Three tips for growing mid-sized Print Service Providers in a world of change

By Erwin Busselot, Business Innovations & Solutions Director, Commercial and Industrial Printing, Ricoh Europe

Ricoh Europe, 14 June 2017 – Political, economic, social and digital change are combining to create a complex environment for today’s print service providers.

And while they are ambitious and keen to embrace this change, many medium-sized print service providers face particular barriers preventing them from reaching their full potential.

Digital disruption remains a key issue. Ricoh Europe sponsored research found that employees from medium-sized organisations across a range of industries are confident that digital disruption will result in their company being in a stronger position by the end of 2017 than it is now. It also found 62% believe their business should do more to use new technology and processes.

Employees in mid-sized companies in general are clearly up for the challenge of digital disruption and want to overcome the barriers standing in their way. The first step is to look at what technology is available and how it can be best put into practice.

Digital disruption affects the production printing realm in different ways, so we have identified three areas business decision makers in Print Service Providers (PSPs) should focus on:

Digital processes
A fully digital operation cuts the costs of producing, distributing and managing critical documents to save money where it counts. Digitising processes including production workflow improves productivity, frees up employees’ time and can give more scope for responsiveness. And when it comes to actual production, a Ricoh digital colour press is flexible enough to manage most needs, including full integration with multichannel campaigns, and delivers exceptional quality.

Mobile working
Today’s increasingly mobile workforce wants to embrace the benefits flexible working creates. Cloud technology enables your non-office based colleagues such as the sales team to collaborate easily in real time and share documents securely via a wide range of mobile devices.

For example, remote access to Ricoh’s Avanti Slingshot Management Information System (MIS) enables sales staff to produce accurate estimates from the field, which can be approved, remotely too, by senior management.

The Ricoh App for Google Cloud Print opens up your Ricoh printers to receive print submissions via Google’s Cloud Print service. This enables greater employee mobility.

Production managers or operators who are away from the print room can use Ricoh’s TotalFlow Supervisor app for remote monitoring of print jobs.

Connectivity
Helping employees across the business to share ideas and develop them together is becoming increasingly important in the hyper competitive print and communications sectors. Easier connectivity supports effective collaboration. It increases employee productivity, fosters a cohesive culture and generates an innovative spirit. Ricoh’s interactive whiteboards support training and collaboration. They are the perfect solution for developing, sharing and recording ideas visually.

And Ricoh’s remarkably compact, portable short throw projectors will add enhance the impact of any presentation or add drama to your welcome messages in a print service provider’s reception.

As a global company with local presence and expertise across EMEA, we understand the specific needs of all PSPs and offer the service and support you’d usually only expect as a larger business within the graphic arts industry.

Isn’t it time you review your operations with us to see how you can best adapt to these changing times?

For more information, visit www.ricoh-europe.com/thoughtleadership.