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2006 - 2008 Sustainability Report

Our vision as a global organisation is to

reduce our environmental footprint collectively

to one eighth of our year 2000 level by 2050. ”

‘‘

Shiro Kondo - President & CEO, Ricoh Group

From the Managing Director .........................................................................................1Corporate overview .......................................................................................................2

Governance ..................................................................................................................5Mid Term Plan ...............................................................................................................5Business compliance .....................................................................................................7

Corporate social responsibility and the environmentEnvironmental Management .........................................................................................9Environmental contribution .........................................................................................17Environmental awards .................................................................................................21Social contribution ......................................................................................................22

Listening to our customers Call Centre .................................................................................................................25Technical Service .........................................................................................................26Customer satisfaction survey .......................................................................................27

Innovation, research and developmentWoolworths - a case study in innovation ......................................................................28Research and development ..........................................................................................29

Management systems and self assessmentOverview .....................................................................................................................32Business Excellence Framework (BEF) ...........................................................................33External certification ...................................................................................................34Business Process Re-engineering .................................................................................35Ricoh Program Management .......................................................................................36

Workplace Performance and Occupational Health and SafetyOH&S Program ...........................................................................................................38Ricoh Employees .........................................................................................................39Environmental timeline ..............................................................................................41

Our vision as a global organisation is to

reduce our environmental footprint collectively

to one eighth of our year 2000 level by 2050.

It is widely recognised that to be a sustainable organisation in the 21st century,

the company must balance economic,

environmental and social needs. ”

‘‘

Les Richardson - MD, Ricoh Australia

Our achievements in 2006 - 2008

We have been included in the Global 100 list of the • world’s most sustainable corporations every year, since the list began in 2005In 2006 - 2008 alone, Ricoh Australia • invested $1.48 million in environmental and CSR programsThis year we engaged Carbon Planet to audit the carbon footprint of our organisation•We appointed • Sims E-Recycling as our recycling contractor for machines and parts, meaning up to 97% of all components can be recycled Over 40 head office staff spend regular lunchtimes volunteering at Arranounbai Special Needs School•In 2006, we became the • world’s first manufacturer to use plant-based plastics as part of a multifunction printerRicoh Australia is a • foundation member of the CSIRO’s Sustainable Communities InitiativeOver 450 primary school students have now participated in the Earthkeepers(TM) • environmental education program - thanks to Ricoh’s continued support since 2003Our Canberra office was awarded the• Gold Medal in 2006 at the ACT Government No Waste Awards, for going beyond the established practices of recyclingOur Machine Recycling Program has • recycled over 680 tonnes since it’s launch in 2002 - while our Toner Cartridge Takeback Program has diverted over 420 tonnes of material from landfill

Managing Directors

Report

some of the key challenges facing vulnerable Australian communities.

Most importantly, Ricoh will be closely examining the establishment of a national carbon trading scheme within Australia and globally. The aim is to understand our role in this market, and implement a sustainable program for ourselves and our customers to continue to balance Planet, People and ProfitsTM.

This Sustainability Report is written and produced by Ricoh employees, and is printed on recycled paper. We trust that the information contained in this report is both informative and useful, while effectively conveying Ricoh’s commitment to being a sustainable organisation.

It is a great pleasure to introduce the Ricoh Australia Sustainability Report covering the company’s activities for fiscal 2006/2007 and 2007/2008.

It is widely recognised that to be a sustainable organisation in the 21st century, the company must balance economic, environmental and social needs - this is the essence of our ‘Planet, People, ProfitTM’ philosophy.

“Our commitment to these principles is reflected in the $1.48 million we invested in environmental and CSR programs in 2006 - 2008.” As a result Ricoh Australia has a strong environmental program that is embedded in the organisation. We have learned the importance of interaction with the community - in supporting environmental education and making a positive contribution to the community’s ‘well being’.

Our vision as a global organisation is to reduce our environmental footprint collectively to one-eighth of our year 2000 level by 2050.

Our desire is to offer top quality, world class, reliable products, services and solutions to the Australian marketplace, with the least possible impact on the environment. We are promoting a sustainable business approach throughout the entire company as well as with all stakeholders.

Although Ricoh Australia is not regarded as a major polluter, we are driven to set the pace for our industry in Australia by setting priorities for developing a better way of dealing with electronic waste and the overall reduction of waste to landfill. The intent of this program is to conserve energy and resources and promote our ‘Product Stewardship’ approach to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.Over the next three years, our current suite of programs will have to increase in scope, and we will have to incorporate a higher degree of innovation, education and involvement of staff and customers.

Ricoh will embark upon more sophisticated and far reaching projects with like minded organisations, such as the CSIRO, to bring our collective resources to bear on

Les Richardson, Managing Director, Ricoh Australia

It is widely recognised that to be a sustainable organisation in the 21st century,

the company must balance economic,

environmental and social needs. ”

‘‘


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ProductsHigh volume devices

Multifunction devicesLaser printers

GelsprintersFacsimilesScanners

Digital duplicatorsWide format copiers

Fleet management and usage reporting softwareDocument workflow, security and archiving

Embedded software architecture

Ricoh Co. Ltd. was established in February, 1936. The Ricoh Group consists of 376 subsidiaries, and 28 affiliates. Ricoh employs over 81,900 staff worldwide.

The Ricoh Group engages in such global-scale activities as the development, production, marketing, after-sales service, and recycling of document imaging solutions, managed services, high volume production printing and office equipment, including copiers and printers, optical devices, and other electronic equipment, in five regions around the world.

Ricoh Australia is headquartered in Sydney with offices in all state capitals. Ricoh has a national Ricoh Direct branch network as well as an exclusive Ricoh Business dealer network in major metropolitan and regional areas.In order to cater for the different needs that different companies have, Ricoh is structured to service only certain types of accounts.

Ricoh Direct caters for our major national corporate and government accounts, providing customers with a single point of contact for their entire document imaging needs.

Ricoh Dealers offer a wider coverage within the metropolitan areas of capital and major regional cities. With their local focus they are best suited to service our smaller, locally based commercial accounts.

Ricoh Australia is dedicated to the sales and service of Ricoh manufactured products. With a strong network of sales, service and support centres in over 150 locations, Ricoh Australia is committed to delivering an outstanding range of products, solutions, services and finance offerings to its customers.

Our company

Corporate Overview

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Corporate VisionTo be recognised as an excellent company that:

Helps improve the business efficiency of our customers.•Is trusted by its employees, customers and society. •Constantly creates new value for its shareholders. • Achieves maximum market presence in each core of its •business, and has a major influence in the industry.

Dealers

ProductsHigh volume devices

Multifunction devicesLaser printers

GelsprintersFacsimilesScanners

Digital duplicatorsWide format copiers

Fleet management and usage reporting softwareDocument workflow, security and archiving

Embedded software architecture

Ricoh Australia

Business Solutions

Managed Services

Operations

Business Excellence

IT

Customer Service

Systems Support

Finance

Product Planning

Marketing

Wholesale

Ricoh Direct

Ricoh Group

Dealers

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Head Office

Figure 1

all Ricoh staff are focused directly on the strategic

goals of the company through their individual

performance plans.

”

‘‘

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IntroductionThis section outlines some of our key initiatives in the area of governance - including Ricoh’s Mid Term Plan, Risk Management and Program Management Systems as well as our new Performance Management System.

“A good governance system has been implemented through a combination of policies, organisation structure, process control and risk management. Ethical obligations have been addressed through the Ricoh Group Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Charter, & Code of Conduct and CCH online training programs.”

Business Excellence Framework G2 External Assessment Annual Feedback Report - February 2008, Ricoh Asia Pacific.

The Mid Term PlanEvery three years, our regional headquarters - Ricoh Asia Pacific - sets goals and objectives - Key Result Areas (KRAs) - in the Mid Term Plan. Ricoh Australia’s Managing Director (MD) works with Ricoh Singapore to finalise the KRAs for Ricoh Australia. Subsequently, the KRAs of our Managing Director cascade to managers’ KRAs and then to employees’ KRAs.

