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

Pulp, paper and paper products
Policy could act as a facilitator and moderator in this process. A possible instrument could
be specific actions in ICT related R&D programmes (such as the IST Programme within
the European Union's Framework Programme), which co-finance R&D measures that are
directed towards the development of SME-oriented business administration systems, or
projects fostering the market deployment of such systems (e.g. by financing pilots). A
multi-stakeholder approach would be necessary in such projects, ideally involving
software providers and user industries’ associations, thus representing both sellers and
buyers of these systems.
5.2.2 Ensure a favourable framework for e-business
Research conducted for this study has not found evidence for ICT-induced market failure
in the P&P industry which would call for policy intervention (see Section 5.1.2 –
"Implications for industry structure"). However, there are a few e-business related issues
which deserve a closer look, as they might create problems for firms in this sector.
The following two issues emerged, respectively, from the study of industry-specific e-
standards (see Section 4.1) and from the analysis of ICT as a driver of process efficiency
(see Section 4.2). They raise quite complicated questions which cannot be solved as part
of this study. Nevertheless, policy could follow up on these issues in order to counteract
undesirable effects for companies in this industry as potentially in other sectors studied
by e-Business W@tch in 2006.
Assess the business case for integration and consolidation of industry
standards for the P&P industry
As shown in Sections 3.3.1 ("Types of e-standards used") and 4.1 ("papiNet®"), there are
parallel industry initiatives to establish standards for B2B trade within the P&P industry
and in exchanges with the consumer goods industry.
papiNet® is an industry initiative to develop a standard specifically for the forest
and paper industries for automating business flows in this sector. It is currently
used by 2-3% of firms, but more than 10% of large firms, and in particular by pulp
and paper manufacturers (see Section 3.3.1).
In parallel, the consumer goods industry promotes GUSI (Global Upstream Supply
Initiative) as a standard for exchanges with their suppliers, which includes
packaging suppliers (NACE 21.2).
papiNet® and GUSI therefore currently co-exist and respectively constitute the main
standards for e-business (i.e. automated B2B processes) in the two sub-sectors of the
P&P industry.
An interesting question for the future – which cannot be answered by this study – is
whether there is a business case for integration and consolidation of common
technical components and semantic aspects of the papiNet® and GUSI standards. Policy
could consider exploring this question in more detail. There is a potential risk that the ICT
systems of small companies from the converting industries have to comply with two
independent industry specific standards, in response to pressure from paper suppliers on
the one side and the consumer goods industry (customers) on the other.
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