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Following the merger of Ricoh and its cousin Lanier the latter’s managing director John Hall is stepping up as Australian managing director of the combined entity with plans to grow the business to $500m.
He says the road to the $500m target will be paved by innovation and valued-added services for customers. Ricoh as a global entity is just beginning its eighteenth Mid-Term Plan, which will see it move into IT services and communication as well as multifunction print devices – the Australian business will pick up on the R&D happening overseas.
Production print forms one of the smaller but important parts of the business, although it has grown rapidly in recent years, with Ricoh making its debut into the industry at PacPrint 2009 and Lanier two years later. As well as cutsheet printers Ricoh also develops the InfoPrint 5000 high speed inkjet web system.
John Hall, now managing director of Ricoh Australia
Lanier was formerly owned by Ricoh Singapore, and in this country sold rebadged Ricoh C901 and C701 printers under its own brand as part of an integrated solution, with some success. Ricoh sold about three times the number of printers. Ricoh’s production print unit has been without a general manager since Kathy Wilson moved on about a year ago. The details of the integration of the two production print units are still to be worked out.
Hall says, “Ricoh seeks to expand services around workflow, document management and managed IT services while supplying best-of-breed print solutions to government, corporate and professional print organisations. Ricoh is on a strong path in Australia.”
With the integration of Lanier, Ricoh Australia is currently sitting at around $450m. Hall says folding Lanier into Ricoh will make for a stronger proposition for the united Australian company.
He tells AP, “This is an exciting time. We’ve brought the two brands together and it will make a much bigger and stronger organisation. We are going to have a powerful message for the Australian marketplace, for the first time a unified brand.
“I think this brings some certainty to our Australian customers, combining two strong businesses both pursuing the same strategy in the multifunction print space. Together, we are number one in the market.”
Hall was previously managing director of Lanier Australia, and is taking over from Les Richardson, who led Ricoh Australia for six years. Hall says, “We have a good team coming together; I am excited to see the calibre of the people we have in both organisations.
“Les has positioned Ricoh well for the future. We have worked closely on the integration of the two organisations. From this strong foundation I look forward to continuing to move the business forward.”
Hall has been part of the Ricoh Group leadership team since 2001. He has 16 years of experience in the printing industry, and a background in corporate finance and IT services.
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