InfoPrint Solutions Company, a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh, has launched its regional Printing Innovation Centre based in Shanghai, China. InfoPrint says the 10,000 square-foot facility, representing an initial investment of US$5m, demonstrates the company’s commitment to expansion of its capabilities in the Asia Pacific market.
The Shanghai Printing Innovation Centre represents InfoPrint’s largest collaboration facility outside the company’s Boulder, Colorado, US headquarters. This new facility is equipped with state-of-the-art capabilities designed to deliver previously unseen high-value-added services and solutions to customers in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, according to the company.
Tony Romero, president and CEO, InfoPrint Solutions Company says, “Our decision to proceed with our investment plans in Asia Pacific during this extremely challenging economic climate is supported by our strong confidence of the market readiness for InfoPrint’s award-winning solutions, particularly those solutions built around our industry-leading colour production printing technology.”
Romero continues, “Through this strategic investment, InfoPrint Solutions aims to enable customers and business partners from around the region to collaborate on the development and testing of next-generation output management solutions, which are focused on generating competitive advantage for our clients, along with significantly improved cost effectiveness.”
Located in the Jinqiao Export Processing Zone in Pudong, Shanghai, the Printing Innovation Center showcases comprehensive solutions for production centers, workgroup and industrial environments in areas such as TransPromo, Fleet Management, Workflow, Productivity and RFID logistics, Color Books on Demand and Personalized Mailing.
Meanwhile, Benoit Chatelard, vice president and general manager of Asia Pacific InfoPrint Solutions Company says, “With the new centre, we aim to accelerate innovation for diverse client challenges and developing markets from around the region.”
Chatelard continues, “By collaborating with our partners, we will focus on solving critical issues with an emphasis on the end user as we work towards business leadership with innovative technologies.”
The company concludes that with well-equipped showrooms, executive briefing centres and classroom-style offices, the Printing Innovation Centre provides a workspace for about 30 local R&D engineers and employees who offer a spectrum of industry-oriented expertise to share ideas, offer consultancy and enable customers and partners to innovate and transition to new applications and technologies.
