Kathy Wilson has resigned from Ricoh after helping turn the manufacturer into a "serious player in the production market".
She will end her five-year stint as general manager of business solutions & production at the end of the month. She was previously based in the US as EFI's senior director of product marketing.
Ricoh managing director Les Richardson told ProPrint "she will leave a big hole at Ricoh". "I would credit Kathy with positioning Ricoh as a serious player in the production market."
Wilson said her goal when she joined the company was to establish it as "a major player in the production space".
"We've made huge progress in those five years as a whole team and it's time to find the next challenge," she told ProPrint.
"As a result, Ricoh is now firmly established in that [production] space and we have a lot of very happy customers, which is something I'm very proud of."
[Feature: Wilson talks PacPrint]
She said her favourite technology release during her time at Ricoh had been the Pro C900, which was launched soon after she joined the company.
"I think it really established a price point for a very productive colour device. I think that was a bit of a game changer," she said.
"The fact Ricoh now has a comprehensive range of colour production devices – that's an impressive evolution in that period of time I was there. It's extraordinary how quickly those things have evolved in those five years, but I guess I was well prepared for that being at EFI prior to Ricoh."
Wilson said she had yet to start looking for a new position and was willing to consider offers from outside the industry.
"It's been a really busy five years. It would be nice to have a bit of breathing space while I think about what the next step is."
Wilson told ProPrint the print industry needed to work hard to establish itself in the media mix.
"It's certainly at a crossroads and I think there's a challenge for print to carve out a position of relevance, and I think a big part of that is having a good sense of where print sits in the context of all types of communication."
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