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

Pulp, paper and paper products
However, this does not mean that an issue with a lower leverage becomes irrelevant; it
may require a different approach to address it (e.g. multi-stakeholder initiatives).
Exhibit 5-10: Policy implications arising from e-business activity in the P&P industry
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2
3
4
Policy issues Possible initiators Policy leverage
Consider regional initiatives to use
large companies as e-business
multipliers by creating incentives for
their smaller suppliers
Promote development of affordable
ERP modules for SMEs
Parallel development of two industry
standards (papiNet®, GUSI): assess
implications for enterprises and the
business case for integration /
consolidation
Address legal uncertainties with
regard to taxation issues in
e-invoicing
Regional Governments
National Governments
Business support networks
European R&D programmes
Industry associations
European Commission
Industry associations
National Governments
(European Commission)
The scale has a maximum of 3 in either direction – "low" ( ) or "high" ( )
Source: e-Business W@tch (2006)
low < > high
5.2.1 Accelerating ICT adoption among smaller P&P firms
Besides the large paper manufacturers, the P&P industries also comprise a large number
of small and medium-sized businesses, particularly in the converting industries. Many of
the smaller firms from this sector are characterised by a rather conservative attitude
towards ICT and e-business. An earlier industrial analysis by the Enterprise and Industry
DG of the European Commission (dating back to 2002) had already concluded that a
'wait and see' attitude was predominant among many of the smaller firms in the forest
based industries as regards e-commerce. 123 Although ICT uptake has certainly increased
since, and notwithstanding that there are many innovative small companies, this
observation still holds true in the broad sense.
The limited degree of B2B integration between large firms and their smaller business
partners is a principal bottleneck to a better exploitation of the potential of e-business in
terms of process efficiency and cost savings. Indicative evidence is the low percentage of
small firms – less than 10% – that has linked their ICT systems with suppliers or
customers (see Sections 3.5.2 on "e-Integrated supply chains" and 3.6.2 on "e-Integration
of marketing processes"). The use of SCM software is also very limited among smaller
companies.
Against this background, policy could consider initiatives to accelerate the adoption of
ICT systems among smaller companies. The following suggestions are possible leverage
points for policy to achieve this objective.
123 See website of the European Commission, DG Enterprise & Industry, Industry Sectors – Forest
Based Industries: www.europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/forest_based/e_commerce_en.html
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