Ricoh and Benedict College Announce New Managed Document Services Relationship

WEST CALDWELL, N.J., Aug. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh Americas Corporation, a leading provider of digital office equipment and advanced document management solutions, today announced that it will provide Benedict College with a Managed Document Services (MDS) solution. As part of the new relationship, Ricoh will manage more than 60 multifunction products (MFPs) placed throughout the Benedict College campus, as well as Benedict College's on-campus print center, where two full-time Ricoh employees along with one full-time and two part-time Benedict College interns will work to serve the document management needs of the Benedict College students, faculty and staff.

"We are pleased with our new relationship with Ricoh, as their on-site managed services team has assessed our document needs, our current processes and future expectations, and developed a document management solution that will serve the needs of Benedict College for years to come," said Dr. David H. Swinton, President and CEO of Benedict College. "We estimate that the potential savings could be more than a quarter of a million dollars during the life of the contract, of which approximately $50,000 will go directly into student support."

Ricoh's approach to MDS is to look at the technology, people and processes within an organization and optimize each element to help an organization meet its goals. By first understanding a customer's current environment, then designing and implementing a solution based on technology expertise and partnerships with software and solutions providers, Ricoh is able to create customized solutions to optimize workflow.

"Our MDS solution is a journey of transformation that we go through with our customers, continually evaluating the solution and results using our tracking and management tools," said Terrie Campbell, Vice President, Managed Document Services, Ricoh U.S. "We are excited to embark on this journey with Benedict College to help them drive down their costs, increase access to critical information and improve productivity across the organization, while reducing their environmental footprint."

In addition, Benedict College is a member of the Collegiate Alliance program established by IKON, a Ricoh company, which offers students of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) the unique opportunity to develop personally and professionally through meaningful educational and practical engagements, including internship programs, career events and a professional speakers bureau. This program helps provide students with the opportunity to receive exposure to state-of-the-art technology, proven business processes and reputable training methods. The Benedict College interns at the on-campus print center are part of this program.

"Ricoh has been very involved with Benedict through this Collegiate Alliance program, where its senior executives have conducted business-related student lectures, workshops and career fairs," said Dr Janeen Witty, Vice President Academic Affairs, Benedict College. "In addition to being a trusted business partner, Ricoh has become truly invested in the success of our students."

For more information about the Collegiate Alliance Program, please visit http://www.ikon.com/careers/CollegiateAlliance/.

About Benedict College

Founded in 1870, Benedict College is a private co-educational Historically Black Liberal Arts College located on 110 acres in the heart of the Columbia, South Carolina.  Benedict currently has over 3,140 students enrolled in its baccalaureate degree programs which mark the highest enrollment in the 142 history of the College. Nationally, Benedict has the third largest undergraduate population within the UNCF network.

Benedict College was recently ranked #10 among 309 baccalaureate colleges and universities across the country by Washington Monthly for creating social mobility among low-income students, producing cutting edge scholarship and research. Benedict College was also ranked one of the top ten colleges in the nation in producing African Americans with an undergraduate Physics degree by the Education and Employment Statistic Division of the American Institute of Physics.

Of 4,000 colleges across the nation, Benedict was ranked 13th in granting degrees in Physical Sciences, 41st in granting degrees in Computer and Information Sciences and 42nd in granting degrees in Biology Biomedical Sciences by Diverse Magazine. The College's pioneering Service Learning Program is a national model program and serves over 114 non-profit organizations around the South Carolina Midlands area. The Service Learning Program recently won The 6th Annual Commission on Higher Education's Service Learning Competition.  

Benedict was named one of the Top 100 Institutions in the Nation for graduating African-American students by Diverse Magazine. The College has been "a power for good" in the community for over 140 years and is a major economic contributor to the region and South Carolina, with a local annual economic impact of over $106.7 million.

About Ricoh Americas Corporation

Ricoh Americas Corporation, headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company, Ltd., the 75-year-old leading provider of advanced office technology and innovative document imaging products, services and software, with fiscal year 2010 sales in excess of $23 billion.

Ricoh's fully integrated hardware and customizable services and software help businesses share information efficiently and effectively by enabling customers to control the input, management and output of documents.

Ricoh Americas Corporation, directly or through its network of authorized dealers, markets and distributes products in North, Central and South America.

Information about Ricoh's complete range of offerings can be found at www.ricoh-usa.com.

© 2011 Ricoh Americas Corporation.  All rights reserved.  All other company or product names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Ricoh Americas Corporation