Be sure to sign up for The Key Point of View, our weekly newsletter of blogs and podcasts!
In our latest Interview Insights, Keypoint Intelligence’s Anthony Sci sat down with Carsten Bruhn, President and CEO of Ricoh North America. Together, the duo discussed several topics related to dealers, including what Sci referred to as a “Culture of Excellence” at Ricoh.
Bruhn addressed a lot of content that is often introduced at Ricoh’s dealer summits, including the belief that dealers need to start growing again. The most recent proposal from the company to encourage dealers’ growth is their supply chain-as-a-service concept, which should allow dealers to not have to worry about carrying inventory as well as allow them to preconfigure products via a supply chain.
The pair also spoke on the concern of tariffs. “It would be very easy to say ‘just do price increases,’” said Bruhn, “but that’s not going to work…the whole business environment needs to settle and that’ll take some time.” He noted that while he expects it’ll take time to reset after the effects of the pandemic and the new burden of the recent US tariffs, Ricoh could find a way to help dealers compete. According to Bruhn, “We use a lot of data now…we constantly have to figure out what to do to stay competitive.”
Regarding Ricoh’s impact with artificial intelligence (AI), Bruhn says to “Be brave. Get out there. Jump into it!” He also provides insight into their two-pronged strategy of creating customer value and growth in AI externally while encouraging Ricoh employee productivity internally.
Watch the full interview today!
Stay ahead in the ever-evolving print industry by browsing our Industry Reports page for the latest insights. Log in to the InfoCenter to view research on print and smart technology through our Workplace and Production Advisory Services. Not a subscriber? Contact us for more information.