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

Pulp, paper and paper products
least for procurement and supply chain management. Many of the large players have
already optimised their supply side processes in highly sophisticated ways or are in the
process of doing so. In comparison, the use of ICT for marketing and sales purposes is
still remarkably underdeveloped in many industries." 115
Much of the evidence presented in this report, including the results of the e-Business
Survey and examples from the conducted case studies, confirm that this assessment
holds true for the P&P industry. 116 It may be too early to call this development a new
paradigm, but first signs of changing perspectives and priorities in e-business are
becoming visible.
Exhibit 5-6: Anticipated future impact of ICT
0 20 40 60 80 100
Management
22
30
48
Accounting
31
31
38
R&D
21
24
55
Production
19
24
57
Marketing
27
31
42
Logistics
22
26
52
Customer support
28
29
43
Expect high impact Expect medium impact Expect low /no impact
In % of firms. Base (100%): Companies using computers. N (for sector, EU-10) = 964
Questionnaire reference: H8
Source: e-Business W@tch (Survey 2006)
Until recently, e-business activity has focused on marketing and sales particularly in B2C
oriented service sectors (tourism, telecommunications, financial services). It appears that
a similar development is currently taking place in B2B focused manufacturing industries,
adapted to the specific requirements of B2B trade, of course.
The rather high percentage of P&P companies enabling customer to order online (close
to 30%, see Section 3.6.1) and those using CRM systems (22%, see Section 3.6.2)
support this assessment. Case studies presented in this report (VPK Packaging, Mayr
Melnhof, Rexcell), as well as in other sector reports (e.g. the case study on Tesla in the
study on the ICT manufacturing industry) also point at this development.
115 See e-Business W@tch Brochure "E-Business in Europe – 2005. Industry perspectives on
electronic business development", p. 4. The brochure can be downloaded from the website at
www.ebusiness-watch.org ('resources').
116 See, for example, Section 3.6.1: Close to 30% of all firms active in the P&P industry said that
they enabled customers to order products online. See also case studies VPK Packaging
(Section 3.5.2) and Mayr-Melnhof Cartonboard Group (Section 4.2.3), which illustrate the
importance of e-business for customer service.
162