access controls, audit logs, secure release, reduced risk.
Strategic infrastructure – Rather than ad hoc device purchases, MPS enables a roadmap: the right devices, in the right places, managed as a service.
A concrete example: When Ricoh partnered with a large organisation (ETS) to audit its fleet, they eliminated more than 500 under-utilised devices, cut print volume by 3×, delivered monthly paper savings of US$8,000 from secure print rollout, and significantly lowered energy and consumable costs. Ricoh USA
What Sets Ricoh Apart at the Frontier
When choosing an MPS partner, several differentiators emerged in independent industry evaluations:
Ricoh has been named a Leader in reports such as IDC MarketScape for Cloud Managed Print & Document Services Hardcopy globally, citing its strong portfolio breadth, global implementation & delivery, and alignment across geographies. ricoh.com
Also, analysts such as Keypoint Intelligence have highlighted Ricoh for its global reach, ability to include third-party devices, and consultative alignment with customers’ cloud strategies. Ricoh USA
Ricoh’s “Green Print Centre” model shows how the company is now helping print-rooms evolve into strategic communication hubs, not just device rooms, thereby delivering efficiencies in workflow and sustainable operations. ricoh.com.au
Together, these affirm that Ricoh is not simply providing managed print — it’s enabling a transformation in how organisations think about output, information and the workplace.
Navigating the New MPS Landscape
For businesses looking to gain the edge, several trends are converging:
Service-based models: Flat-rate, subscription and outcome-based billing (e.g., per page, per seat) are now standard in mature MPS offerings. Ricoh USA+1
Cloud integration: Print and document workflows are no longer strictly on-premises — cloud-native platforms, remote monitoring and analytics are critical. Ricoh’s trajectory in this direction is noted as a strength. ricoh.com+1
Multi-vendor and hybrid environments: In many organisations print fleets include devices from multiple manufacturers; a modern MPS must manage them all under one umbrella. Ricoh emphasises this capability. Ricoh USA+1
Linking print to digital-process transformation: The real gain comes when print output is integrated into broader workflows — scanning, digital archiving, document routing, automation. Ricoh’s services move in that direction. ricoh.com+1
Practical Steps for Business Leaders
If your organisation is considering stepping into this new frontier of managed print services, here are recommended steps:
Conduct a fleet and workflow audit: Gather device counts, print volumes, user-to-device ratios, waste metrics, security vulnerabilities. Ricoh’s “Understand” phase emphasises this. ricoh.com.my+1
Set clear KPIs and align with business goals: Define what you want — cost reduction, sustainability targets, user experience improvements, security enhancements.
Choose a partner capable of global scale, cross-vendor support and real consultancy: The difference isn’t just devices — it’s the service, the analytics, the continuous improvement.
Adopt change management and governance: Printing habits are often embedded; to realise benefits you’ll need to engage users, monitor adoption, change culture. Ricoh emphasises this in its model. ricoh.com.my+1
Leverage analytics and continual optimisation: Once you’re live, use usage data, remote monitoring, device health data and workflow metrics to optimise and improve — not just wrap up at deployment.
The Pay-Off: What Efficiency Looks Like
When done thoughtfully, a modern MPS engagement with Ricoh can deliver:
Lower total cost of ownership for print and document infrastructure
Fewer devices, less waste, lower energy and consumables cost
Improved uptime, faster user workflows, better support
Strengthened security around print and document output
Alignment with sustainability goals and reduced CO₂/paper waste
A scalable, flexible infrastructure that adapts as the business changes
Conclusion
In a world where the digital and physical realms of work are intersecting more than ever, print and document infrastructure may not be the first thing on the board-room agenda — but it should be. Through its evolved managed print services offering, Ricoh is not just helping organisations keep printers running; it’s enabling them to rethink how they manage information, reduce waste and become more efficient overall.
For businesses seeking the edge of efficiency, the frontier is clear — and print is very much still part of it.
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