Inkjet & Digital Printing

Europe’s bosses ignoring document governance to the detriment of the bottom line

Tuesday 13. October 2009 - Ricoh today unveiled new data that shows many organisations across Europe are neglecting document governance to the detriment of their bottom line and the agility of their business.

The Ricoh Document Governance Index[1] <#_ftn1> , conducted by Coleman Parkes Research, revealed that although total spend on document governance in Europe currently exceeds an estimated €14 billion per year, with companies spending up to 5% of annual turnover, just over a third (39%) of companies have implemented a document governance strategy to manage this important area for the business.  Putting a strategy in place or even outsourcing this area simplifies business processes and offers both short and long term benefits, for example, reducing costs and environmental impact, increasing security and applying more effective allocation of resources. This enables business leaders to focus on driving the growth of their core business.



While 77% of Senior Executives recognise that improved document governance will generate cost savings, the reality is, the management of it is sporadic and uncontrolled. Only 38% reviewed their costs ‘sometimes’ and as many as 17% never review these costs at all. With the potential to save up to 30%[2] <#_ftn2> , the startling findings suggest that many companies are needlessly missing out – not just on cost savings – but on making staff more productive and enhancing sustainability credentials.  



The report also found that responsibility for document governance is decentralised with no single function accountable for this area. Most respondents reported that several people within their business are responsible for the document environment and 57% devolve ownership to individual staff members. 61% say at least partial responsibility sits with a variety of department heads including HR Directors, office managers, sales and marketing. The solution is to adopt a centralised approach with re-engineered processes that align directly with the specific needs of the business.  The result is a simplified document governance strategy that increases employee productivity and ensures department heads can focus on what they do best, helping to grow the company.



Simon Sasaki, CEO, Ricoh Europe, said: “Although today’s economy is driving senior executives to streamline their business, many companies are allowing their printing, photocopying and faxing to go unchecked. It is concerning that despite an increasing awareness of the immediate benefits, the majority of companies in Europe do not have a document governance strategy in place. Underestimating the risks leaves them susceptible to overspending, under productivity, security breaches and a high carbon footprint. Business leaders need to take notice of this often overlooked area by allocating a senior executive to take responsibility for it and consider both the immediate and longer term strategic benefits to the business. Inefficiencies in this area are common but easily addressed and Ricoh expertise can add real business value by ensuring an increase in productivity, better security, maximisation of workflows and the ability to support the document needs of individual departments.”



Document governance in practice:


Major European NGO employing over 2,000 people in Germany. Wanted to improve user friendliness, reduce paper consumption and automate some of the process around the supply of consumables. Ricoh standardised the printer fleet and introduced document services that resulted in up to 30% TCO savings.

One of the UK’s leading supermarkets with 502 stores and 290 convenience stores wanted to meet the growing demand for print and copy needs but was faced with an expensive and inefficient print service. By outsourcing all print services, both onsite and offsite, the company was able to make savings of £500,000 over three years with an additional £500,000 projected savings based on phase two of the project to replace desktop machines with more efficient and cost-effective print devices.

Global marketer of athletic footwear employing more than 30,000 people globally. Large supply chain drained significant resources but requires a robust, financially compliant and secure e-billing system. There was a complex and time consuming procedure to coordinate inhouse with approx €4million spent mailing 4.5million paper invoices a year. The company has outsourced the entire invoice management process to Ricoh to manage the transition from paper to electronic processes. Over 3 years it will yield cost savings of an estimated €3m