Tustin-based Ricoh Electronics Inc., part of Japan’s Ricoh Co., has selected its first American-born president to run the company’s U.S. manufacturing operation.
Jeff Briwick, a Ricoh insider who joined the company in 1987, took over as president last month.
His promotion marked a shift from the parent company’s historic pattern of sending Japanese businessmen to run the company’s American arm.
Ricoh assembles chips onto circuit boards for digital copiers and all-in-one machines that can print, copy, scan and fax in Tustin. It also has plants in Santa Ana and Georgia. The company employs about 550 workers in Orange County and another 300 in Georgia.
The move to an American president was weighed at Tokyo headquarters for some time. Executives in Japan wanted a renewed focus on responding to local markets, pursuing its mantra of “think global and act local.”
“It’s not just about me, it’s about us operating in the U.S.,” said Briwick, a former Marine who lives in Mission Viejo.
Briwick follows Yoshinori “Jake” Yamashita, who served as president of Ricoh Electronics for about three years. Ricoh traditionally has brought homegrown executives to lead local operations here and in Georgia before rotating them back to Tokyo.
Briwick was groomed for the job in his previous role as group manager and executive vice president of California operations, where he helped craft a three-year business plan with Yamashita.
“I think we’ve mapped things out very well and now it’s time to execute that plan,” he said. “I have good knowledge of not just Ricoh, but overall supply chain principles.”
That experience will be crucial in building Ricoh’s presence in the U.S. as the company looks to expand its business in thermal media and toner applications.
“That is something we are working diligently towards,” said Briwick, who oversees production and marketing.
• THE NEWS:
Jeff Briwick becomes first American-born executive to head Ricoh Electronics Inc., the U.S. manufacturing arm of the Japanese company
• BACKGROUND:
Briwick trained under predecessor as part of plan to change tradition of rotating executives from Japan for three-year stints here
• WHAT’S AHEAD:
Challenge of keeping domestic manufacturing costs low compounded by disruptions in production at plants in Japan affected by recent earthquake, tsunami
Challenge
Briwick said his biggest challenge is to keep production costs down while maintaining quality.
“It’s no secret that manufacturing in the U.S. is more costly than other global regions,” he said. “On the other hand, the supply chain advantage we present with our close proximity to the marketplace allows us to respond faster to our customers’ needs.”
While domestic operations are Briwick’s primary responsibility, Ricoh is dealing with the fallout in Japan caused by the earthquake and tsunami.
The company has struggled to restore communication with the hardest hit areas in Japan, making it difficult to assess damages and receive updates.
Ricoh has four plants in northern Japan. It employs 41,000 people on the island, with some 3,000 production and sales people in the most devastated areas.
Three of four Ricoh sites have regained basic utility services.
The fourth, near the city of Sendai, was engulfed in a tsunami wave. It saw equipment damage and lacks basic services, according to Ricoh.
Full recovery could take months and periodic production delays are expected until then.
