Client
The client is a well-known medium-sized producer of high-quality papers for printing, envelopes and stationery, with a strong focus on the domestic markets, but exporting a fair amount of the production to nearby countries.
Starting point
The company has successfully reoriented its strategy during the last decades, becoming a notable producer of speciality fine papers. During the latter part of the 1990s, when the paper industry in general suffered from the recession and the overall profitability of the peer group of companies was dismal, the company performed very well due to its ability to implement change.
Today the company is profitable. However, in some of its current key products, especially in commodity uncoated woodfree papers, the company's paper machines are small and uncompetitive, compared to the main suppliers. The company's market shares are low, except for a few paper grades and end uses in the domestic markets. Many of the main products do not meet the contribution requirement. Thus the owners and the management of the company concluded that it was again time to reposition the strategy in order to ensure the company's competitiveness and profitability for years to come. The focus of the assignment was on one of the PMs at the mill, taking also into account the strategy of other PMs and the company as a whole.
The Consulting process
The assignment was carried out in two phases. The first phase comprised a current state analysis of the company (including market position and profitability of the current products) and a desk study covering different attractive paper grades selected by the company management and Pöyry jointly. Based on the results of the first phase, the most potential grades were selected for an in-depth analysis, including the following components:
- Interviews in selected European markets, where the requirements and volume and price potentials were verified
- Technical concepts for the planned rebuild of PM1
- Profitability of the new proposed production plan
The new strategic plan included recommendations on the future product portfolio, allocation of the production by PM and the technical concept with an investment estimate. The preliminary calculations presented the profitability of the new production plan.
The company is currently proceeding according to the new strategic plan. Jaakko Pöyry Consulting has also preliminarily been invited to carry on the work with the company management, participate in the implementation of the strategic plan and identify and evaluate strategic development options also for other PMs. |
Pöyry websites