KRAs are designed to align individual work plans with the strategic direction of Ricoh overall - allowing managers and staff to understand how their role fits into the ‘bigger picture’ of what Ricoh is trying to achieve. Each individual’s KRAs are weighted so that they have a proportion of each of the four KRA areas - Financial, Customers and Markets, Internal Processes and Development and Growth.

In this manner, all Ricoh staff are focused directly on the strategic goals of the company through their individual performance plans. This is the essence of our Balanced Scorecard approach.

Figure 2 illustrates the relationship between Ricoh’s strategic objectives, the setting of the Managing Director’s annual KRAs and the subsequent filtering of the KRAs to employees.

Ricoh Australia Mid Term Planning Strategic

Objectives

Annual Ricoh Australia Strategic

Objectives

Managing Director Annual

KRAs

General Manager

Annual KRAs

Staff KRAs per Planning Period

Figure 2

Governance

Mid Term Plan

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Governance

Mid Term Plan Cont.

The table below shows some examples of the KRAs for our Managing Director:

Risk Management and Program ManagementThe Risk Management Committee (RMC) and Ricoh Program Management Board (RPM) are critical to the establishment and operation of best practice management systems. The RMC was formed in 2007 and is chaired by Ricoh’s Managing Director and includes all executives and general managers across the company. The team meet regularly to review risks, treatments and matters of corporate governance. The RMC operates in accordance with the internationally recognised standard for Risk Management—AS/NZS 4360. The Ricoh Program Management (RPM) office was formed in 2007 and has adopted a PRINCE2 project management methodology for executing enterprise change.

Documenting our business and management systemsWe have defined specific sets of documents for all of the operational areas and management systems that permeate our business. These documents are hierarchical, whereby a:

Policy - provides a strategic decision or position as a directive.

Standard - provides a detailed service, product, or methodology to meet the policy objectives.

Process - provides a series of events or phases which take place over time and have an identifiable purpose or result.

Procedure - provides a set of steps that a person performs to obtain a specified outcome.

A project is currently under way to migrate content from our Quality Management System (RIMS) to RAPnet (our corporate Intranet). The RAPnet repository allows all Ricoh staff easy access to the most relevant content through a web browser.

KRA Area Description

Financial Increase revenue growth and profitability

Customers & Markets Provide value add products and services to the market

Internal Processes Promote a culture of continuous improvement

Development & Growth

Invest in people, their skills and development.Be recognised as a good corporate citizen.

The Risk Management Committee (RMC) and Ricoh Program

Management Board (RPM) are critical to the establishment and operation

of best practice management systems.

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Governance

Business Compliance

Business compliance Ricoh Australia complies with all relevant statutory legislation and state regulations, codes and standards for Environment, Quality, Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S), Privacy, Trade Practices Act, Australian Communication Media Authority (ACMA) regulations and Freedom of Information. The company also complies with a range of voluntary Australian or ISO Standards which cover Quality, Environment, Complaint Handling, Information Security, Risk Management and other standards.

Business compliance trainingAll Ricoh employees complete the CCH on line compliance training. This covers a broad range of topics, including Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Fair Trading, Information Privacy, OH&S and Sexual Harassment. The Anti-Money Laundering standard was introduced for our Finance department staff in 2008.

Business ethicsRicoh’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Charter and Code of Conduct requires the highest standards of ethical conduct from all management, staff, business partners and stakeholders. This Charter recognises that to grow as a respected company, Ricoh must fully discharge its Corporate Social Responsibility, and demand the highest ethical standards from all stakeholders.

Allegations and complaintsRicoh’s Grievance Handling Policy addresses the action that an employee can take if they have a grievance about any decision, behaviour, act or omission - whether by management or other staff - that an employee feels is unfair, discriminatory or unjustified.

PrivacyRicoh has always upheld the standard for privacy protection and continues to be dedicated to protecting the information of all customers and employees. Under the Federal Privacy Act, Ricoh Australia has ongoing obligations to:

Review its information handling practices. •

Ricoh’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Charter and

Code of Conduct requires the highest standards of ethical conduct

from all management, staff, business partners and stakeholders.

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Ensure that its business rules, processes and •documentation are privacy compliant and that there are documented policies and procedures in place. Ensure collected information is only used for the •purposes disclosed at the time of collection. Place controls on the way the company and its staff •collect, use, disclose and store personal information.

The Company Secretary has been appointed our Privacy Officer and our employees sign a Privacy Statement on commencement.

”

Ricoh’s environmental management policy is one

of our highest corporate priorities and places

us amongst the leaders in environmental

management and corporate social responsibility.

‘‘

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Robi George - Business Excellence Manager, Ricoh Australia

Environmental ManagementRicoh’s environmental management policy is one of our highest corporate priorities and places us amongst the leaders in environmental management and corporate social responsibility.

Our commitment as a global organisation is to reduce our environmental footprint by one-eighth by fiscal year 2050, compared with our 2000 levels. We are harnessing our technical innovations and collective resources to achieve this goal locally and globally.

The breadth and depth of these initiatives were formally endorsed in 2002, when we were formally certified to the International Standard for Environmental Management (ISO 14001) for all our sites across Australia; the first organisation in our industry to do so.

The future for Corporate Social Responsibility at Ricoh Australia is shaped by our desire to meet and exceed the global target for our environmental footprint and our commitment to play a role in supporting Australian communities in need.

Ricoh’s Extra Long Term Environmental VisionRicoh is designing a growing list of new products consistent with the company’s Year 2050 Extra Long Term Environmental Vision. Ricoh’s concept of sustainable environmental management is based on these pillars:

Energy conservation and prevention of global warming•Resource conservation and recycling •Pollution prevention •

The Ricoh Group obtains information on the environmental impact caused by all its businesses and by each process, using Eco Balance (see figure 3 below) and integrated environmental impact as tools.

The Ricoh Group uses an integrated analysis method to convert the total environmental impact caused by business activities - including impact on human health, depletion of resources, and impact upon ecosystems - into indicators to evaluate the integrated environmental impact.

Eco Balance is prepared based upon the input and output data for each process and for each environmentally-sensitive substance.

The Group has set the Year 2010 Long-Term Environmental goals and has prepared an environmental action plan based upon its evaluation of the integrated environmental impact that is identified by Eco Balance.

Corporate social responsibility

Environmental Management

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The Ricoh Group

Customer

Environmental impact caused before

materials are used in theRicoh Group

Calculation of theintegrated

environmental impact

Raw materials/Manufacturing of parts•Chemicals contained in products•

Manufacturing process•Marketing•Disposal and recycling•

Transportation•Maintenance•

Paper•Electric power•

Reduction Areas of Environmental Impact (Eco Balance)Figure 3

1

One of the basic drivers of our environmental program is our Product Stewardship policy. Product Stewardship requires Ricoh to be responsible for product waste right through the manufacturing, sales and service process onto the collection and recycling of Ricoh products at the end of their lifecycle. The policy covers all Ricoh products, packaging, consumables and the parts used in the servicing of machines. Critically, the policy sets our intention to operate with ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ and prevents the exporting of waste offshore.

In response to this policy, all Ricoh sites across Australia have developed aggressive strategies and performance targets to reuse, reduce or recycle waste material associated with product stewardship as well as other trade waste.

One such strategy is the high recovery Machine Recycling program. The aim of this program is to reduce the landfill component of Ricoh machines to less than 5% by focusing on processes, introduction of recycling of different materials and closely monitoring output

compared to input. This involves developing new recycling processes where none currently exist and developing upon existing processes.

Measuring input and output streams will be one of the most significant and challenging parts of this entire process, but it is vital to the success of the program. Ricoh Australia remains at the leading edge of developing workable recycling solutions for office equipment in Australia.


Product Stewardship

To date all of our programs have combined to successfully divert

2340 tonnes of Ricoh trade waste from landfill.

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‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ activities are carried out at Ricoh’s sites all over the world.

The Ricoh Group defines ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ as a 100% resource recovery rate, or no waste used as landfill. ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ was achieved at its major production sites in Japan in March 2001 and at production sites outside of Japan in March 2002. Thus, the Group has achieved ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ at all its major global production sites.

