A Ricoh customer for over 20 years, PHD won the ‘Best Exploitation of Technology’ category at the Direct Commerce Awards, held in London last month.
The Direct Commerce Awards have recognised the achievements of the best B2B and B2C direct and multichannel retailers for over 25 years.
Outsourced communication services provider PHD was awarded for its continued investment and smart utilisation of Ricoh technology, which led to “unprecedented growth and operational success” for the business.
Created by managing director Colin Brooks and fellow founder Graham Arkesden, PHD started trading in 1990.
The partnership between PHD and Ricoh began in the early 2000s, with the investment in Ricoh’s hardware technology. As PHD’s business needs evolved, so did the nature of the partnership, with increased focus on software, innovation, and consultancy services.
Most recently, Ricoh worked with PHD on providing seamless production workflows, piece-level tracking, and automated processes including instant invoicing, stock management, and client reporting, through Ricoh Process Director workflow software.
They have also worked on enhancing PHD’s operational effectiveness through Ricoh’s Avanti Slingshot MIS; and on improving PHD’s communication services to link physical and digital mail by implementing Ricoh Axon Ivy – this provided a facility for PHD clients and their customers to view and collaborate on documents.
The two companies also worked together to optimise the reach and accuracy of PHD’s services in the most cost-effective way, resulting in three client wins in three new markets.
Samantha Precious, strategy and services development manager for Ricoh UK, said: “As customers are looking to achieve operational efficiencies and long-term success in the highly competitive print market, there is a need for vendor-client relationships to go beyond ‘transactional’.
“This award is a real testament to the power of collaboration and true partnership, and really highlights Ricoh’s commitment to customer-focused innovation.”
Kevin Dunn, business development director at PHD Communications, added: “This is the first time we have entered an award, and we are delighted with the win.
“As a business, we make all our decisions with clients at heart – when their needs change, we must be able to respond. Technology investment has been vital for our business growth, which we were able to achieve despite the economic uncertainty.
“Ricoh is well known for its technology, but working with its experts has been a real game-changer for us.
“Thanks to their consultancy and expertise, we have been able to maximise the benefits of our technology and plan our investments so that we can continue providing our clients with the best and most cost-efficient solutions in the future.”
