Our goal is to re-establish trust for Ricoh, says Atul Thakker of Minosha
Recently, Ricoh Asia Pacific announced a strategic partnership with Minosha India, under which Minosha will be authorised to cater to the Indian market with Ricoh’s office equipment and digital services. This partnership will not only help Ricoh expand its reach in India, but will also help Minosha to strengthen its promise to provide best-in-class products and services to its customers.
29 Mar 2022 | By Rahul Kumar
“We are delighted to be onboarded as a Ricoh partner. Ricoh is known for its innovative products and solutions. This collaboration will leverage Minosha’s service capabilities and strong pan-India network to deliver best in class solutions. Both alliance partners will contribute to India’s digital growth story,” Atul Thakker, managing director, Minosha India, said.
Talking to PrintWeek, Thakker added that Minosha has the legacy of representing Ricoh in India, and its customers, partners and resellers have been looking forward to this association as the company has been traditionally associated with Ricoh products.
“The association would help both Minosha and Ricoh establish a strong foothold in India in office printing and cutsheet PP products. Our intent is to establish Ricoh’s leadership position once again as a trusted brand for all documentation requirements,” he said, adding, “Our association with Ricoh is more holistic and strategic in nature with focus not only on hardware products but also providing digital services to its customers.”
Incorporated in 1993, Minosha India has been present in India for over 29 years, and operates through a robust pan-India network of eight offices and over 300 business partners. With a comprehensive range of contemporary digital imaging products, such as digital copiers, multi-functional devices, laser printers, cutsheet PP products, the organisation is one of the leading document solution providers in India. With 600+ employees and 300+ service location support, Minosha has over 10,000+ MIF in India being managed directly and over 200,000+ MIF managed by its partners.
Thakker said Minosha, being Ricoh’s principal distributor in India, would be responsible for the complete range of Ricoh’s office printing products, cutsheet PP, digital duplicators and other software solutions in India. “Our goal for the next three years is to re-establish customer and partner trust for Ricoh products by utilising our extensive sales and service network,” he said.
Digital cutsheet market
He said the digital printing industry is going through a transformation which is both exciting and thought-provoking. “While we are buoyant about an imminent growth that the industry is expected to witness after the pandemic, organisations need to be more adaptable towards changing business needs of customers through introduction of new products specific to market/country requirements, which would allow customers to expand their business and enhance revenues,” he said.
He added that the digital cutsheet market is growing beyond four colour printing with the special colour printing. This option allows the customers to explore more applications to expand their businesses and generate more revenues for them. “Minosha helps customers by giving solutions for the new growing market with Ricoh’s five-colour printers,” he said.
As the printing market has opened up after the pandemic, Thakker expects to see a growth in the digital cutsheet category, especially since the printing applications have experienced growing volumes.
He said this will give Minosha an opportunity in increasing its customer base and print volumes in coming months. Also, the customers who postponed their investments in new equipment during the pandemic, will start investing to meet their business requirements.
Ricoh customers
Meanwhile, the company is in contact with the existing Ricoh customers, as it has been supporting their businesses. “We respect our customers’ loyalty towards the Ricoh brand. We support them and will fulfil their needs with our product solutions and support network. Also, we have an aggressive sales plan for the next three years, which would focus on both existing and new customer acquisition,” Thakker said.
He said post-pandemic, the opportunities are increasing in small cities as the new startups are coming up in such cities. Those customers expect a production printing solution with robust products with the good service support to excel in their business, he said.
Partnership with Ricoh
Thakker said as partners, Minosha and Ricoh would be focusing on addressing changing customer requirements while ensuring a hassle-free product experience.
Next, the company is expected to launch inkjet cutsheet to cater the high-volume customer segments.
“With our focus towards customer experience and product solutions, we have strived to understand customer requirements and provide them with customised solutions,” Thakker concluded.