Since then, these activities have been promoted at non-production sites both at home and abroad as well as companies that have newly joined the Group. At sites that have already achieved ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’, efforts are being made to raise the level of ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’, including controlling the volume generated and the conversion of waste into useful materials, under the concepts of sustainable environmental management.


Zero Waste to Landfill

Type of waste 2006/07 (tonnes) 2007/08 (tonnes)

Paper 59 49

Cardboard 189 216

Comingle 14 10

Shrink Wrap 0.34 10

Pallets 3 1

Polystyrene 0.13 0.27

Aluminum 1 0.10

Bulk toner/developer 0.37 1.005

Plastic 9 8

Consumables 50 68

Machines 194 183

Spare Parts 0 5

Cameras 0.58 -

TOTAL 520 551

Tonnes of waste diverted from landfill

The Ricoh Group defines ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ as a 100%

resource recovery rate, or no waste used as landfill.

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The Toner Cartridge Takeback Program is a free program designed to be used by our customers to deal with the waste produced once our toner cartridges and parts have been spent. By using the program our customers can be assured that 100% of toner cartridges, toner bottles, waste toner containers, photoconductor units, fuser units, maintenance kits and other consumable products collected will be 100% recycled1. Since the program’s inception in 2001 it has continued to set ambitious targets for cartridge collection.

The program recycles end of life consumables, reclaiming the plastic to make durable objects such as park benches, rulers, as well as an innovative timber replacement product called eWoodTM.

Currently we have over 7,900 collection boxes in use across Australia in over 4360 of our customers’ premises. This program alone has diverted over 436 tonnes of waste from landfill (This figure includes both Ricoh and other manufacturer’s consumables).

Continuously Improving Results of Cartridge Collection:


Toner Cartridge Takeback Program

Toner Cartridges Target Achieved

2006/07 46% 46%

2007/08 50% 51%

Recycling Ratio1 100% 100%

Toner Bottles

2006/07 55% 55%

2007/08 60% 71%

Recycling Ratio1 100% 100%

Consumables Collection

2001 2004 Target for 2008

10% Over 35% 50%

Our Toner Cartridge Takeback Program set the benchmark for our industry

back in 2001, and our high recovery Machine Takeback Program is currently

being rolled out nationally.

- Pam Merlo, Environment and Quality Manager,

Ricoh Australia

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1 Recycling Ratio: The weight of material entering the recycling process compared to the weight of material recycled.


Machine Recycling

As the community focuses more on the environment and clean disposal of commercial and other waste, it is vital that responsible companies develop voluntary programs for handling end of life products. No longer is it acceptable to dispose of office machines by committing them to landfill or shipping them offshore. It is for this reason that Ricoh launched the Machine Recycling Program.

This is a free program designed for our customers for the recycling of their Ricoh machines once they have reached the end of their life. Since its launch in 2002, we have successfully reused or recycled over 675 tonnes of Ricoh machines. It is an integral part of our Product Stewardship policy.

As a responsible organisation Ricoh has developed viable recycling options here in Australia rather than exporting our waste machines offshore and creating disposal problems elsewhere. We accept all Ricoh machines as well as third party machines Original Equipment Manufacturer for reuse or responsible recycling.

In 2005, after conducting a detailed trial of machine recycling at Sims Metal, we discovered the waste to

landfill from this process was 30%. With our Zero Waste to Landfill goal in mind in 2006, we launched a trial program in Sydney designed to minimise the waste-landfill by de-manufacturing machines manually and reclaiming the material for reuse or recycling. The outcome was a waste to landfill ratio of 5%. We are continually refining our processes with the next target to reduce waste to 2-3%.

A total of 2,887 machines including peripherals were recycled during 2006-07. 64% of these machines were recycled with a resource recovery rate of 95%.

06 Financial Year Plain Paper Copiers Facsimile Machines Laser Printers

Actual Collection Ratio1 55% 33% 68%

Internal Target 60% 35% 35%

Regional KPI 62% N/A N/A

Actual Recycling Ratio2 92% 92% 92%

Regional KPI 90% 90% 90%

07 Financial Year Plain Paper Copiers Facsimile Machines Laser Printers

Actual Collection Ratio 48% 47% 25%

Internal Target 60% 45% 45%

Regional KPI 64% N/A N/A

Actual Recycling Ratio2 84% 84% 84%

Regional KPI 90% 90% 90%

1 Collection Ratio - The number of machines collected compared to the number of machines sold five years prior.2 Recycling Ratio - The weight of machines entering recycling process compared to the weight of material recycled.

Since its launch in 2002, we have successfully recycled over 180 tonnes of Ricoh machines into

reusable materials.

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Australia’s per capita Greenhouse gas emissions are the highest in the OECD and amongst the highest in the world2.

In line with ‘Best Practice’ Ricoh Australia monitors and reports on our emission profile, even though our footprint is below the threshold of the National Greenhouse Energy Reporting Scheme (NGERS) which came into effect 1 July 2008.

In recognition of our role in reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, Ricoh took steps back in 2003 when we began measuring and setting targets to reduce our emissions from electricity consumption. Since 2005 we expanded this to encompass fuel usage from our vehicle fleet.

The need for an organisation to measure and reduce their ‘Carbon Footprint’ has changed in the last five years, from headline to deadline.

Carbon pollution is causing climate change, resulting in higher temperatures, more droughts, rising sea levels and more extreme weather.

Without action, scientist predict up to 20% more drought months over most of Australia by 2030, more intense and damaging cyclones and rising sea levels with serious impacts on

Coastal property in Australia•Low lying Asian mega cities•The Pacific Islands •

With one of the hottest and driest continents on earth, Australia’s economy and environment will be one of the hardest and fastest hit by climate change if we don’t act now1.


Carbon

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20 25 30

Australia

OECD average

World average

0 5 10 15

Per Capita Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 2005

1. Australian Government Carbon Pollution Scheme - Green Paper, July 20082. Garnaut Climate Change Review - Draft Report3. GHG Protocol, Corporate Accounting & Reporting Standard, Page 26.

We are currently developing a carbon policy and strategy by identifying our carbon risks and opportunities, the Carbon Footprint Assessment provided by Carbon Planet will assist us greatly in determining these. We believe our logistics, IT infrastructure and building facilities are the areas we will need to focus the most attention on. We are expanding our carbon management to provide a holistic overview of Ricoh Australia’s emissions and allow us to manage areas we have not measured in the past.

Carbon

Ricoh takes our responsibility for the protection of the environment and the sustainability of our business very seriously. To help us fight against climate change we have partnered with Greenfleet. Greenfleet is the first not-for-profit forestry organisation in Australia to become an Approved Abatement Provider under the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Friendly‘ initiative.

Recently we engaged the services of Carbon Planet to perform a Carbon Footprint Assessment of our entire operations in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and the international standard ISO 14064-1. This assessment will cover all three scopes required by the NGERS as shown in the figure 4 below.


Carbon

06 Financial Year 07 Financial Year Target for 2008

KPI to reduce CO2 emissions per head by 2%

over FY05 figuresKPI to reduce CO

2 emissions per head by 4%

over FY05 figuresKPI to reduce CO

2 emissions per head by 1%

over FY07 figures

Achieved 5% reduction per head Achieved 7% reduction per head N/A

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CO2 emissions from Electricity Consumption and Fuel Usage

Figure 4

Overview of scopes & emissions of a company

At Ricoh we have taken a hands-on approach to our

interaction with the community, designing programs which

encourage the involvement of our staff and then embed

them into the way we conduct day-to-day business.

”

‘‘

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Pam Merlo - Quality & Environment Manager, Ricoh Australia

Environmental contributionAt Ricoh we have taken a hands-on approach to our interaction with the community, designing programs which encourage the involvement of our staff and then embed them into the way we conduct day-to-day business. This ensures their sustainability. Our environmental contribution is underpinned by our philosophy of ‘Our earth, Our tomorrow’ - Ricoh’s global environmental motto - and the belief that we are obligated to protect and preserve the planet.

