London, UK, 17 September 2009 – Ricoh Europe, office and production printing solutions expert has signed an extended contract with existing customer Unilever.  The five year contract sees Ricoh extend its Managed Print Services (MPS) for Unilever from five to twenty nine countries across Europe.  Ricoh will provide efficient and cost effective solutions for Unilever’s office and home working employees. The new services will provide significant return on investment by delivering increased efficiency across all Unilever’s European operations.   

The ‘Next Generation Print – Europe Project’ includes the implementation of a range of solutions and services in the Ricoh portfolio that meet with Unilever’s requirements. The objective of the project is to implement a flexible and cost effective document management solution that also aligns with Unilever’s Green IT strategy. Ricoh and Unilever teams are now working together to achieve this objective by; optimising the print infrastructure, meeting the latest Energy Star requirements; providing greater transparency of print costs and environmental impact; reducing paper waste and power consumption and offering greater functionality to employees through a wide range of Ricoh products. 

Myles Gilbertson, European Supply Manager at Unilever says, “I am pleased that we have extended our European contract with Ricoh. We now need to work together to further streamline our fleet through the implementation of a new Managed Print Transformation Service and print policy.  The ‘Next Generation Print Project’ will enable us to improve our environmental performance and monitoring as well as delivering further reductions in indirect costs.”

Ricoh's Managed Print Services will be offered as a flexible two-tier model where the scope of the service varies according to the size of the Unilever site. The service includes an assessment of the current document output including security and document bottlenecks. Ricoh Managed Print Transformation Services will reveal hidden costs and then optimise devices while focusing on reducing the environmental impact of energy and paper consumption.

Ricoh and Unilever agreed a selection of multifunctional devices and printers which will be connected to Unilever’s network.  The home office solution includes Ricoh’s energy efficient Gelsprinters with GelJet technology. These highly efficient printers not only conserve energy resources but also massively cut energy costs, perfectly aligning with Unilever’s Green IT strategy. The home office solution cost model also gives Unilever visibility of their home worker’s usage.

Ricoh is also providing reporting at site, country and European level utilising @Remote Enterprise-Pro, Ricoh’s remote management tool. This will increase Unilever’s visibility of energy consumption, print volumes, CO2 emissions and toner recycling.  The environmental reporting will be incorporated in the overall Green IT metrics.

A bespoke print policy has been developed and upon deployment will assist Unilever in achieving its cost and environmental objectives. 

Ricoh has been the primary supplier to Unilever in Europe for general office print solutions since 2004. Unilever chose Ricoh as its continued business partner for its customer driven approach, ability to offer flexible Managed Print Services and extensive European footprint. This ensures service and support across all of Unilever’s European sites. Furthermore, Ricoh’s strong heritage in sustainability and approach to environmental reporting were key success factors.   

Carsten Bruhn, Vice President, Ricoh Global Services Europe  says, “Unilever is taking a strategic and innovative approach to its document management, as a result it will benefit from greater transparency, efficiency and reduced cost and environmental impacts.   With Ricoh managing its European printing services Unilever can focus on moving its business forward and achieving its overall business objectives.”