Paper mill's distribution efficiency to emerging East European markets

2014 ◽  
Vol 114 (8) ◽  
pp. 1144-1168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olli-Pekka Hilmola ◽  
Esa Hämäläinen ◽  
Maija Hujala
Keyword(s):  
Paper Industry ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Transportation Cost ◽  
Paper Mill ◽  
Transportation Costs ◽  
General Distribution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
East European ◽  
European Markets ◽  
Distribution Efficiency

Purpose – European paper industry has been struggling with margins and profitability for more than decade time period. At typical in markets of west, paper product demand is at long-term decline, mostly driven by continuously increasing internet use. However, in emerging markets demand still exists, and in Europe numerous small markets in east have even some growth available. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyse in this research work with longitudinal data (period of 2002-2009) from one large Finnish paper mill and data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, how distribution efficiency to selected eight East European markets has evolved. Findings – In general distribution efficiency has improved, but this has taken place in step-wise manner rather than being linear year-to-year development (year 2006 found to be the threshold). Reason is mostly in better management of transportation costs, and in particular lower monthly deviation of these costs. It is surprising that case paper mill has been able to manage transportation costs in rapidly increasing energy cost environment so efficiently. Maybe European Union enlargement of 2004 and 2007 has had its effects on distribution efficiency. Research limitations/implications – The research is limited to the deliveries of one paper mill located in Finland. Also East European markets in the early periods of this study were emerging papers markets, and distribution practices were clearly evolving. Practical implications – Based on the study East European paper market distribution should give more attention on transportation cost control, and trying to find solutions to minimize it with low monthly fluctuation. Originality/value – Very few studies exist from East European distribution issues, and particularly that of paper industry. Also used quantitative method of DEA is relatively new in this context and gives valuable insights for the distribution efficiency development.

scholarly journals North European Export Industry and the Shadows of Sulphur Directive

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esa Hämäläinen ◽  
Olli-Pekka Hilmola ◽  
Andres Tolli
Keyword(s):  
Paper Industry ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Transportation Cost ◽  
Paper Mill ◽  
Export Industry ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Oil Markets ◽  
Regulation Change ◽  
European Export

Abstract EU Directive of MARPOL Annex VI and its economic impact on the Nordic paper industry is theme of this research work. Empirical data for analysis purposes was gained from a large Nordic paper mill that exports bulk products mainly to Europe (70 % of its volume). The study shows that in the end the industry’s location still has an economical effect, and that the location has a distinct impact on competition through rising transportation costs. Environmental regulation continues and fosters long-term upwards trajectory of transportation cost, which has been experienced by the paper mill earlier during years 2001-2009. Sulphur regulation change to cleaner grades of maritime diesel did not turn as heavy cost increase in the 2015, however, possibility to gain cost benefits in rapidly deteriorating oil markets were not reached either. Therefore, in depressed industrial product markets, like paper industry, implications were such that margins of export industry remained low.

Measuring paper industry's ecological performance in an imprecise and vague scenario: a fuzzy DEA-based analytical framework

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar Jauhar ◽  
Natthan Singh ◽  
A. Rajeev ◽  
Millie Pant
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
Paper Industry ◽  
Paper Mill ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Efficiency Score ◽  
Comparative Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ecological Performance ◽  
Fuzzy Dea ◽  
Desirable And Undesirable Outputs

PurposeProductivity improvement is key to sustainability performance improvements of organizations. In a real-world scenario, the nature of inputs and outputs is likely to be imprecise and vague, leading to complexity in comparing firms' efficiency measurements. Implementation of fuzzy-logic based measurement systems is a method for dealing with such cases. This paper presents a fuzzy weight objective function to solve Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) CCR model for measuring paper mills' performance in India for 15 years.Design/methodology/approachAn integrated methodology is proposed to solve DEA models having fuzzy weights. The fuzzy DEA methodology is an extended version of the DEA approach that researchers have used for performance measurement purposes in imprecise and vague scenarios. The ecological performance of the paper industry is evaluated, considering some desirable and undesirable outputs. The effect of non-discretionary input on the performance of a paper mill is also analyzed.FindingsAnalysis suggests that the productivity of the paper industry is improving consistently throughout the period. The comparative evaluation of methods suggests that a diverse cluster of DMUs and integration of DEA with the fuzzy logic increases the diversity in the efficiency score while DEA-DE imitates the results of CCR DEA.Originality/valueProposed a fuzzy DEA-based analytical framework for measuring the paper industry's ecological performance in an imprecise and vague scenario. The model is tested on data from the paper industry in a developing country context and comparative performance analysis using DEA, fuzzy DEA and DE algorithm is done.