EarthkeepersTM

Ricoh Australia is involved in various environmental education programs, supporting primary schools and high schools. A key initiative is Earthkeepers™, an earth education program that helps students understand ecological concepts, develop environmental perceptions, take action to lessen their impact while increasing their contact with the natural world. Since 2003, Ricoh has assisted local schools and worked closely with community groups to expand Earthkeepers™ in Australia.

Having sponsored the successful start up of the Earthkeepers™ program in areas of Sydney, Ricoh is committed to promoting the Earthkeepers™ experience to a broader school audience. Ricoh’s sponsorship has enabled over 400 students to undertake the program. Our involvement is not merely a financial one, Ricoh staff are actively involved in the running of the program thus enabling them to see the results first hand, providing them with a sense of purpose and also reconnecting them with the environment.

“The most important lesson the children have gained from the Earthkeepers™ program is a lifelong change in their attitude towards the environment. They have learned that the environment is precious and they need to do something about it as individuals, otherwise the future isn’t good.”

Pam Montgomery, Waitara Public School

“Ricoh’s involvement over the past three years has meant everything to the students and the teachers

at Waitara Public School. We have children in our school who are

underprivileged whose parents don’t have the money to send them on

programs such as this. Without Ricoh it just wouldn’t have happened, we

would not have known where to start. We love Ricoh staff coming

along and being involved in the program. All we can say at Waitara is

Thank You!”

Pam Montgomery, Year 4 educator,Waitara Public School

Environmental Contribution

Earthkeeperstm

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Sustainable Communities Initiative

In early 2007 Ricoh was invited by the CSIRO to become a Foundation Partner in their Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI).

The mission of the SCI is to create a more sustainable Australia by enabling communities to realise sustainable social, economic and environmental vitality. The program brings together participants from the public, private and civil society sectors, that partners with communities, to develop innovative solutions to local sustainability challenges and opportunities.

The CSIRO identified a strong strategic alignment between Ricoh’s organisational objectives and the SCI due to our national reach and profile, commitment to innovation and track record in working in Australian communities.

Ricoh is proud to be involved in this important initiative, committing to fund over $82,000 to various projects in 2007 - 2009.

Ricoh has commenced work with the CSIRO Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) through a project in Castlemaine, Victoria. One aspect of this project is the reduction of greenhouse gases. Ricoh’s input encompasses expert guidance through office automation and office waste recycling. It will also seek to educate the community on reducing the amount of waste-to-landfill through practical recycling programs that reduce the community’s environmental footprint.

The CSIRO’s Sustainable Communities Initiative has provided Ricoh an opportunity to work together with the CSIRO and other government departments and private firms to create a more sustainable Australia.

Sustainable Schools Art CompetitionOur Sustainable Schools Art Competition is another activity that provides us an opportunity to drive environmental programs within participating primary schools. Students create murals and individual artworks based on the theme of ‘Our Earth, Our Tomorrow’.

The competition is designed to help fund environmental programs of the participating schools, with prize money and giveaways for winning schools and students.

The competition gives participating students an opportunity to see their concepts and ideas used in a large, creative format and feel empowered about expressing their important message.

In 2006, we expanded the competition to include a section for local schools catering for children with special needs. Through this involvement Ricoh has developed an ongoing relationship with Arranounbai School, located close to our head office in Frenchs Forest.


Environment Projects

In early 2007 Ricoh was invited by the CSIRO to become a Foundation

Partner in their Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI).

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2007 Sustainable Schools Art Competition winners

EnvirothonThe Envirothon is an annual competition sponsored by Ricoh, NSW Department of Education & Training and the NSW Department of Environment & Climate Change. It involves high school students around NSW, with regional finalists competing for the title of State Envirothon Champions.

The Envirothon is held at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and is open to Year 11 students studying Biology, Geography and Earth & Environmental Science. The competition is seen to be the ultimate test of environmental skills and awareness for the 240 students who compete.

In the three-day final held at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, teams of students put their fieldwork skills into action to discern the future threats to the biodiversity and cultural heritage of Bobbin Head. Students present their findings to a panel of judges. The winning school receives a recycled park bench as a permanent record of their success and each member of the winning team receives a Ricoh digital camera.

Tree planting dayPlanet Ark’s Schools Tree Day is an important date in the Ricoh environmental calendar. Our involvement has been primarily with schools situated in the Sydney Blue Mountains region.

For example, each year a team of Ricoh staff assist the children of Warrimoo Public School plant over 500 native indigenous saplings in areas of the school grounds that have been reclaimed through the involvement of the local Landcare group. Our ongoing sponsorship has assisted the school to purchase saplings and gardening tools.

The program’s success can be measured by the growth of the trees planted. The children take ownership of the program, ensuring the saplings are well mulched and watered to secure their continued growth.

Clean Up Australia DayThrough environmental education, we strive to raise the awareness of all our employees so they develop a social viewpoint that empowers them to undertake environmental activities on their own. As a result Ricoh has been actively involved in Clean Up Australia Day since 2003.

We concentrate our efforts in the same areas each year, with the involvement of local community groups and councils, who oversee the supervision of the sites. This allows us to see the benefits of our involvement first hand through the reduction in the amount of rubbish collected in successive years.

Ricoh is proud of our Clean Up Team and their contribution to the environment, keeping waterways clear of plastic bags, polystyrene and other much larger items. Recyclable items such as plastic drink bottles and cans make up approximately one third of the items collected each year.


Environmental Projects

Each year Ricoh staff and their families volunteer their time to assist

local communities around the country to rid the environment of rubbish.

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2007 Sustainable Schools Art Competition winners

Ricoh strives for excellence in all areas of its

business and has been recognised for outstanding

products and customer service, protecting the

environment and its manufacturing processes.

”

‘‘

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Robi George - Business Excellence Manager, Ricoh Australia

Ricoh strives for excellence in all areas of its business and has been recognised for outstanding products and customer service, protecting the environment and its manufacturing processes.

Global 100For the fourth year in a row, Ricoh was recognised for its industry-leading commitment to the environment by being named among the planet’s top 100 sustainable corporations at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Global 100, compiled by research company Innovest, compares companies to their industry peers and awards those who are deemed to have the best developed abilities to manage environmental, social and governance risks, and take advantage of new business opportunities in the area.

Ricoh has been represented in the Global 100 since the list’s inception in 2005 and was awarded with a Gold Medal from the World Economic Council in 2003 for being the world’s most sustainable corporation.

No Waste AwardRicoh Australia’s Canberra branch was awarded the ACT Government’s Gold No Waste Award in 2006 for their efforts in waste reduction.

In Canberra, Ricoh products are supplied to customers directly from the Sydney warehouse. This simple operational process reduces product handling and therefore the amount of packaging required and potential product damage. This in turn leads to efficiencies beyond waste minimisation into economics and staffing. Contracts for the transport and delivery of products include requirements for the reuse and recycling of packaging materials, along with a requirement that no packaging is to remain with clients post delivery.

A worm farm has been introduced to take organic waste material. The castings from the farm are then used as a soil conditioner and natural pesticide in the staff garden. This further rewards staff for their recycling efforts and promotes their active experiential learning process.

As a result of the initiatives implemented in the branch, the volume of material entering landfill from its operations has dropped to just 1.8% when compared to the volume in 2004.


Environmental Awards

Ricoh has been represented in the Global 100 since the list’s inception in 2005 and was awarded with a Gold

Medal from the World Economic Council in 2003 for being the world’s most

sustainable corporation.

21

Responsibility to societyBeing a good corporate citizen means operating responsibly and contributing to the success and sustainability of the environment, society and our stakeholders. We believe that to achieve this aim, we have a role to play in the realignment of struggling communities and the education and empowerment of the next generation onto the path of sustainability.

Our experience has shown us that shared learning, hands-on participation with communities in need, and mentoring the next generation helps us best appreciate the challenges these groups face.

By working together with like-minded organisations, we believe we are able to use our collective resources to yield a better outcome for the environment or better support for a community in need.

