Translating the Digital Journey to Expertise for Clients

Q: What opportunities exist for Ricoh Mexicana in the Mexican market?

A: Ricoh is a digital transformation organization. It is a company that started by manufacturing camera lenses and photocopiers and transformed to offer different services. In Mexico, we are mostly recognized as a printer business, but what we really sell is digital transformation supported by our devices and services. When you are extremely well-known for a successful product, it can be challenging to modify that perception. In this sense, we see many opportunities in Mexico. The digital transformation is global and businesses will face extinction if they do not transform their operations.

Q: In a heavily competed environment, how does Ricoh Mexicana work to stand out?

A: According to an analysis, around 40 percent of businesses say they want to work with a company that understands their concerns. Ricoh is that partner that understands business concerns and acts as a business integrator. Information is today’s gold mine for organizations, so that is where we start. Our first task is to structure their data. Experts say that over 50 percent of an organization’s information is not structured. This means that information is in an email, an Excel document or a sheet of paper without any organization. We help in this regard. In this step, we also analyze the organization’s processes and translate them into data and information.

After structuring the information, we apply analytics. Ricoh, at a global level, is characterized by its analytical capabilities. An example of what we can do for clients in Mexico relates to telecom companies. These players use our analytics services to decide where to place their infrastructure. We capture data, create a map and detail the behavior of an area based on the company’s structured information or from the population’s behavior. However, it is not only about analyzing data but also storing it. This is why Ricoh is also a hardware and software integrator. We are recognized as one of the Top 10 best providers of hyper-convergence in the Mexican market.

The next challenge of an organization in terms of digital transformation is how to share the information in a smart manner, so people inside or outside the organization have the exact information they need. To address this issue, Ricoh not only manufactures lenses for projectors but also intelligent screens that allow for collaborative work from anywhere in the world, basically acting as a big tablet. Ricoh also has a printing vertical for several formats. Many book printers in Mexico use our machines when printing from a digital format.

Q: Ricoh Mexicana has chosen to focus on healthcare, education, graphic communication and retail. What added value do you can generate in these areas?

A: To provide better services to customers, we separated our business into verticals. However, these sectors use our technology more intensively. For instance, we have developed technology that can be applied to the health sector. An example is our AI-based application that interprets the information recorded by a doctor using a microphone and fills out the patient’s medical records.  

Q: How have SMEs welcomed Ricoh’s digital transformation solutions?

A: We are seeing that today, many organizations are born digital. They already have digital processes and, in many instances, smaller organizations are more advanced in their digital transformation than their larger counterparts. Changing a large organization is not that easy and takes time.

Q: What are Ricoh’s expectations for the next two years?

A: Our traditional printing business is fairly mature by now and we are leaders in several markets, including Mexico. We will continue to consolidate this market, embedding technology in our devices and preparing them to be a portal to the digital transformation. In IT, we have implemented an expansion strategy because we believe there is a large potential market. We are also launching our own 3D printer.

Ricoh invests around 7 percent of its global revenue in resources and development. We want to transform businesses and help companies engage in the digital transformation.

Q: What strategies can be put in place to position Mexico as a technology and digital transformation hub?

A: We see a significant improvement opportunity in the education segment. For the country to improve its competitiveness, there needs to be an educational change similar to what happened in South Korea, which helped that country increase its productivity. In Mexico, we have many resources and a unique culture. With the right investments, we will become digital transformation hub.

Ricoh is a Japanese organization that has been in the market for 84 years and is present in over 200 countries. The company has shifted from a printers-and-lenses business toward the digital transformation arena