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About Us Advanced Business Center |
Advanced Business Center
At first glance, inventing technology and creating new business and product opportunities may seem like very different activities. Yet both are necessary to put practical solutions in the hands of our customers. Both start with a vision, an ability to imagine future needs. And both depend on collaboration and innovation. Real Customers, Real Problems, Real InsightsThe Advanced Business Center teams with Ricoh customers to gain insight into thorny, pervasive customer needs that have yet to be adequately addressed in the market. Our research sites are Ricoh customers that invite us into their workplaces to shed light on solution criteria and realistic vendor expectations. By working with us, our clients gain a better understanding of which of their issues are common needs that might be addressed in future Ricoh products, and which are specialized and deserve customized attention. By working together to design a prototype for their common business problems, we all learn how to best communicate their site specific needs, and our clients leave well-armed to discuss their unique situations with their IT executives. Although we do not turn our prototypes into custom products, promising ideas based on our research move quickly into a real solution–increasing the chances for success for all. Our partners and clients tend to be pleasantly surprised by the level of attention and support they receive from us. "Working with ABC, we were able to better understand our work process and enhance our technology strategy to better meet the needs of our attorneys." Example of Our Prior WorkA national law firm specializing in technology patent protection teamed with ABC to understand how their attorneys’ work styles could be supported to increase work productivity and better utilize legal secretaries. ABC’s work identified three major patent attorney workstyles - each of which was ultimately enhanced by one concept that created patent-specific task-based summaries that dramatically decreased information search and increased billable hours. "Working with Ricoh's Advanced Business Center has led directly to
implementation of new technology and processes which I feel will have
significant impact for years to come." A social services firm struggling to share its findings with its four major funding sources across three California counties wanted insight into low cost, open-source-based, technology solutions that could help it capture the knowledge from retiring executives and match it with the myriad of paper-based grant documents that ensure future funding continues. A Process as Unique as Silicon Valley ItselfThrough a methodology grounded in contextual design, we carefully assess market trends and customer needs to identify promising future business opportunities for Ricoh in North America. We draw from the tremendous resources of Silicon Valley to craft future products and potential business cases that are well-suited to Ricoh’s strength as an office technology provider. We leverage relationships, ideas and technologies internal and external to Ricoh, to maximize efficiencies and minimize time to market.
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© 2007 Ricoh Innovations Incorporated |
