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

Pulp, paper and paper products
Executive Summary
Objectives and scope of the study
This study by e-Business W@tch focuses on the pulp, paper and paper products
(P&P) industry. It describes how companies in this industry use information and
communications technology (ICT) for conducting business, assesses the impact of this
development for firms and for the industry as a whole, and indicates possible implications
for policy. Analysis is based on literature, interviews, case studies and a survey among
decision-makers in European enterprises from the P&P industry.
The sector covers the business activities specified in NACE Rev. 1.1 Division DE 21. The
manufacture of pulp, paper and paperboard (NACE 21.1) is mainly an industry where
large companies typically operate in a world-wide market. In the manufacture of articles
of paper and paperboard (NACE 21.2), often termed the 'converting industries',
companies are usually smaller and operate more on a regional or national basis. The
total sector directly employs about 740,000 people in the EU-25 and has a production
value of about 150 billion euros. 1
Adoption of ICT and e-business in 2006 – survey results
Among the ten sectors studied by e-Business W@tch in 2006, the P&P industry is a nearperfect
yardstick for the state-of-play in ICT adoption and e-business activity. For
many of the indicators, figures for the P&P industry are very close to the all-sectors
average and represent the typical situation in manufacturing industries. The P&P industry
is neither among the avant-garde in ICT adoption (such as ICT-related sectors themselves),
nor is it a slow ICT adopter.
Survey results show that companies within the P&P industry use ICT quite intensively in
all application areas along the value chain: for procurement processes, in production,
for inbound and outbound logistics, marketing and customer service. As in most manufacturing
industries, improvements in supply chain management by integrating business
processes with suppliers and customers is probably the main focus of all activities.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are widespread among companies
from the P&P industry, compared to most other sectors studied this year (see
Section 3.4.1). These systems constitute the basis for many of the advanced forms
of e-business in the sector.
Supply chain management: ICT are intensively used to support logistics and
supply chain integration in this sector. Emerging technologies for supply chain
management such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) are not yet widely
adopted, however, particularly in smaller companies. Among large firms, about
10% reported the usage of RFID (see Section 4.3.1).
1
Source: Eurostat, Structural Business Statistics (Industry, Construction, Trade and Services),
Annual enterprise statistics (latest figures available, i.e. for 2003). Downloaded from the
Eurostat website in March 2006.
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