In the last few years, high-mix, small-lot printing has been widely adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we consider value addition and marketing based on individual behavior as the causes of this trend, and we refer to RICOH's current technologies and products that correspond to this trend. We herein present a digital printer with a unique feature called the “RICOH Pro C7200S series” with a special color slot. Additionally, as the software, we introduce a “RICOH Total Flow Batch Builder” to create job batches, from small job groups, with similar requirements.

Since a digital printer does not involve the use of a plate, small-lot and variable printing are feasible options as a result. We introduce an approach for multi-variety and small-lot packaging using digital printing to respond to the market needs that have recently diversified. We are currently developing a pouch for retort sterilization utilizing digital printing for multi-variety and small-lot packaging to enable the design of original packages in small lots even for boiled and retort products. We also introduce a package mail order site, EASY ORDER PACK, to facilitate the order of flexible packaging as per customer requirements. We believe that the aforementioned efforts will greatly expand the possibilities of digital printing. In the future, we will continue to create new solutions to expand the possibilities of digital printing in the future, thereby driving the development of new business models.

“What customers want” is personalized due to the global conditions, changes in lifestyles, and diversification of consumer needs. Further, the life cycle of the products themselves have been shortened to response to market demands. This is also probably the case with printing and bookbinding industry, since most of these service providers list “quick delivery” and “minimal lot support” as points of appeal to customers, excluding the homepages of printing companies and bookbinding companies. Under such circumstances, in post-processing stage of printing, Horizon Co., Ltd. is used for more efficient production with “short delivery time” and “small lot support” and with as little “muri, waste, and unevenness” as possible; this is described later in this paper with the help of five points.

Printing industry for graduation books is the most noticeably affected industry in Japan due to rapid decreasing birthrate. This indicates that the industry is forced to adapt to high-mix low-volume printing. Therefore, in order to reform the existing manufacturing system to adapt to high-mix low-volume printing, I have made investments in equipment and product development in line with five points:

1. Personal 2. On Demand 3. Smart 4. Sharing 5. Worldwide

In particular, I believe that the digital graduation book, which was developed for watching the graduation album through mobile device, has a great potential for our industry. Moreover, I realized the need to redefine the role of the printing industry in forging ahead with this reform.

DX in printing industry accelerates high-mix low-volume production printing. Online merges with offline (OMO) marketing method improve the value of analog marketing tools, which is powered by digital marketing technologies. Direct mail (DM) is a typical analog solution for improving the conversion rate. FUJIFILM Business Innovation offers two solutions, that is, marketing DX and smart factory, for developing the above-mentioned marketing method. Marketing DX powered by marketing cockpit realizes corporate transformation (CX) for the brand owner using integrated marketing data and analysis procedure. Smart factory solution implements optimal production factory for the printer using factory data analysis solution and production management system powered by production cockpit. The DX of FUJIFILM Business Innovation provides the platform and solutions for enabling the seamless user experience (UX) journey between marketing DX and smart factory.