Ricoh to focus on services and software at Ipex 2010

Ricoh has unveiled its new offerings for Ipex, including web-to-print, colour management and business development.

The group's stand, located in Hall 12, will be one of the 10 biggest stands at the show, according to Ricoh. 

It will be "an important destination for visitors", Ricoh Europe production printing business group director Graham Moore claimed.

At the event in May, Ricoh will showcase NowPrint – a JDF compliant software as a service (SaaS) web-to-print package suitable for corporate and commercial applications.

"Using SaaS means that NowPrint has a low cost of entry with fast start-up times and comprehensive support," Moore said.

The software will be available in two versions NowPrint, an advanced version and as an entry-level package, ASAP, which will also be available on a try-before-you-subscribe version through the company's new business development offering the Ricoh Business Driver Programme (RBDP).

"After benchmarking all the rival offerings out there, we've put together a very value-added business development service," he added.

RBDP will be customised for different markets, including commercial print, print-for-pay and copy shop, and for different roles, including management, marketing production and operations.

Tools include a knowledge base providing white papers, ROI models, market research and trends, and an education centre with information on specific topics including web-to-print, variable data printing and multichannel campaigns.

It will be delivered through a mixture of face-to-face sessions, as well as Ricoh's extranet, and will include events, webinars and consultancy from Ricoh, along with independent consultants.

The company's colour management offering, Ready4Print ColourServer, is said to manage multiple digital presses and digital front ends, including non-Ricoh machines to standardise output across them, either to standards such as ISO 12647 or to an in-house or customer specific target.

"Ready4Print reduces the need for colour expertise to reduce waste and costs," Moore said.

The software will support Ricoh's Pro C900 production colour machine and its newly introduced Pro C720 and Pro 720S light production machines along with its EFI Fiery and Creo front ends.