Stora Enso Fine Paper promotes e-Business solutions

challenge: how can we help customers to save on administrative costs?
solution: transfer routine work to the e-Business system.

Stora Enso Fine Paper is actively promoting the e-Business solutions for its largest customers. This helps to achieve savings throughout the value chain, especially when it comes to administrative costs.

"I don't know how many thousands of phone calls used to start with 'I sent you a call-off, can you confirm it?' Our mission was to create a process which would simplify the purchase-order process, and to automate routines by using the supply integration standard papiNet designed for the paper industry," says Wolfgang Streith, e-Business Manager, Stora Enso Fine Paper.

Stora Enso's persistence to develop the e-Business has transformed significantly since the beginning. Now Fine Paper is not just selling paper just via the traditional channels, but is consulting customers more and more by means of its e-Business architecture, and, together with the customers, creates solutions for more effective administration routines with the help of the supply chain integration. One example of this is the cooperation with Xerox Europe.

"Today, the entire purchasing process between Xerox UK and Stora Enso is handled electronically. We have managed to attain savings in administrative costs by the use of papiNet e-document purchase orders, order confirmations, call-offs, business acknowledgments, business acceptances, delivery messages and invoices. Both partners are saving time and money by cutting back on costs for routine work," states Wolfgang Streith.

Lower administrative costs for both of the trading partners are achieved through a reduction in transaction times and a decrease in administrative work by fewer phone and fax contacts and less paperwork. Stora Enso and Xerox started within the UK market in September 2008. This will be followed later this year and in the beginning of 2010 by a rollout in the Nordic markets, Belgium and the Netherlands.