The Ricoh Document Governance Index[1], 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], 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
To download the whitepaper and learn more about the findings of the study visit www.ricoh.co.uk/research
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Note to Editors
About the Ricoh Document Governance Index
The Ricoh Document Strategy Index was conducted on behalf of Ricoh Europe by independent research firm Coleman Parkes Research and is based on 311 detailed interviews with senior decision makers (C-Suite or equivalents) of medium and large companies in the Financial Services; Professional Services; Public and Telecommunications / Utilities and Media sectors across Europe. Interviews took place in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom. All respondents are responsible for document management within their respective organisations and were contacted in July and August 2009. The survey was controlled to provide representative information across Europe and within each targeted vertical sector.
About Ricoh UK
Ricoh designs, develops and manufactures a complete range of print and document management, hardware, software and services which are tailored to meet individual customer needs. Its devices print, copy, scan and fax documents as an integrated part of the IT network and enterprise content management system. Software is used to audit usage, manage document flows, simplify business processes, control print expenditure and secure access. The company takes an innovative approach to research and development, having invented the first digital black & white copier and introducing the colour-capable device.
Ricoh established an Environmental Protection Office in 1976, and has been striving to minimise the effect of its activities on the environment ever since. Ricoh UK’s environmental credentials are second to none; it operates a zero-waste policy at all of its manufacturing plants and is investing in carbon reduction technologies to reduce the environmental impact of its operations rather than merely offsetting its carbon footprint. The company operates a dedicated ‘Green Centre’, where old machines are re-commissioned and recycled in line with WEEE Directive guidelines and accredited with ISO14001:2004 for environmental management. Ricoh has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard that requires an organisation to measure, manage and reduce its carbon footprint and, for the fifth consecutive year, has also been named as one of the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World" by the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Further information can be found at www.ricoh.co.uk.
For further information, please call the Ricoh UK PR team at Burson-Marsteller on +44 20 7300 6205