SunnyfieldRicoh Australia has been a long-term supporter of disability service provider - Sunnyfield. In February 2005 the company established the Ricoh Trust to assist Sunnyfield with their 5 year development plan for facilities and services, and specifically to support the ‘Integrated Living Program’ for the disabled. This program focuses on purchasing and modifying housing properties to meet the diverse needs of individuals with disabilities, enabling them to live near their place of employment and access their community needs.

Over the past 10 years, Ricoh Australia has committed in excess of $830,000 to Sunnyfield. Our previous Managing Director, Nigel Shepherd has been a tireless worker for the Sunnyfield Organisation and as a testament to his efforts Nigel was rewarded with an Honorary Life Membership to the Sunnyfield Association in October 2007.

To date, proceeds have also helped realise Sunnyfield’s goal to construct a 2,000 square metre training and employment facility, known as the Lifestyle Centre. The state-of-the-art centre at Allambie Heights, NSW, accommodates therapy, lifestyle improvement and development programs.

Social Contribution

Responsibility to society

22

Past Managing Director Nigel Shepherd presenting cheque to Sunnyfield

Arranounbai SchoolArranounbai School is a special needs school catering for children with physical disabilities and medical conditions from preschool through to Year 12. Arranounbai School and Ricoh set out in mid 2007 to design a program that meets the growing needs of the school and Ricoh’s commitment to the principles of corporate social contribution.

The objective of the program is to provide the students with much needed adult stimulation during their lunchtime to help them build their confidence and communication skills.

The key challenges of designing such a program is ensuring its sustainability over the long term. This means maintaining consistent staff involvement so as to not disappoint the children, maximising the benefit to the students on an ongoing basis and assisting the volunteers in overcoming any anxieties they might have in working with children with a variety of physical disabilities and medical conditions.

“I like having the Ricoh volunteers come to our school because they treat us with respect and play with us. They spend time with us and talk with us. I am excited when they come and it makes me happy because I like spending time with them”.

Jacob Hillier - student – May 2008

By engaging a large pool of enthusiastic Ricoh volunteers and rostering them throughout each school term, sufficient capacity was provided to meet the commitment required for the program. An induction program for volunteers introduces the children and outlines the benefits the school hopes to achieve with Ricoh’s involvement. Finally, volunteers are assigned to the same child on each visit in order to provide the children and volunteers with a sense of continuity.

“As a parent and staff member I am in awe of the volunteers. I am so

grateful for their generosity in time, energy and patience. It is pure delight

to watch the faces of the children enjoy the company of so many

friendly, caring people”.

Carmel Hillier

Social Contribution

Responsibility to society

23

The program is successful in building relationships with the children and staff. The children are expanding their communication skills, gaining confidence and increasing their self esteem through the involvement of Ricoh staff. In return, the reports from our staff have been outstanding, in essence providing them with a sense of purpose and belonging to an organisation which is committed to contributing to the local community and society at large.

Green PartnershipsTo help achieve its long term environmental goals, Ricoh is partnering with its business partners, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders to help reduce the impact of Ricoh products on the environment. The aim of these Green Partnerships is to work together to improve the environment, support Australian communities in need and achieve long term sustainability goals.

The Green Partnership is an in-principle agreement between Ricoh and a like minded organisation - typically a customer - to work together to improve social, economic and environmental sustainability in Australia.Part of the agreement, signed by both parties, includes a commitment to utilise Ricoh’s product stewardship related programs, adopt a green procurement policy, and work together to achieve a ‘zero waste to landfill’ outcome.

In return, Ricoh is happy to consider proposals which support the suitable sustainability programs of our partners.

To date, Ricoh’s Green Partners include Griffith University, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Close the Loop®. Ricoh is also looking at establishing a green partnership with CSIRO in 2008.

Case Study: Griffith University and Ricoh Griffith University is one of Queensland’s premier tertiary education institutions and services 30,000 students across five campuses, offering a multitude of academic disciplines.

By replacing their fleet of outdated analogue printers and photocopiers with Ricoh multifunction devices, we were able to assist Griffith University in realising their goals: conservation of power through our Quick Start Up (QSU) energy saving technology and reduced paper consumption through duplexing of network printing.

Griffith University’s implementation of our Toner Cartridge Takeback Program demonstrates their further commitment to the goal of reducing electronic waste.

Recognising a strong synergy between our environmental objectives and those of Griffith University, inducting them as a Green Partner was a natural progression in our ongoing relationship. As a result of the replenishment of their fleet in subsequent years, Griffith University is now an active participant in our Machine Takeback Program as well.

Ricoh and Griffith University continue to work together to promote product stewardship, responsible reuse, recycling and good corporate citizenship.

Social Contribution

Green Partnerships

A commitment to environmental responsibility and waste reduction

programs led to Griffith University’s decision to appoint Ricoh as its office

equipment supplier in 2004.

24

Con Graves, Griifith University, Andrew Hopper, Ricoh & Robert Jack, Griffith University

Listening to our customersRicoh’s processes for measuring customer satisfaction are largely derived through Customer Satisfaction Surveys that are initiated following completion of a customer installation as well as service calls. Feedback from the surveys is monitored by the branch managers and there is an automatic system of escalation for negative responses, which are triggered by set criteria. Escalation also occurs for positive feedback provided by the customer.

Call CentreOver the last two years, the Call Centre has relocated to a state-of-the-art building at Frenchs Forest, NSW.

To provide more effective support to our clients, the National Call Centre is leveraging off our global knowledge base at ‘www.ricoh.com’. This is a public database that can empower our customers to find a quick solution to some of their issues.

Ricoh Australia has widened its suite of performance measures—Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—for reviewing and tracking service performance delivery. These include a number of performance targets for the Call Centre and customer service such as call rate, time to respond, time to repair, return calls, utilisation ratio and revenue generated per technician. The KPIs are weighted for variances that may occur—for example routine service repair calls versus planned maintenance for high volume machines with the latter requiring some time to complete. The National Call Centre has achieved a significant improvement in call cancellation ratios where calls are resolved over the phone.

Listening to our customers

National Call Centre

25

Technical ServiceThe Ricoh On Line Service Centre (OLSC) was implemented across all our branches over the last three years and rolled out across our dealer network across Australia over the past 18 months.

The OLSC provides field technicians with service call administrative functions, such as call notification, call close-out and parts reordering. Where calls were previously dispatched via phone or fax, they are now handled by laptops with wireless connectivity or even hand held PDAs. The result is an improved level of online communications for call notification and close out and provides real time database records.

Technical SupportOur Technical Support database was implemented in 2007 and has provided Tier 2 support for the Business Partners Help Desk. Improvements to the Business Partners Help Desk include:

Refinement of work flows• Competency based technical training - primarily for •service technicians Developments in the capture of service call history and •resolution.

These developments have, in turn, provided a comprehensive database of knowledge for trouble shooting and problem resolution, allowing our field service technicians to solve more complex product faults, thus providing better customer service by minimising machine downtime.

Technical TrainingTechnical Training is contained within the National Technical Support Department and is responsible for the provision of technical training and forward planning of service training courses. This training is delivered to the direct branch operation as well as all wholesale dealers nationally.

On average, approximately 450 individual candidates are provided with classroom training over approximately 240 training days per annum.

In addition to classroom product training, Technical Training is also responsible for skills training of the field technical force, in the form of the Technical Development Plan. This plan provides a classification system for technicians based on workplace competency assessments. All training material for the technical development plan is developed and maintained internally by the Technical Training department.

Delivery of this training material is a blend of self-paced learning material, online courses and instructor led classroom courses.

As part of the continuous improvement policy of the organisation, the Technical Training department, in conjunction with the IT department, is implementing an in-house Learning Management System (LMS). The LMS will ultimately provide training schedules, course enrolment administration functions, on demand training reporting plus online delivery of selected product courses.

The LMS is currently partially implemented within the direct branch operation. Ongoing system development and integration is currently taking place with a view to full implementation of the LMS in the near future.

Learning and development are undoubtedly one of the key

strengths of the organisation and the developments in this area over the

past three years is leading to greater strengthening of skills sets across the organisation. The standards achieved

in the delivery of training programs across the organisation for both

technical and non-technical training are indeed worthy of note.

