PHD Communications and Ricoh partnership wins ‘Best Exploitation of Technology’ at the 2024 Direct Commerce Awards

London, November 6, 2024 – Ricoh has today announced that PHD Communications (PHD), its customer for over 20 years, won the prestigious Direct Commerce Award in the ‘Best Exploitation of Technology’ category.

The Direct Commerce Awards have recognised the achievements of the best B2B and B2C direct and multichannel retailers for over 25 years. PHD were awarded for their continued investment and smart utilisation of Ricoh technology, which led to unprecedented growth and operational success for this outsourced communication services provider.

The partnership between PHD and Ricoh began in the early 2000s, with the investment in Ricoh’s hardware technology. As PHD’s business needs evolved, so did the nature of the partnership, with increased focus on software, innovation and consultancy services. Most recently, Ricoh worked with PHD on creating bespoke solutions to: 

• Provide seamless production workflows, piece-level tracking and automated processes including instant invoicing, stock management and client reporting, through RICOH ProcessDirector workflow software.
• Enhance PHD’s operational effectiveness through Ricoh Avanti Slingshot MIS - a fully automated, cloud-based, flexible, management information system (MIS) designed specifically for commercial print businesses.
• Improve PHD’s communication services to link physical and digital mail by implementing Ricoh Axon Ivy. This provided a facility for PHD clients and their customers to view and collaborate on documents, resulting in a much-enhanced digital customer journey.
• To optimise the reach and accuracy of PHD’s services in the most cost-effective way, resulting in 3 client wins in 3 new markets.

Samantha Precious, Strategy and Services Development Manager for Ricoh UK, says: “As customers are looking to achieve operational efficiencies and long-term success in the highly competitive print market, there is a need for vendor-client relationships to go beyond ‘transactional’. This award is a real testament to the power of collaboration and true partnership, and really highlights Ricoh’s commitment to customer-focused innovation.”

This is the fourth award received by Ricoh UK Graphic Communications for the unique customer service and client care. Previous wins include 2023 Direct Commerce Awards (Outstanding Evolution in Customer Experience), 2022 Stationers Company Innovation Excellence Awards (Innovation Excellence in Service Delivery) and 2022 Direct Commerce Awards (Outstanding Business Transformation). 

Kevin Dunn, Business Development Director at PHD Communications, comments: “This is the first time we have entered an award, and we are delighted with the win. As a business, we make all our decisions with clients at heart - when their needs change, we must be able to respond. Technology investment has been vital for our business growth, which we were able to achieve despite the economic uncertainty.” Kevin continues: “Ricoh is well known for its technology, but working with its experts has been a real game-changer for us. Thanks to their consultancy and expertise, we have been able to maximise the benefits of our technology and plan our investments so that we can continue providing our clients with the best and most cost-efficient solutions in the future.”

|About PHD Communications |

PHD started trading in 1990.

It was created by Managing Director, Colin Brooks, and fellow founder, Graham Arkesden.

The company service was predominantly Direct Mail up until 1999 when the additional service of Transactional Billing was added.  This service included sending invoices, statements, credit notes etc., taking client data and creating a myriad of client/customer delivery options.

In 2008, we opened another site which we now use as Disaster Recover / Contingency.  This fully linked site replicates the prime site in virtually every aspect, allowing us to complete any service from both locations.  Since 1999, we have grown into a well-respected supplier of print, mail and electronic communicator of a variety of critical documentation.

The team has grown over the years and work with the highest levels of trust and integrity in our marketplace.  Our accreditations speak for themselves and have been achieved by hard work and attention to detail in what we do.