The Future of TQM at RICOH：Building on Past Successes and Identifying Current Key Issues to Produce Even Stronger Results Going Forward

Abstract

RICOH was founded on the Spirit of Three Loves (“Love your neighbor, Love your country, Love your work”). This concept informs the work of all group employees, as we are guided at every level of business by the pursuit of well-being for ourselves, our families, our customers, related parties such as suppliers, and society at large. Both TQM and the Spirit of Three Loves share the same top goal:To maximize customer satisfaction.
Over the years, we have enhanced our ability to meet this goal by continually adapting to changes in the business environment, new technological advances, and increasingly sophisticated customer requirements.
Customer value has been shifting towards an emphasis on “using services in conjunction with owning products”. In order to create even greater customer value, RICOH is endeavoring to become a product-based solutions provider. This can be achieved by adhering to the TQM Basic Policy and ensuring that this will be continued by our successors.Four elements of this policy are particularly important for maximizing customer satisfaction through TQM:“Customer-centric”,“Ascertaining the facts”, “Process-oriented”, and “Teamwork”.