scholarly journals Separation of cellulose from industrial paper mill wastewater dried sludge using a commercial and cheap ionic liquid

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (10) ◽  
pp. 1897-1904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Glińska ◽  
Mohammed Aqlan ◽  
Jaume Giralt ◽  
Esther Torrens ◽  
Agusti Fortuny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ionic Liquid ◽  
Paper Industry ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Paper Mill ◽  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
Operation Conditions ◽  
Volatile Solvents ◽  
Dried Sludge ◽  
Paper Mill Wastewater ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Industrial wastewaters and their treatment are now placed at the heart of the environmental concerns that industries face. Some research work has been carried out in order to limit the impact of these wastes on the environment as well as their costs. In this study, wastewater dehydrated sludge (55% wt. water content) from the paper industry was used to recover cellulose by using tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride, [P(CH2OH)4]Cl, ionic liquid as a solvent. The ionic liquid has shown remarkable results in terms of cellulose extraction in addition to its non-volatility and lower toxicity compared to organic volatile solvents. All cellulose, based on dry sludge, was recovered from the industrial dehydrated sludge with better operation conditions. The influence of temperature and the quantity of ionic liquid was preliminary studied in order to optimise the extraction conditions.

Economics of a Nordic paper mill: case study

2010 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-23
Author(s):  
Esa Hämäläinen ◽  
Ulla Tapaninen
Keyword(s):  
Financial Management ◽  
Paper Industry ◽  
Paper Mill ◽  
Statistical Correlation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Process Data ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Paper Mills ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reveal how the prices, costs, and logistics develop in the case mill and how these variables correlate with profits, and finally to give suggestions for improvements.Design/methodology/approachA typical Finnish paper mill is selected for the basis of the case study. The complete data for the mill for the years 2001 to 2007 at a monthly level are used. The data are obtained from the mill's financial management system and transferred to Excel. Statistica 4.1 software is used to run the statistical correlation analyses. The results can be generalized with certain limitations to paper manufacturing located at a long distance from its customers.FindingsThis paper gives an important insight into the economics of the Finnish paper industry. From theory‐building point of view, the empirical process data show that the variation in production lines is minimal, but there are important variations in paper deliveries. A lot can be gained in the logistics processes. Larger volumes delivered in tons also tend to increase profits. From the mill to the consignees, fluctuations in the process and paper sales grow substantially, which indicates longer storage times.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of the case study are based on the data of a single large integrated paper mill in Finland covering the years 2001‐2007, so the results cannot be directly generalized to concern all Nordic paper mills. In May 2005, there was an industrial blackout, which considerably affected the production and deliveries of all Finnish paper mills in that year.Practical implicationsThe competitive advantages of the Finnish paper industry are undermined by low paper prices and costly logistics. The mill managers should increasingly focus on overcapacity and cost issues and also deliver volumes, which all could contribute to higher profits.Originality/valueIn this paper, the Finnish paper industry is studied through a time series, economic geography, and statistical tools. This approach is a novel method and gives new insights into this research object. The mill's economic variables, such as paper prices, profits, and logistics and manufacturing costs, and the characteristics of these issues in a spatial context are studied.

