KKR, George Fisher, Kodak, Ricoh and PPBG. Ricoh just keeps on, keeping on.

Ricoh Americas Corporation announced today a strategic partnership with Kodak's Print On-Demand Solutions Group to develop a new CREO Color Server for its Production Printing Business Group's (PPBG)

On the 19th, I noticed that KKR is on track to own "up to 16.5%" of Kodak. Money prowling as we move away from an era of gambling to an era of investing is not a surprise. But what really caught my eye was "George Fisher, a former Kodak chairman, is one of KKR’s senior advisers."

All good. KKR made an awesome deal for themselves. It seems that while they are waiting they are lending EK money at "up to 10.5%" That says Kodak really needed the cash.

Then yesterday this got on my radar.

ToughLoveforX Ricoh and Kodak to "develop a new CREO Color Server" http://tinyurl.com/yclrdca

The money sentence from the Press Release:

The built-in JDF capabilities allow the Color Controller C-80 to seamlessly connect into industry-leading commercial print workflows, including the KODAK PRINERGY Software and AGFA :APOGEE,

The Dots and How I connect them:
KKR is not constrained by legacy business systems nor groupthink. That's the advantage of smart money. Kodak leads in the offset workflow space with their CREO dna.

Ricoh has been making a serious run at MFP. The speed with which they replaced Canon boxes with Ricoh boxes was impressive.

Ricoh has leveraged their purchase of the IBM print piece with InfoPrint. (My bad. Correx made 9:59 pm EDT.)InfoPrint is working with CMO council www.cmocouncil.org. to produce some of the most rigorous data on the effectiveness of transpromo.

The pattern I see is that Ricoh is emerging as the lead player in the game. They now have serious presence from the desktop to industrial strength output.

From where I sit Ricoh is emerging as the one to beat. The next question for me is how will Canon, Fuji et al respond. I wish I could read Japanese.


From yesterday's Press Release;

WEST CALDWELL, N.J., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh Americas Corporation announced today a strategic partnership with Kodak's Print On-Demand Solutions Group to develop a new CREO Color Server for its Production Printing Business Group's (PPBG) powerful PRO C900 color production system. Meeting the needs of print service providers in the commercial print, print-for-pay and in-plant markets, the advanced Color Controller C-80 enables Ricoh users to increase the productivity of their systems. Powered by CREO Color Server Technology, the Color Controller C-80 also provides users superior output options ensuring the creation of high-quality, professional documents.

With the introduction of Color Controller C-80, Ricoh print production customers can choose CREO Color Server Technology for workflows with open connectivity using JDF standards. The built-in JDF capabilities allow the Color Controller C-80 to seamlessly connect into industry-leading commercial print workflows, including the KODAK PRINERGY Software and AGFA :APOGEE, as well as other solutions in the web-to-print, digital workflow management, MIS and other print production steps. As a result, users see full integration of offset and digital printing operations, faster turnaround times and reduced labor costs. Urgent jobs and proofs, for example, can be easily re-routed from offset, to a digital workflow.