Ricoh Slams UK Document Management Systems

Print News: Ricoh Slams UK Document Management Systems


The research dept. of Japanese printer company Ricoh has released a report examining ‘document management systems’ across Europe. It finds that of seven developed European nations, offices in the UK & Ireland are most negligent in dealing with printed documents. The wasted potential for document management solutions amounts to a 5% waste in turnover, and has significant environmental implications. However, none of the nations examined by Ricoh for their printer practices scored above 43.5% - by France – suggesting room for improvement is widespread.

The Ricoh Document Governance Index, which is independently compiled by Coleman Parkes Research on the printer company’s behalf, uses a number of criteria to determine ‘best practices’ among office managers. It measures such factors as a company’s awareness of the benefits of document management systems, and how thoroughly they have been implemented. It also surveys how independent nations compare. For example, the report states that 32% of UK firms have ‘no idea of average monthly cost per printer to the business,’ compared with the European leader, France, where only 24% of firms are lost in the dark about document management.

However, though drawing attention to the missed chances of UK & Ireland firms, Ricoh’s report is critical of Europe as a whole. More than half of Europe’s businesses are “not implementing a strategy at present [and] many leave their departments to decide their own approach.” This is in spite of the fact of “widespread recognition of the importance of document governance policies.” In short, the document reveals that Europe’s ‘senior decision makers,’ who were surveyed, are widely dragging their feet in making their print practices more efficient.

The biggest missteps among businesses were the lack of a centralised strategy, leaving firms open to duplicate documents and increase ink and toner usage unnecessarily. Though 81% of managers recognised the benefits to revenue of document management solutions, few realised they result in increased worker productivity and improved security. Moreover, those firms that have implemented printing solutions often fail to regulate them, leaving businesses unable to measure the benefits. Only 43% of firms monitored document costs on a regular basis. On other criteria such as recycling and auditing ratios, the UK ranks bottom.

Tim Taylor, the Environment and Compliance Manager at Ricoh UK, said of the release: “there remains a lack of awareness of the role that document governance can play in driving both environmental AND business efficiencies. Businesses need to act now by taking some simple steps to improve the way they are managing and controlling their document workflows.” Ricoh’s website meanwhile details its ‘Sustainable Document Governance’ service, helping UK firms to optimise their printing solutions.