Benchmarking freight rates and procuring cost-attractive transportation services

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seong-Jong Joo ◽  
Hokey Min ◽  
Carlo Smith
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Transportation Cost ◽  
Freight Rate ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Transportation Costs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Negotiation Strategies ◽  
Freight Rates ◽  
Carrier Selection ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to help shippers determine a negotiation yardstick for transportation price and formulate wise transportation outsourcing strategies by examining the presence of freight rate differentials for shippers and identifying their main causes. This paper also develops a framework for benchmarking freight rates based on the actual data. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes an additive dummy regression model to determine a statistical significance in shipping charges between different shippers. Unlike the traditional least square analysis, the proposed model is designed to avoid a biased assessment of the impact of an explanatory variable. Findings Through a series of empirical data analysis and hypothesis tests, the authors discovered that the fixed portion (minimum base charge) of shipping charges differed depending on the shipper’ individual contract, while the variable portion (fuel or accessorial charge) of shipping charges remained the same regardless of the shipper’s individual contract. As such, shippers who are unaware of flexible but unpredictable transportation pricing practices and unprepared for freight rate negotiation can suffer from higher shipping costs as compared to their peers. Thus, the authors conclude that the success of transportation outsourcing, carrier selection, and freight rate negotiation strategies tends to rest on the shipper’s ability to understand transportation cost structures and then determine the benchmark freight rate considered “fair” and “reasonable” for a given service. Originality/value This paper is one of the first to examine shipping cost differentials between different shippers and determine what causes such differentials. In doing so, this paper attempted to assess the potential impact of freight rate negotiation and carrier selection strategies on shippers’ transportation costs in current deregulatory environments where shippers were given a greater freedom to negotiate freight rates with carriers and an increased opportunity to save their transportation costs.

Treatment of Different Wastewaters from Pulp and Paper Industry in Methane Reactors

1985 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
P K Latola
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Paper Industry ◽  
Granular Sludge ◽  
Paper Mill ◽  
Pulp And Paper Industry ◽  
Pulp And Paper ◽  
Plastic Foam ◽  
Loading Rates ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Removal Efficiencies

A wastewater from an integrated paper mill with a COD of 1200 mg/dm3 was anaerobically treated in a multi-stage reactor. The BOD7 removal efficiencies of 60-75 % were achieved at maximal loading rates of 5-6 kg COD/m3d and HRT of 4-6 hours due to the granular sludge. Industrial sulphite evaporator condensates from Ca- and Na-processes were treated in anaerobic filters containing light gravel, plastic foam and power plant slag as filter media. The BOD7 removals of 78 % on average were achieved at loading rates of 1.8-3.3 kg COD/m3d with Ca-process evaporator condensates and 80 % BOD7 removals were achieved with Na-process condensates at loading rates of 3.5-4.1 kg COD/m3d.

Zn diffusion and reflow behaviour of Sn-9Zn and Sn-8.5Zn-0.5Ag-0.01Al-0.1Ga solders on a Ni/Cu substrate under IR reflow

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mittal ◽  
K.L. Lin
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Calculations ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Diffusion Behavior ◽  
Zn Diffusion ◽  
Cu Substrate ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Substrate Interface ◽  
Solder Balls ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This paper aims to compare the reflow and Zn diffusion behaviors in Sn-Zn and Sn-8.5Zn-0.5Ag-0.01Al-0.1Ga (5E) solders during soldering on a Ni/Cu substrate under infrared (IR) reflow. The study proposes a model on the effect of various elements particularly Zn diffusion behavior in the solders on the formation of intermetallic compounds (IMCs). Design/methodology/approach – The melting activities of two solders near their melting points on copper substrates are visualized in an IR reflow furnace. Reflowed solder joints were analyzed using scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Findings – Reflow behaviors of the solders are similar. During melting, solder balls are first merged into each other and then reflow on the substrate from top to bottom. Both solders show a reduced amount of Zn in the solder. Theoretical calculations demonstrate a higher Zn diffusion in the 5E solder; however, the amount of Zn actually observed at the solder/substrate interface is lower than Sn-9Zn solder due to the formation of ZnAg3 in the solder. A thinner IMC layer is formed at the interface in the 5E solder than the Sn-Zn solder. Research limitations/implications – The present work compares the 5E solder only with Sn-Zn solder. Additional research work may be required to compare 5E solder with other solders like Sn-Ag, SnAgCu, etc. to further establish its practical applications. Practical implications – The study ascertains the advantages of 5E solder over Sn-Zn solder for all practical applications. Originality/value – The significance of this paper is the understanding of the relation between reflow behavior of solders and reactivity of different elements in the solder alloys and substrate to form various IMCs and their influence on the formation of IMC layer at solder/substrate interface. Emphasis is provided for the diffusion behavior of Zn during reflow and respective reaction mechanisms.

