Helping forest, paper and packaging companies control costs to stay competitive

Mature forestry regions around North America and Europe are facing intense pressure on their cost structure; and for the Canadian forestry industry, financial returns continue to be below the cost of capital. Sharp rises in material, oil and gas, fibre and operating expenses are hamstringing the sector’s ability to both compete and to innovate. In many established regions, inefficient older mills hamper productivity, while factories in emerging markets utilize the latest technology to garner more revenue driven by demand in the Far East. This imbalance will need to change if the Canadian forest, paper and packaging sector wants to remain a global player.

The industry must continue to focus on reducing costs, in particular the “cost to serve” customers. While it has traditionally focused on volume and capacity utilization, the Canadian forestry sector also needs to focus more on margin, which in turn requires more innovation to drive margin improvements.

How we can help

At PricewaterhouseCoopers, we combine extensive knowledge of business trends, forest industry experience and a creative approach to problem solving to help companies in this sector improve their cost competitiveness. Our Performance Improvement practice leverages our knowledge of the industry’s business processes, human resource, finance, technologies and project management to help address clients’ cost issues.

Our services range from strategy to support in operations improvement, and include industry benchmarking, finance function effectiveness, Six Sigma quality management and information technology effectiveness – all with a view to help our forest, paper and packaging clients improve their performance and margins.

Contact us today to see how we can help improve your cost effectiveness.