Value Destruction, Creation and Capture, 2008 Engineering, Pulping and Environmental Conference

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Declining performance over the past three decades plus has culminated this decade in the paper industry gaining a poor reputation among investors as a result of its ineffective and inconsistent record of meeting return on capital minimal needs and the resulting burgeoning debt loads. This has led to widespread pessimism, both within and outside the industry. Yet there is light at the end of the tunnel: Existing conditions mitigate in favor of growing paper, paperboard, and pulp supply constraints, a circumstance the industry can turn to its advantage. To do so, however, we need to go beyond short-term fixes such as consolidation and intermittent fixes such as periodic capital asset management steps. We must place greater emphasis on understanding externalities that impact the industry’s bottom line and, more important, we must pursue the goal of enterprise transformation by changing the way we work from the shop floor up and across the entire enterprise across time and in a sustainable way. A case study is presented to demonstrate that this is indeed possible. We must also be vigilant regarding the current domestic economic stagflation potential impacts on this newfound paper industry potential in terms of possible short term end products demand drops and escalating energy related cost pressures.