ICT and e-Business in the Pulp, Paper and Paper ... - empirica

Pulp, paper and paper products
the RFID-powered SCM information systems which allow the firm to adjust their
production planning and effectively improved production accuracy. Further efficiency
benefits are gained by tracking manufacturing equipment usage, which has led to the
elimination of manufacturing bottlenecks and to the enabling of smoother workflows. In
effect, machine performance, run times, and, consequently, machine utilization (e.g., of
reels) were optimised.
Critical issues
The company's management identified two critical impact issues: initial investment costs
and problems of managing the large amounts of data. Furthermore, achieving the full
potential of the RFID technology requires costly integration with existing enterprise
systems. Moreover, it requires a redesign of business processes in all areas of the value
chain where the technology is used.
In addition, management warned against the risk that RFID can easily become just
another tool for "data collection", while missing targets in terms of its return on investment.
To avoid this, software applications must be used which can be embedded into
business processes. Only in this way can data be translated into managerially useful
information. The firm claims that it has succeeded in meeting this challenge: the IT
department successfully delivers useful information to management.
References and acknowledgements
This case study was conducted by Paul Murschetz on behalf of the e-Business W@tch.
Sources and references used:
In March 2006, the author conducted two interviews with management representatives
from the firm's headquarter and with the IT consultant / software developer.
4.2.5 Impact on production processes
ICT are intensively used to run and monitor production processes in the P&P industry.
Although production is not among those business areas where companies anticipate the
most pronounced impact of ICT in the future (see Section 5.1.1, Exhibit 5-6), it is without
any doubt that the use of ICT is pervasive in this context. It is likely that many companies
do no longer perceive this as an area of "ICT impact", since technology is so deeply
embedded in production routines that it has become a commonplace.
However, the most important anticipated impact of ICT for the future is probably that it
enables companies to better link production processes with ordering and logistics
and, thus, improve their supply chain. Furthermore, intelligent systems support quality
control already during the production process. The following case study on Nordic Paper
demonstrates how ICT-based systems can help a company to reduce the amount of
products with flaws that are delivered to customers, and at the same time to optimise the
quantities of chemicals in production. Thus, the skilful use of ICT could also have a
positive environmental effect.
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