SAI Global ISO 9001 / 14001 Recertification Audit Report

– January 2008


Technical Support & Service

26

A customer satisfaction survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2007 to gauge the level of satisfaction of Ricoh customers with the service they received when logging a help desk request and receiving a visit from one of our field technicians. There were 240 respondents across Australia.

Results of Customer Satisfaction Survey:

Customers gave their highest ratings on ‘professionalism and courtesy’ for both the Call Centre and Field

Service departments.

Francis Menchaca - National Call Centre Manager, May 2008


Customer Satisfaction Survey

Very Dissatisfied

Somewhat Dissatisfied

Neutral

Somewhat Satisfied

Very Satisfied

0% 10% 20% 30% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

4

3

3

14

216

1. Customer Care Operator - Professionalism and Courtesy

Very Dissatisfied


Neutral

Somewhat Satisfied

Very Satisfied

0% 10% 20% 30% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

3

0

1

13

223

2. Technician Professionalism and Courtesy

Very Dissatisfied


Neutral

Somewhat Satisfied

Very Satisfied

0% 10% 20% 30% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

4

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22

208

3. Customer Care Operator - Knowledge

Very Dissatisfied


Neutral

Somewhat Satisfied

Very Satisfied

0% 10% 20% 30% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

3

0

3

20

214

4. Technician Knowledge and Ability

27

‘‘

”Savings - 45% reduction in paper use -

saved approx 200,000 sheets of paper

‘‘

28

Innovation, research & development

Woolworths

Woolworths – a case study in innovationIn 2000, Woolworths started developing a new national support office in Norwest Business Park in Sydney, by combining eight of its existing sites into a modern complex, housing around 3,000 employees.

In 2004, Woolworths published a Request for Tender (RFT) looking for suppliers who could provide managed services and help create a world-class facility delivering process improvement, cost reduction, and improved user satisfaction. Three key areas of the were:Host Data Printing, Fleet management and Document Imaging.

Woolworths estimated the site would produce approximately 50 million black and white impressions per year - 20 million in the managed bulk print centre and 30 million across the site’s 36 workgroup utilities rooms.

Ricoh’s proposal highlighted several integrated solutions: Rationalisation of multiple vendors to a single vendor •by providing one set of services covering all required functions and eliminating vendor conflict; Integration of workgroup print workflows with the •bulk print and copy centre services to create higher service level standards across the site; Onsite managed services, including consultancy •assistance in planning the transition to new premises; Improvement in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by •rationalising the fleet and creating real cost savings for Woolworths; Improvement of the operating strategy of host data •and high-volume printing by reducing the high cost of 24/7 operation, solving the host printing issues and maintaining business continuity.

The Norwest project started in October 2007. Ricoh established an understanding of the print volumes and device profiles of the different sites and consolidated them for Woolworths. The total number of devices was rationalised through a combination of Ricoh multifunction printers (MFPs) in the bulk print centre and laser printers throughout the floors at Norwest site.

Significant cost savings have been achieved through the reduction of vendors, number of fleet devices, calls to help desk and consumables.

Through the Ricoh Premier Services program Woolworths are provided with a fully staffed onsite bulk print centre managed by Ricoh including:

Six permanent Ricoh employees onsite, including two •technicians;A high-volume and host-printing environment;•Utility fleet hardware and software;•Fleet management and consumables valet service;•Document scanning and repository services.•

Innovation examplesUsing Web SmartDeviceMonitor - Ricoh’s web-enabled device management utility - device errors, as well as paper and toner alerts are emailed via a wireless network directly to the BlackBerry’s of the Ricoh Premier Services onsite technicians. This call logging solution bypasses Woolworth’s service desk and saves over 3 hours in the response time of each call.

Another innovation example is Ricoh’s remote printer solution. This solution allows Woolworths staff at the Norwest site to be connected to the bulk print centre irrespective of their location, without having to pre-load any printer drivers on their PCs. As a result, staff can submit documents securely via the web to the high speed MFPs. Submitting documents to the bulk print centre is simple: by logging onto the bulk print centre web page, uploading the documents and completing the online job ticket.

29

Research and DevelopmentTo remain at the forefront of change, Ricoh maintains a fully integrated research and development structure that has accelerated the introduction of innovative and competitive products to the marketplace.

Ricoh has spearheaded the worldwide move towards the digital office, providing the latest in digital office technology to a wide range of users, from top 500 corporations and government to small offices. The company invests over 8% of its global net sales in research and development annually.

Ricoh has eleven research and development plants to conduct basic and applied research into a broad

array of technologies. These include optics, chemicals, mechatronics, semiconductors and digital electronics. Its research and development structure promotes overall advances in image processing, multimedia technologies and telecommunications systems.

The Ricoh Group is pioneering new products and services that replace petroleum, shrink carbon emissions and help reduce our collective ecological footprint.

The job of identifying environmentally-friendly materials was no small task, since Ricoh discovered that roughly half of the company’s environmental impact was linked to the raw materials embedded in its products.

Design ProcessRicoh uses Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) in the development of all new products. LCA means quantitatively identifying which and how much environmental impact exists in the life-cycle of a product, from the gathering of resources for the production of raw materials to manufacturing, transportation, marketing, use, maintenance, collection, recycling and disposal.

LCA based design has lead to:The reduction in the number of parts, sharing of parts •and increasing the life cycle of parts;Limiting the use of environmentally-sensitive •substances;Creating energy conservation/recyclable designs.•

Ricoh is developing new environmental technologies within our products which unobtrusively contribute to the reduction in environmental impact while in use.

Innovation, research & development

Research & Development

“Manufacturers are responsible for selecting materials used in

their products…I think we must take the initiative in using new environmentally-friendly

materials, thus contributing to improving society.”

Tadakatsu Harada, R&D Engineer with Ricoh’s Core Technology Research Centre

30

1

Plant based tonerIt is estimated that 185,000 tons of toner is consumed globally each year, and the amount continues to increase. Toner incorporates raw materials that are derived from oil, including polymeric resin. In addition, the actual extraction of that oil results in heavy emissions of carbon dioxide, a key factor in global warming.

In order to satisfy the demands of our ‘Planet, People, Profit TM’ philosophy, we needed to identify a more sustainable alternative. Our research led us to explore the potential for toner made from plant resin. As harvesting crops involves far less CO

2 emissions than the extraction

of oil, plant-based toner represents a viable solution from the viewpoint of the environment.

Ricoh went on to develop plant-based toner in 2006, and we plan to become the first manufacturer to commercialise such a product. Replacing the world’s toner inventory with the plant-based resin would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 120,000 tons per year. This is just one example of our ongoing commitment to total sustainability.

Replacing the world’s toner inventory with the plant-based resin would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 120,000 tons per year.

31

‘‘Ricoh is committed to capturing and sharing its

information assets with its employees.

”‘‘

32

Rob Livingstone - Chief Information Officer, Ricoh Australia

Management systems and self assessmentOur Business Excellence division was established in 2006 and is responsible for coordinating the drive for continuous improvement across the company through the selection, establishment and operation of best practice management systems.

In the never ending pursuit for sustainable organisation excellence, the Business Excellence division uses the Business Excellence Framework (BEF) as an overarching framework to focus our continuous improvement and compliance activities which include:

- Business Excellence Framework

- Certified Management Systems: Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2000 Certificate No. QEC3294) Environment Management System (ISO 14001:2004 Certificate No. C10297) Information Security Management System (ISO 27001:2005 Certificate No. IS85241)

- Best Practice Risk Management (AS/NZS 4360) Business Process Re-engineering Ricoh Programme Management (PRINCE2)

Managements Systems & Self Assesment

Overview

33

“The Discovery process has revolutionised the way we detect and respond to opportunities for

improvement. It provides the foundations for a more consultative

and healthy two-way dialogue between business managers and

change agents.“

Declan O’Reilly - Business Process Manager

ISO27001IS 85241

Quality ISO 9001

EnvironmentISO 14001

The Talent Manager system was identified in previous Business Excellence Framework assessments and now represents a key mechanism in the dissemination of responsibilities lock-step with the company strategy - proof of the value of the BEF.

