Washington State Reimbursed $4 Million from Ricoh for Overcharges

Washington state government agencies will be receiving a $4 million windfall thanks to a settlement deal that was recently announced, requiring Ricoh Americas Corporation to pay back overcharges on copier services. The company has a $17 million per year contract with the state of Washington for supply of copiers and services, which is set to expire next April.

The review of the charges was ordered after an anonymous note gave the tip to the Washington Attorney General's Office back in 2009. The announcement was made by the State Department of Enterprise Services, which also announced the agreement with a news release on its website.

The $4 million settlement is based on samples of contract sales conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in response. In addition to that, it covers charges dating back to 2007 by Ricoh's subsidiary IKON Office Solutions, according to DES spokesman Steve Valandra. Ricoh purchased IKON and, according to Valandra, "stepped up and did the right thing" once the charges were noticed.

The $4 million will ultimately go back to state agencies and local governments that participated in the state's contract for copier services and were overcharged. According to Valandra, "What we will do over the next few months is see what agencies and local governments used the contract and how they were affected - and direct the money back to them."

Joyce Turner, Director of Enterprise Services, also stated, "We worked diligently to address the concerns and are pleased with the settlement agreement ... These negotiations and the process taken to bring this to resolution provide a model for government and industry working together to ensure that the taxpayers of Washington are best served."

Source: The Olympian - Ricoh to reimburse state $4M for copier overcharges

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Xerox Trying to Revitalize India Operations

Xerox recently hired a local to the top position at its Indian subsidiary, which broke an eight year trend of expat CEOs leading operations at the printer and copier juggernaut. In addition to that, the change made it clear that the $22.6 billion company's intent to kick-start growth and regain lost ground in India with an influx of hiring, an overhaul of the top management and a restructuring of the portfolio for a sharper focus is still on track.

Rajat Jain was named the Managing Director for Xerox in India back in February and was given a clear mandate to accelerate growth in the country. Local professionals have also replaced expats in four senior positions with only the finance function currently headed by an expat. It has also been noted that nearly 100 professionals have been hired to spur new creativity.

Xerox's urgency is definitely noticeable due to the fact that the company is currently developing India-specific products to enter newer segments, like consumers and small businesses. Xerox India also wants to focus on services, which have become a large revenue generator for its parent company. This renewed growth mindset has come as competitors like Canon, HP, Epson and Ricoh have been gaining ground over the years in key markets like A4 multifunction printers and A3 copier multifunction printers. Canon also grabbed Xerox's leadership position in the Indian copier market five years ago.


Xerox jumped into the India market back in 1983 as Modi Xerox. Back then, the company was a joint venture with ModiCorp, which is now the Spice Group. In 2002 the company got wrapped up in a nasty bribery scandal as well as corporate governance issues. Since then, Xerox has increased its stake in the joint venture while ModiCorp has moved on. 


According to Jain, who joined Xerox India from Mobile2win India and was formerly MD of Walt Disney India, "The fresh appointment of so many senior professionals shows the parent's recommitment and faith in the Indian operations." 


Source: The Economic Times - Xerox Corp hires 100 key professionals to kickstart growth

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Toshiba Wants to Know If You Will Take the National No-Print Day Challenge?

Toshiba is taking green printing and copying to the next level by asking you to use less paper. In addition to that, the company is even sponsoring National No-Print Day on October 23, 2012, a day when Toshiba hopes paperless offices become more of a reality, for at least one day, that is.

Now it may seem a bit ironic that a printer and copier company would sponsor a day that has people not using its products, and that point isn't lost on Toshiba, which addresses the issue on its official website for National No-Print Day. On the site the company states, "We're people. People who breath the same air, swim in the same water, and play fetch in the same parks as everyone else. We're people who recognize the earth is an irreplaceable asset."

In addition to that statement, the website features a video starring "Tree", a bearded cubicle-dweller in a tree costume who dutifully works to remind his coworkers about saving paper. Tree gets to take a much deserved break on National No-Print Day and uses that time to skateboard, play basketball, shoot pool, sunbathe and have pillow fights with beautiful women (I swear all of that happens in the video).

Some naysayers may see National No-Print Day as a cheap gimmick by Toshiba to grab some publicity, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't actually consider the idea. Some eye-opening stats come up in the video as well, including the fact that the average office worker uses over 10,000 pages of copy paper every year and wastes over 1,400 prints annually, which is the equivalent to 1.2 trees.

According to a statement from Toshiba America Executive Bill Melo, "We know that approximately 336,000,000 sheets of paper are wasted daily -- that's more than 40,000 trees discarded every day in America. We as individuals and companies are failing to make the link between printing waste and its negative impacts on our landfills, natural resources and the environment."

Toshiba also promises to plant a lot of trees, around 1.5 million by 2025, as long as users take the following pledge:

"Being of sound ink and toner, I honor the sacrifices made by Tree and his leafy colleagues, and do hereby give them the day off on National No-Print Day, the 23rd day of October, 2012, a day on which I will steadfastly refrain from printing, copying and otherwise causing hardworking trees to lose their pulp."

Toshiba wants to know...will you take the pledge?

Source: PC World - National No-Print Day: Will You Take the Pledge?

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