Industry overview
What is shaping pulp & paper
Paper and packaging demand is shifting from writing and printing grades towards packaging, hygiene and recycled products. Buyers are printers, converters, brand owners and schools, each with different priorities.
- E-commerce is driving packaging demand
- Recycled and sustainable grades are gaining preference
- Price and delivery reliability dominate B2B buying
Client background
A paper industry association, working in India. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A paper industry association
- Sector
- Pulp & paper
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Research consultancy, Data processing & analytics, Reporting & insights
Client challenge
Members faced pressure to reduce energy and water consumption but had no shared benchmarks to compare performance against similar mills. Mills varied widely in age, technology and product mix, so simple comparisons would have been misleading.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: benchmarking energy and water use across paper mills.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of participating mills.
- Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 10 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 35 participating mills.
- participating mills35
Audiences we typically reach in pulp & paper
Printers and convertersPackaging buyers at brandsPaper tradersSchools and stationery retailersRecycling businesses
Geographic coverage
Coverage: India. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A structured quantitative design, so results could be compared across groups, locations and time.
- 1Brief
- 2Mill data collection
- 3Benchmarking analysis
- 4Insight
We collected confidential operating data from mills on production, energy, water and raw materials using standard definitions, verified unusual values with mill engineers, and produced anonymised benchmarks by mill type and size. Results were grouped so that mills were compared only with similar peers, and individual mill data was never shared with others.
Research consultancyData processing & analyticsReporting & insights
Sampling strategy
- participating mills
- 35
- The sample was designed with the client around the decision to be made, with quotas to keep key groups readable.
Data collection
- Data was collected with the methods listed below, managed by a dedicated project team.
Data quality & validation
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Interactive dashboard for ongoing tracking
Key findings
- Standard definitions and confidentiality encouraged honest data sharing.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: standard definitions and confidentiality encouraged honest data sharing.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- Each mill received a confidential report showing where it stood against peers, and the association used aggregated results to plan technical workshops on the largest efficiency gaps.
- Several mills set efficiency targets based on peer benchmarks, and the association planned to repeat the exercise annually.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Interactive dashboard
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what do packaging buyers value most in a supplier?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.