In this episode of FuturePrint TV, Marcus Timson sits down with Ricoh’s Director of Industrial Print, Graham Kennedy, at the InPrint and CCE show in Munich, to find out what developments have taken place at Ricoh over the last two years.

We’ve been starved of live events over the last two years, has this been an innovative time for Ricoh and the packaging industry in general?

Innovation has been more on the customer side as research and development teams have had more time in the lab to enhance developments. There have been fewer distractions than we would normally have, so products are coming to market at a much faster timescale. This has certainly increased demand on our support infrastructure to ensure we can support the activities ongoing over the past few years.

Is digitalisation becoming more of a normality for the enquiries you get and the ideas you’re developing?

Personalisation drives a lot of development, so rather than creating products that are bigger, better, and faster, it's about developing products that are smaller, more cost-effective, and deliver real benefits to the users. Customisation is a big part of that.

There is a higher demand for agility in production - is that something you see in the corrugated industry?

The corrugated industry is relatively new to us, so we’re educating ourselves on the driving factors. I see pressure from consumers pushed onto brand owners, brand owners putting pressure on the printers, and the printers putting pressure on machine makers, all for various reasons.

Another key pillar for change is the push for more sustainable production, is this something you’re experiencing?

Sustainability is at Ricoh’s core - it’s really important to us. There is also the pressure that consumers put on brands to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly, which includes packaging and ink.

We’re very keen to push our plant-based ink into the market. It uses soy oil as the carrier, which is sustainable in itself. When used on corrugated or brown board, the fixation is much easier, so it doesn’t need drying, which is far better from an environmental perspective.