Ricoh has chosen to go to market with multiple brands for the exact same products (copiers/MFPs, laser printers, wide format printers, scanners, fax machines, etc.). The brands are Ricoh, Lanier, Savin, and formerly Gestetner (Gestetner is now Lanier). This can be confusing to Ricoh family customers I wanted to take a moment to explain how this all works.
Ricoh’s strategy to is gain more market share by having multiple brands and selling those brands in multiple channels. This creates a perception of more options in the market via more authorized dealers to sell those options. (This is sort of like GM and Chevrolet, except in the case of Ricoh products, there is absolutely no differences in product... not even color or minor features.)
Over the years there has been a pseudo-segmentation of these brands, such as Ricoh brand for the traditional SMB (small to medium business) market, Lanier for national accounts (large corporations with a wide geographic reach) and health care organizations, and Savin and Gestetner for smaller markets and smaller dealers. This segmentation has faded over the years, however, and the three Ricoh brands compete head to head in all segments.
The main take-away for Ricoh customers is that the brand does not matter. Parts, supplies, and 3rd-party technology compatibility (like eCopy) is exactly the same. Evaluation of which brand to go with if you are a Ricoh house should continue to fall to the servicing partner—the quality of the service organization, local ownership and decision making, and technical competency in your industry.