For FY2007 Ricoh obtained a Silver award from the Ricoh International Business Group for achieving a score of 472 points on the BEF.

Moving ForwardFour key projects were identified moving forward which will have a significant impact on the performance of Ricoh: 1. Refine our corporate vision, mission and values.2. Refine the Executive Plan, Do, Check, Act approach.3. Refine our understanding of customer requirements,

listening strategies and business process improvement approach.

4. Refine the supply of information to the business to enable better decision making through Business Intelligence systems.

Business Excellence Framework (BEF)The Business Excellence Framework is an internationally recognised blueprint for high performance businesses. It aims to provide an environment for focused and balanced continuous improvement, and is used within Ricoh to assess and improve on any aspect of the company from leadership, strategy & planning, people, through to product quality and bottom-line results.

How did we rate?Ricoh Group uses the Business Excellence Framework globally throughout all Ricoh companies to benchmark performance and encourage continuous improvement through cross-pollination of ideas and innovation in each country.

Each year, Ricoh undergoes an independent assessment against the Business Excellence Framework using an assessment team comprising senior managers from other Ricoh companies in the region.

This year, Ricoh was able to demonstrate the deployment of our Talent Manager system – an easy to use online performance management system that enables the alignment of each employee’s goals and key result areas with the business objectives laid out in the company’s Balanced Scorecard.


Business Excellence Framework

Data, Information & Knowledge

Leadership & innovation

Customer & market focus

People

Processes, Products & Services

Business Results

Strategy Planning& Process

Dat

a, In

form

atio

n &

Kn

ow

led

ge

Figure 5

34

External certificationAt Ricoh, we have adopted an integrated approach for the establishment and operation of our management systems. This approach has removed much of the overlap inherent in each individual management system whilst providing efficiency gains in operation and certification of the management systems and certainty in the implementation of essential controls.

Quality Management System and Environment Management SystemOur quality management system was first formally certified in 1994 and our integrated management system for quality and environment was recertified in 2002, 2005 and 2007 to ISO9001 and ISO14001.

These management systems are pivotal in the management of our corporate governance, work practice knowledge, handling of customer complaints and the standardisation and reengineering of business processes.

“The system has evolved over many years and there has been a strong and productive phase of development and improvement to the management system over the triennial that is unequal in significance compared to previous triennials for which Ricoh Australia is heartily commended.

Very few issues for concern were identified across the business which is a strong endorsement of the maturity and stability of the system.” - SAI Global ISO9001/14001 Triennial Audit Report, Jan 2008.

Information Security Management SystemIn March 2007, Ricoh’s Information Security Management System (ISMS) was formally certified to ISO 27001 as part of Ricoh’s global certification program.

As a responsible corporate citizen, Ricoh understands the critical importance of information and its value as an asset to our business. We also recognise our obligation to manage this information, which is used to support our customers, our staff and our business partners.


External Certification

35

As a trustworthy global company, operating in the global information

society it is essential that we recognise the value of all information assets and

protect them accordingly.

Robi George - Business Excellence Manager

Ricoh’s ISMS includes a vulnerability assessment program, security incident response program, security awareness and education program and a business continuity program.

“The strengths of the Information Security Management System were found in the construction and implementation of the ISMS management framework and Risk Management processes.” - BSI Australia ISO27001 Certification Audit Report, March 2007.


Business Process Re-engineering

36

We are then able to look forward and model future ‘what if’ scenarios for consultation and implementation. Ultimately, this allows us to minimise the overhead of business transactions and maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of process integration with our customers and suppliers.

Risk Assessment & TreatmentThe Risk Management Committee (RMC) is critical to the effective management of risk within Ricoh. The RMC is chaired by Ricoh’s managing director and includes all executives and general managers across the company, who meet regularly to review risks, treatments and matters of corporate governance. The RMC operates in accordance with the standard for Risk Management, AS/NZS 4360.

Of the 180 operational risks identified, 74 risks have been successfully treated, and the remainder are currently being treated through appropriate risk treatment strategies.

Best PracticeCentral to the operation of the Business Excellence division is the connection between our Discovery process, Risk Assessment & Treatment process and the Ricoh Programme Management process.

DiscoveryAt Ricoh, the Discovery process is used to identify and visually represent the actual business process followed within our business. The process provides a good basis for discussion, illumination of opportunities for improvement, identification of risks and knowledge transfer.

To date, over 250 business processes have been mapped, enabling the identification of 180 operational risks and even more quick-win changes.

Discovery creates a steady pipeline for feedback on opportunities for improvement and allows us to be more surgical in the delivery of change - so important in being responsive to the needs of our customers, staff and stakeholders.” – Robi George, Business Excellence Manager.

Business Process Re-engineeringThe process and information collected through the Discovery process is core to our change activities and has enabled the construction of a single, process flow diagram (figure 5) for the whole company.

The process flow diagram enables the end-to-end modeling of all core processes through a detailed understanding of all transactions with customers, suppliers and internal business units.

This understanding allows us to identify, measure and remediate bottlenecks, waste, defects and other inefficiencies inherent in our core processes and eliminate practices that do not add value.

Ricoh Program ManagementThe market within which Ricoh operates is becoming increasingly competitive. In this environment, we are under pressure to reduce operating costs and increase internal efficiencies whilst meeting the plethora of compliance controls.

The key to solving these challenges often lies in the successful delivery of cross division (enterprise) projects with a solution composed of a complementary mix of people, process, governance and technology.

To address this need, a Ricoh Program Management (RPM) Office was created in 2007 to allow Ricoh to more effectively manage the selection, prioritisation, delivery and review of enterprise business improvement projects.

The RPM has adopted a PRINCE2 project management methodology for executing enterprise change.

Mid Term Plan/Regional Mandates

DeliveredProjects

Divisional Strategy

EnterpriseStrategy

Initiatives

Policy, People,Process, Technology

Ricoh ProgrammeManagement

Risk Treatment

Risk Assessment Discovery


Ricoh Program Management

37

To date three major Ricoh Program Management projects and six filler projects have been implemented.

Ricoh’s approach to continual improvement Figure 6

‘‘Awareness and training are central to the

successful operation of the company. Ricoh Australia

continued its stance of providing top-level training

opportunities for all staff

”

‘‘

38

Kim Reade - Human Resource Manager, Ricoh Australia

Workplace Performance and Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S)

Successful management of our workforce - that is, attracting and keeping talented staff with key expertise - is fundamental to Ricoh Australia’s corporate performance, and vital to support the company’s future strategic direction. During the period under review, Ricoh Australia’s direct workforce increased by 2.6% from 459 to 474. This is a reflection of the company’s growth and indicates the importance of well-trained, competent people in the workforce needed to sustain this growth.

Our staff turnover for FY 2007-2008 was 15% - below the industry average of 18%. This figure is actually inflated as a result of including staff redundancies from the sale of the photographics division.

Awareness and training are central to the successful operation of the company. Ricoh Australia continued its stance of providing top-level training opportunities for all staff by introducing the Ricoh Product Champions Award - twenty awards have been presented to date. We have also combined our successful online Induction Program with a structured Induction Plan.

OH&S ProgramIn Ricoh’s Occupational Health and Safety Management Program, OH&S Risk Management is a key feature of the system and we continually strive to identify potential accident sites, expose actual and potential risks and take appropriate corrective action. Whilst the elimination of risk is our top priority, we are aware that new hazards are encountered as operations change, and we are continually adjusting to accommodate these changes.

When a new employee starts with Ricoh, they are immediately provided with instruction and training in OH&S through a face to face induction, and secondly, by completion of an online CCH OH&S module. OH&S training needs are continually assessed in order to comply with current and new legislation. Specific training is provided as required, examples of this include Manual Handling, First Aid and Fire Warden training.

Regular safety audits of all sites and OH&S system procedures reveal opportunities for improvement and these are formally addressed as corrective actions within the system.

All Ricoh Australia sites have an OH&S Representative who co-ordinates activities. They play an active role in ensuring that OH&S policies, procedures and disciplines are implemented, communicated and effective. All locations have qualified First Aid Officers and Fire Wardens on site. Overall OH&S activities are centrally controlled by the Human Resources (HR) department located at Head Office (in Sydney NSW).

