Unilever

One of the world’s leading suppliers of consumer goods, Unilever meets the everyday needs of people around the world for nutrition, hygiene and personal care. Its portfolio includes some of the world’s best known brands, including Knorr, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Dove, Axe, Omo, Cif and Vaseline. Unilever employs 174,000 people globally in almost 100 countries.

Unilever extended the scope of its Managed Print Services Agreement with Ricoh from five in 2004 to 48 countries in 2016. Ricoh provides efficient and cost-effective solutions for Unilever’s office and home working employees that increase investment return.


Flexible and Cost Effective

The Next Generation Print Project includes solutions and services from Ricoh that match Unilever’s requirements. The project aims to implement a flexible and cost-effective document management solution that focuses on Unilever’s Green IT strategy. Ricoh and Unilever are thus collaborating to:

  • Further optimize the print infrastructure beyond their initial focus on Europe
  • Meet the latest Energy Star requirements
  • Introduce a Global Print Policy to enhance awareness of print costs and environmental impact
  • Reduce paper waste and power consumption
  • Offer greater functionality on new products
  • Introduce IC card-based personal authentication management
  • Reduce the number of Multifunctional Device and printer models through a Global Product Basket

Katy Cory, Global IT Service Manager at Unilever, says, “I am pleased that we have extended our focus and success beyond Europe to other territories with Ricoh. We are now working together to streamline our fleet by implementing a new Managed Print Transformation Service and print policy we call MPS 2.0. The Next Generation Print Project will enable us to improve our environmental performance and monitoring and further reduce direct and indirect costs.

Revealing Hidden Costs

The service scope of Ricoh’s two-tier MPS varies according to the size and requirements of each Unilever site.

The service assesses the current document output including security and document bottlenecks. It reveals hidden costs and optimizes devices while reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Reducing Environmental Impact

Ricoh reports at site, country and regional level through its @Remote Enterprise-Pro management tool. This increases Unilever’s visibility of energy consumption, print volumes, emissions and toner recycling. This environmental reporting is also incorporated into Unilever’s overall Green IT metrics.

Moreover, a bespoke print policy is helping Unilever achieve its cost and environmental objectives. Ricoh has been the primary supplier to Unilever for general office print solutions since 2004.

Unilever retained Ricoh as a business partner for its customer-driven approach, ability to offer flexible MPS and extensive European footprint for service and support for all of Unilever’s European sites. Unilever’s recognition of Ricoh’s approach to sustainability also contributed to their continued partnership.

Maurice Beelen, General Manager of Ricoh Global Services Europe, says that, “Unilever continues to manage documents strategically and innovatively. It will thus benefit from greater transparency, efficiency, and reduced cost and environmental impact. With Ricoh expanding support to other territories, Unilever can focus on driving forward and achieving its business objectives."