Does total factor productivity affect the energy efficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salman Haider ◽  
Javed Ahmad Bhat
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Energy Intensity ◽  
Paper Industry ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Efficient Technology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Efficiency Performance ◽  
Energy Efficient Technology

Purpose Because of growing energy consumption and increasing absolute CO2 emissions, the recent calibrations about the environmental sustainability across the globe have mandated to achieve the minimal energy consumption through employing energy-efficient technology. This study aims to estimate linkage between simple measure of energy efficiency indicator that is reciprocal of energy intensity and total factor productivity (TFP) in case of Indian paper industry for 21 major states. In addition, the study incorporates the other control variables like labour productivity, capital utilization and structure of paper industry to scrutinize their likely impact on energy efficiency performance of the industry. Design/methodology/approach To derive the plausible estimates of TFP, the study applies the much celebrated Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) methodology. Using the regional level data for the period 2001-2013, the study employs instrumental variable-generalized method of moments (GMM-IV) technique to examine the nature of relationship among the variables involved in the analysis. Findings An elementary examination of energy intensity shows that not all states are equally energy intensive. States like Goa, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu are less energy intensive, whereas Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Punjab are most energy-intensive states on the basis of their state averages over the whole study period. The results estimated through GMM-IV show that increasing level of TFP is associated with lower level of energy per unit of output. Along this better skills and capacity utilization are also found to have positive impact on energy efficiency performance of industry. However, the potential heterogeneity within the structure of industry itself is found responsible for its higher energy intensity. Practical implications States should ensure and undertake substantial investment projects in the research and development of energy-efficient technology and that targeted allocations could be reinforced for more fruitful results. Factors aiming at improving the labour productivity should be given extra emphasis together with capital deepening and widening, needed for energy conservation and environmental sustainability. Given the dependence of structure of paper industry on the multitude of factors like regional inequality, economic growth, industrial structure and the resource endowment together with the issues of fragmented sizes, poor infrastructure and availability and affordability of raw materials etc., states should actively promote the coordination and cooperation among themselves to reap the benefits of technological advancements through technological spill overs. In addition, owing to their respective state autonomies, state governments should set their own energy saving targets by taking into account the respective potentials and opportunities for the different industries. Despite the requirement of energy-efficient innovations, however, the cons of technological advancements and the legal frameworks on the employment structure and distributional status should be taken care of before their adoption and execution. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that empirically examines the linkage between energy efficiency and TFP in case of Indian paper industry. The application of improved methods like Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) to derive the TFP measure and the use of GMM-IV to account for potential econometric problems like that of endogeneity will again add to the novelty of study.

Global food safety: determinants are Codex standards and WTO's SPS food safety regulations

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajneesh Mahajan ◽  
Suresh Garg ◽  
P.B. Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Research Work ◽  
The Body ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Processed Food ◽  
Food Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
Food Safety Regulations ◽  
Global Food

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate perspective in explaining how global food safety can be created through stringent implementation of Codex and World Trade Organization (WTOs) Sanitary and Phytosanitary food safety regulations and suggests the appropriate food safety system for India. Design/methodology/approach – The study has been deployed a survey questionnaire using a sample of Indian Processed food sector. In order to collect data 1,000 supply chain professional were contacted for seeking their consent to be part of the survey. Whereas total responses collected were 252 from Delhi and NCR, with response rate 25.2 percent. The data collected was empirical tested using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, regression and ANOVA. Findings – The results and discussions indicate that all the global food safety norms laid down by WTO such as goods manufacturing practices, good hygienic practice, hazard analysis critical control point, has been developed to embody principles of safe food processing sector globally. India has also developed their food safety norms as per laid down principles by WTO. Originality/value – The present research work makes an important contribution to the body of literature on global food safety. The paper has important implications for the processed food sector since it tries to bring out practices which would help in successful implementation of global food safety standards. It is useful for academic food research as well as for processed food corporate.

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