Ricoh's 1,000,001 Copy Challenge
Over 1,000,000 copies within 4 days
Ricoh's Aficio™2105 sets new standards
Zaventem, Belgium, June 20, 2003 -- Today, Ricoh Belgium finished its "1,000,001 Copy Challenge". In 80 hours and 58 minutes, two Ricoh Aficio™2105s effortlessly churned out 1,000,001 copies in duplex stapled booklets. Via the copy connect kit, the two Aficio™2105s were linked and an average output speed of 205.8 ppm was noted. The challenge started on June 16 and finished today. Under supervision of Meester Van Eesbeeck, official usher, the copy counter marked 1,000,001 at 04.58 am. With this event Ricoh demonstrates the reliability, speed and possibilities of the Aficio™2105.
The Copy Challenge originated in 2000. At that time, Ricoh Belgium set out to produce 100,000 copies in 10 hours. In the end, the two connected Aficio™850s produced 106,456 copies, or an average of 180.6 copies per minute.
In the high-volume segment, made up of print/copy shops and central reproduction departments, continuous operation without long maintenance intervals is vital. The Aficio™2105's duty cycle of 600,000 prints per month gives proof of that.
To meet increasing customer demands, Ricoh Belgium's Marketing and Quality Assurance team set this year's high goals. The event started out at 8:00 pm in the evening of June 16. Under the official control of usher Meester Van Eesbeeck, two connected Aficio™2105s started copying a set of 50 double-sided pages on recycled Ricoh paper.
The copy set consisted of a compilation of black-and-white drawings of a children's colouring book. In the coming weeks, the finished sets will be distributed as educational material to schools all over Belgium. By re-using the output for educational purposes the environmental impact is in line with Ricoh's zero waste policy.
Eric Gryson, Managing Director of Ricoh Belgium commented: "Ricoh Belgium wanted to demonstrate what the Aficio™2105 was capable of, without wasting a sheet of paper. We came up with a simple solution: the colouring book scheme. An artist would provide the drawings, Ricoh would copy these and distribute them to schools so children could enjoy them."
After the first 12 hours, the two Aficio™2105s produced 155,000 copies, leaving Ricoh Belgium with a safety margin of several thousand copies. This never changed. For the next 77 hours, the machines kept producing picture-perfect copies, at high speed.
On Friday June 20, at 4.58 am, the two Aficio™2105s reached the target of 1,000,001 copies. Ricoh Belgium decided to go on until 1 pm. The final result was 1,101,713 copies. That is an average of 205.8 copies per minute.
With this event that could be monitored both live and on-line, Ricoh Belgium proved that high-volume products guarantee a steady and reliable performance even under tough circumstances.
Note to editors
Ricoh Europe B.V., the European headquarters of Ricoh Company Ltd. of Japan, is located in Amstelveen, The Netherlands, and is responsible for marketing, sales and service of Ricoh products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In Europe, Ricoh has three manufacturing sites: two at Ricoh UK Products Ltd. Telford, UK; GR Advanced Materials Ltd., Stirling, UK; and Ricoh Industrie France S.A., Colmar, France. In addition, Ricoh Europe’s European network comprises 14 sales subsidiaries and affiliates. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003, revenues from Ricoh’s European operations totalled over € 2.9 billion, accounting for 20.4% of the company’s global revenues. Ricoh’s worldwide sales increased by 3.9% totalling € 14.3 billion. In March 2001 Ricoh established the European Semiconductor Support Centre to support distributors and customers with their applications or other enquiries about power management.
For further information please contact:
Ricoh Europe B.V.
Peter T. van der Kaag
Tel.: +31 20 5474 153
Fax: +31 20 5474 222
E-mail: postmaster@ricoh-europe.com
Homepage: http://www.ricoh-europe.com
Belgium Branch
Leuvensesteenweg 510, Building 7, B46
1930 Zaventem
Belgium
Tel.: +32-(0)271.212.12
Fax: +32-(0)271.212.13
E-mail: info@ricoh-belgium.com
Home page: www.ricoh-belgium.com
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