Case Study: Ricoh achieves fast, secure, and cost-effective Wi‑Fi with RUCKUS Networks

Maximizing operational efficiency with reliable and fast Wi-Fi

The Ricoh Group, spanning 15 companies and roughly 500 locations across Japan, faced rising network complexity as its business grew. Decentralized management and aging infrastructure left many sites with poor performance and security that lagged behind overseas locations, prompting a nationwide modernization starting in 2016 to standardize, secure and reduce the operating cost of internal Wi‑Fi.

Ricoh selected Ruckus and deployed SmartCell Gateway 200 controllers and a mix of indoor/outdoor 802.11ac APs (with BeamFlex antenna tech) and plans to roll out Cloudpath for guest access. The upgrade restored reliable 2.4/5 GHz service, doubled per‑AP device capacity (to ~50–60 clients), reduced the number of APs and on‑site support needs, brought security up to global standards, eliminated some wired LANs and enabled hot‑desking—delivering lower costs, simpler management and a future‑proof network.

Ricoh

Yuya Yamada

Supervisor, Cloud Service Promotion Section, Information Infrastructure Control Department, Digital Transformation Division,