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

Pulp, paper and paper products
faster compared to the often cumbersome handling of printed invoices. The cost saving
potential obviously depends on the number of invoices that have to be processed;
companies and sectors differ widely in this respect.
Current state of adoption
e-Invoicing can either be accomplished in a web-based environment, or processes can
be integrated with the ERP system of a company. ERP-based systems (which are used in
B2B e-invoicing) promise the highest cost-saving potential for companies. The broad
installed base of ERP systems in the P&P industry could thus provide a solid basis for
wide adoption of e-invoicing, at least among medium-sized and large firms.
The survey results partially confirm this assumption. e-Invoicing is used about as much
as in most other manufacturing sectors with a similar ERP adoption rate. In the P&P
industry, firms representing close to 20% of employment are now sending e-invoices
(either to customers in the public sector and / or in the private sector), and 25% say that
they receive e-invoices from suppliers (see Exhibit 3-19). Findings are very similar for
food and beverages, ICT manufacturing and for the shipbuilding and repair industry (see
Exhibit 3-20). This is another example confirming the overall impression arising from this
survey that there is a certain alignment of most of the manufacturing industries as
regards the state of play in e-business. The P&P industry is in many ways the perfect
yardstick of what constitutes state-of-the-art ICT use in manufacturing.
Exhibit 3-19: Adoption of e-invoicing in the P&P industry
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
18
19
25
10
16
12 13 14
16
15
16
22
28
31
28
18
19
22
0
Total Pulp &
Paper (EU-
10)
Micro (1-9
empl.)
Small (10-49
empl.)
Medium (50-
249 empl.)
Large (250+
empl.)
All 10
sectors (EU-
10)
Send e-invoices to public sector Send e-invoices to private sector Receive e-invoices
Base (100%): Companies with internet access. N (for sector, EU-10) = 934.
Weighting: Totals (for the sector and for all 10 sectors) are weighted by employment and should be read as
"enterprises comprising …% of employment in the sector(s)". Figures for size-bands are in % of enterprises
from the size-band. Questionnaire reference: D5f-h
Source: e-Business W@tch (Survey 2006)
56