To ensure there is a co-ordinated approach to OH&S audits and related activities nationally, HR provides a formal OH&S ‘Calender of Events’. The Calendar of Events includes audits and activities for electrical, workplace safety, fire safety, evacuation drill, team meetings, ergonomic audits and risk assessments.

On a quarterly basis, the national OH&S committee meets at Head Office. The committee team consists of workplace OH&S Representatives and Management Representatives. This committee discusses a number of issues reflected by documents that the OH&S Officer prepares for the meeting.

Industry BenchmarkingSince 2006, Ricoh has been able to benchmark our OH&S performance against the industry at large. The HR Manager annually issues internal reports and statistics to management in relation to the performance of the OH&S system. These comprehensive reports show consolidated statistics for each location on type and number of injuries. Other documents regularly produced include, Branch OH&S meeting minutes, Risk Assessment results and audit reporting.

Workplace Performance and Occupational Health & Safety

OH&S Program

39

Learning and Development Ricoh Australia has continued to enhance learning and development programs for staff. Many of these programs are competency based, providing staff at all levels with the required competencies and skills to support their roles and business functions.

The Ricoh Australia Career Development Program provides a comprehensive suite of guidelines for staff to develop their skills and work experience to fulfil the needs of the business, as well as the career aspirations of employees.

Ricoh has developed a sales induction training program for Ricoh Australia sales staff and major dealers - Ricoh Business Centres.

All Ricoh employees complete the CCH on line compliance training. This covers a broad range of topics, including Equal Employment Opportunity, Fair Trading, Information Privacy, OH&S and Sexual Harassment.

Employee Satisfaction SurveyIn 2007 the third stage survey was held. It showed significant improvement in staff awareness of the company activities and direction. High on the recognition list were OH&S, Environment and CSR activities. The overall satisfaction rating of employees increased by 2% over 2005 figures and demonstrates that our improvement programs and approach to managing our human resources are not only recognised, but having a positive effect.

Employee Health InitiativesEncouraging our employees to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle is an important part of our well being program. For the past nine years Ricoh has encouraged its Head Office employees to participate in a lunchtime corporate sporting competition called Lunchtime Legends. The company covers the entry costs of all participating teams and provides t-shirts for all players. Sports played include volleyball, softball, touch football and six-a-side mixed soccer.

Other activities that the Ricoh Social Club has sponsored its staff include:

Sydney - City to Surf Fun Run;•Brisbane - National Cycle to Work Day;• Melbourne - Ricoh sponsored fifteen staff (up to 50%) •in a ten week Health and Fitness program;Adelaide - City to Bay Fun Run; • Perth - City to Park Fun Run (organised by Perth •Branch).


Ricoh Employees

Since 2006, Ricoh has been able to benchmark our OH&S performance

against the industry at large. 40

Online trainingRicoh Australia continues to demonstrate dedication to our staff by providing varied opportunities for growth and development. Ricoh has integrated an online learning philosophy that ties in with our sustainable ethos. We provide our Induction, Product Training, Compliance, IT and Desktop computer skills all online. Ricoh staff can access digitised books that can be viewed over the web or downloaded via MP3. Staff are given the opportunity to attend lunchtime lessons, where they can complete a computer skills course during their lunch break, with lunch provided.

Course materials are all online - LESS WASTE; •Books are fully digitised - SAVE PAPER; •No need to drive to a live class - SAVE FUEL; •No leftover refreshments - SAVE WATER; •No need to cool or light a classroom - SAVE ENERGY.•

As well as our commitment to online training, Ricoh Australia has structured development paths for our key roles within the organisation such as our Technicians, Business Solutions Engineers, Customer Training Representatives and our New Supervisors. The development paths use a blended learning approach of online, classroom and self paced learning to accommodate various learning preferences.

Ricoh also sponsors a number of employees to complete qualification courses at graduate and postgraduate level by covering the cost of tuition fees and course materials.

By providing online training, less energy and fewer CO

2 emissions per

student are used than conventional classroom based courses.


Online Training

41

42

Environmental Timeline

2007In February, Ricoh Australia invited to become a foundation member of the CSIRO’s Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI).

Ricoh added its name to the list of signatories supporting the Joint Statement “The Path to Climate Sustainability” drafted by the Global Roundtable on Climate Change (GROCC)1.

June 5, World Environment Day, Ricoh Australia takes action against climate change by partnering with Greenfleet to partially offset its vehicle fleet’s carbon emission.

Ricoh endorses the “Caring for Climate: The Business Leadership Platform” of the United Nations Global Compact.

Ricoh’s ongoing sponsorship of earth education program Earthkeepers‘ expands to fourth school. Over 400 students have undergone the program as a result of Ricoh’s involvement. Ricoh staff are involved in the hands on delivery of the program.

Arranounbai Lunchtime Volunteer Program is launched.

2005Ricoh listed in Global 100, a list of the world’s most sustainable corporations as compiled by investment and advisory firm, Innovest.

Ricoh awarded as a Green Technology innovator by “The Climate Group”, a non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing business and government leadership in climate change.

Ricoh Australia develops a total waste management program in line with our Zero Waste to Landfill policy. Programs include the recycling of end-of-life machines and used parts from the servicing of machines with a guaranteed resource recovery rate of 95%.

Ricoh expands sponsorship of earth education program Earthkeepers‘ to include a second school, Faulconbridge Public School.

2003Ricoh awarded a Gold Medal from the World Economic Council for being the world’s most sustainable corporation.

Ricoh Australia releases its first Sustainability Report detailing the results of its environmental program since inception.

Ricoh Australia sponsor’s earth education program Earthkeepers‘ at Warrimoo Public School, Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

2001Ricoh Australia pioneered a toner recycling program that became the benchmark for the office automation industry to follow. In addition a copier and printer recycling program was launched Australia wide.

2006In February, Ricoh Australia launches a High Recovery Machine Takeback

Program, designed to increase resource recovery rates and achieve a recycling ratio of 95%.

Ricoh becomes the first manufacturer to use plant-based plastics as part of a multi-function printer.

Ricoh Australia (Canberra Branch) awarded the Gold Medal by the ACT Government No Waste Awards. The award gives recognition to organisations

that go beyond the established practices of recycling.

In June, the high recovery Machine Takeback Program is expanded into Adelaide.

Aficio MP C1500 was awarded an Eco-Award at the 2006 Eco-Products International Fair. Ricoh was the only office equipment related company to

receive an award.

Ricoh Australia releases its third Sustainability Report

Ricoh expands sponsorship and involvement in earth education program Earthkeepers‘- by engaging educators from Gibberagong Environmental

Education Centre to run the program for Waitara Public School in Sydney’s north.

2004Ricoh Australia releases its second Sustainability Report.

Ricoh becomes the first manufacturer to obtain certification as a measuring and testing organisation for the testing of mineral dust and gas emissions, from

Germany’s Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing (BAM).

Ricoh implements a trial to determine the amount of waste to landfill generated by the current method of machine recycling, a precursor to the development of

our High Recovery Machine Takeback Program.

2002Ricoh Australia gained certification to ISO 14001, the international standard for

environmental management systems. Ricoh became the first company in the Australian office automation industry to gain certification across

all business sites.

2008Ricoh listed in Global 100 for the

fourth consecutive year

Ricoh contributes to CSIRO’s Sustainable Communities Initiative – Maine’s Power Project providing the local hospital with a framework to reduce their

carbon footprint within their office environment.

Ricoh Australia engages Carbon Planet to audit the Carbon Footprint of our entire operation.

Ricoh Australia appoints Sims E-Recycling as a recycling contractor for end-of-life machine and parts recycling.

Ricoh continues sponsorship of Earthkeepers‘ program and expands staff involvement in the delivery

Arranounbai Lunchtime Volunteer Program continues to grow with over 40 staff involved on a regular basis.

Our environmental management program at a glance

2006 - 2008 sustainability reportmedia.ricoh.com.au › files › sustainability-report.pdf · wide...

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