Ricoh Co. Ltd. has announced the creation of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered global software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform called RICOH Intelligent Automation. This platform will help customers improve their operational efficiency and productivity by automating a series of tasks like extracting and reading information from various business documents, linking together mission-critical systems, storing and utilizing data. Ricoh will pilot the platform in selected markets to demonstrate its ability to drive measurable business outcomes, setting the stage for a phased global rollout. This marks a significant step in Ricoh's strategy to become a global leader in process automation (PA), helping organizations transition toward autonomous operations.

RICOH Intelligent Automation enables Ricoh's PA business to support automation of client business processes, such as sorting and managing documents, and extracting data. The platform serves as the core engine for Ricoh's PA solutions, strengthening Ricoh's capabilities globally in the intelligent document processing (IDP) space.

RICOH Intelligent Automation is a SaaS-based technology platform with strength in IDP powered by AI and other advanced technologies. It is an orchestration platform with three core capabilities — intelligent document processing, integration and workflow orchestration — enabling end-to-end process automation. This technology platform brings together and flexibly combines devices, such as multifunctional printers and scanners, Ricoh applications and technology, as well as diverse partner solutions, to deliver an optimal outcome to customers.

The platform addresses the needs for unified processing of a wide range of business documents, such as invoices, purchase orders and contracts, even in environments where paper documents and digital data coexist. It supports more than 200 languages and has advanced features including handwritten text recognition (HTR) and data extraction from unstructured or semistructured documents. With no-code workflow creation and seamless integration with core systems and document management platforms, it enables customers to build tailored solutions that support digital transformation with minimal changes to existing operations.

RICOH Intelligent Automation has integrated multiple AI intelligent capture technologies, including natif.ai's advanced image recognition and optical character recognition (OCR), significantly enhancing its data extraction capabilities. RICOH Intelligent Automation will further integrate generative AI technology, starting with AI assistant functionality. Ricoh will provide regular updates on the product journey as it incorporates more and more exciting features.

Core Capabilities

• Intelligent Document Processing: Selectable AI for OCR, HTR, splitting, classification and extraction
• Integration: End-to-end integration with Ricoh as well as industry-leading systems and devices
• Workflow Creation: No-code workflow creation allows customization meeting diverse needs in customer operations

Background

As part of its transformation into a digital services company, Ricoh has identified process automation and workplace experience as key strategic growth areas leveraging its strong customer base and proprietary intellectual property (IP).

According to Fortune Business Insights, the IDP market is estimated to grow up to $66,679.3 million by 2032, which is more than 11 times of what it was in 2023 (Source: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd., Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) Global Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2019–2032). In the PA business domain, Ricoh supports customers around the world to improve efficiency and advance their operations with a wide range of end-to-end integrated solutions. Ricoh has been enhancing its value proposition to its customers by not only developing its own products and services, but also making strategic investments to acquire various technologies and services.

"As the demand for optimized work environments continues to grow — driven by the customers' needs for greater productivity and operational efficiency — we are proud to introduce a transformative solution that meets these evolving needs of hyperautomation," said Takahiro Irisa, senior corporate pfficer and president of RICOH Digital Services Business Unit, Ricoh Co. Ltd. "Today, we announce RICOH Intelligent Automation, an AI-first SaaS platform built on our proprietary orchestration technology to reinforce one of our main growing business domains — process automation. This platform seamlessly integrates advanced capabilities from across the Ricoh Group to deliver meaningful business outcomes and empower our customers to shift from routine tasks to more creative, value-generating work."

RICOH Intelligent Automation automates business processes end-to-end, enabling tailored transformation aligned with each customer's unique operations, with its high flexibility and scalability. Ricoh continues to commit to supporting its customers to unlock new value and drive sustainable growth through digital innovation. This development marks a significant step forward in realizing Ricoh's vision of "Fulfillment through Work."