SPCI 99: Alf de Ruvo: New relationships in the making
The new big companies emerging in the pulp and paper industry will have to manage their interaction with suppliers in a new way compared to the past, warned Alf de Ruvo, Executive Vice President Corporate Research and Technology, SCA. He told delegates that paper companies will have to focus on the needs of their customers and use the development resources of suppliers to fulfil identified objectives.A new type of organisation towards this end must be found, as tailormade products can only be developed with secrecy and exclusivity under good control. All big companies are organising central purchasing and single source suppliers will be introduced with agreements on cooperation that will cover all these aspects.That might explain the often heard view of our industry as a low-tech industry, he said. A fairer statement would be that the pulp and paper industry is eagerly absorbing new technology to secure a leading position in process efficiency and product performance. It is rather that the speed of the development process does not fit in with the economy of a commodity industry.
