Putting the "e" in paper

While 2000 may be known as the year of the dot com, 2001 has been shaping up as the year of the dot bomb. Last year's hysteria about how e-commerce was the miracle salve for doing business has failed to deliver on all of the hype to date. Predictably, the public backlash is best reflected in a 60% decline in the NASDAQ composite index since its peak on March 10, 2000.

Much of the e-demise has been in the business-to-consumer (b2c) arena. The cute sock puppet and Super Bowl commercials for Pets.com were no replacement for a viable business plan to ensure profitability. Layoffs and closures by dot com companies have been regular news headlines this year. In April, 55 dot coms ceased operations, just below the record of 58 in February, according to Webmergers.com (ironically). An additional 115 firms were bought in April, further thinning the ranks of the dot coms.

The business-to-business (b2b) arena has had its fair share of retrenching and restructuring as well. VerticalNet, the developer of pulpandpaperonline.com and many other in-dustry-specific Web sites, laid off 25% of its workforce in late April as it "transforms itself from an online marketplace company into primarily being a software company." Its stock price peaked at $139 per share in early 2000 and was most recently trading under $2. Ouch!

Paper industry e-marketplaces and/or software companies such as Arborex, fobPaper, and PaperX have folded during the past year. Many seem to be saying "E-nough about e-marketplaces already!"

But does this mean that e-business initiatives and e-marketplaces are just a passing fad —the Macarena of business strategy?

ForestExpress, the independent e-marketplace founded in March 2000 by International Paper, Georgia-Pacific, and Weyerhaeuser and later joined by Mead, Willamette Industries, and Boise Cascade, began doing pilot transactions at the end of 2000. The company's goal is to enable the industry by the end of this year—getting companies in a position to interact and transact over an e-commerce marketplace.

And while marketplaces are still working to bring transactional capabilities to the entire in-dustry, there is the international effort called PapiNet to develop e-business processes and standards for the total paper supply chain. These efforts are being directed by Confedera-tion of European Paper Industries (CEPI), American Forest & Paper Assn. (AF&PA), and the Graphic Communications Assn. (GCA). Five standards have already been developed and are in the implementation stage.

Developing e-business strategies. While these publicly announced efforts are underway, many paper companies have quietly taken steps to implement their own e-business initiatives. It appears that many of these efforts are focused as much on managing business relationships with customers as they are on actual transactional capabilities.

Companies are starting by developing a business strategy that is focused on combining Internet communication capabilities with a concentrated effort to better serve customers. By using the Internet, they can provide a wide range of information to customers, available at any time. These efforts involve much more than just installing enterprise resource planning (ERP).

The story about Stora Enso North America's efforts at Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., starting on pg. 31 provides an excellent overview of how that company has tackled information technology challenges and leveraged them to improve customer service. This includes offerings for e-commerce and supply chain management.

P. H. Glatfelter recently announced MyGlatfelter.com—a customer-oriented, b2b Web site providing in-depth information regarding order status, shipments, and inventories in real time. Also, Riverwood Internation-al has indicated that it is technically ready for collaborative Web projects with customers (see May Pulp & Paper cover story).

Many other U.S. paper companies are in the midst of similar e-projects in conjunction with customers and/or suppliers. The development and implementation of e-business as an integral part of business strategy is very much alive and well in the paper industry.

To e or not to e? That is no longer the question.

E-business experts from Mead Corp., Sappi Fine Paper North America, SCA Tissue North America, Weyerhaeuser Co., ForestExpress, PaperExchange, paperloop, ChemConnect, ABB, SAP America, and many more companies will share their insights at the second ebusiness/Paper conference June 10-12 in Santa Clara, Calif. Complete program information is online at www.paperevents.com.