Paper manufacturers, sellers and customers gradually develop towards the Internet

(Delivering on paper: paper producers, merchants and consumers slowerly make their move to the Internet)

The paper production and sales industry has been relatively confusing, but in recent years, development has become a certain organization, and the output has also maintained a growing trend. Almost every week, new standards for digital presses, inkjet printers, and other professional applications are announced.

Paper's materials, trademarks, grades, colors, weights, and factors such as printers, middlemen, wholesalers, and retailers are mixed together to form intricate price structures, discounts, and special offers. The more you buy, the cheaper it is. Many large printing companies employ staff who specialize in investigating and purchasing paper. Their savings are much higher than the wages. Regardless of the results of the survey, the innovations and changes in the market, the status quo of the printing industry is that the most expensive part of the printing process is paper.

There are fewer and fewer printers due to mergers, acquisitions, and closures. These printers are the main buyers of newsprint paper and high-grade paper. At the same time, paper wholesalers, sellers, and manufacturers have also experienced mergers, acquisitions, and closures. The world's major paper products manufacturers have been reduced from about 15 to 78. And this trend may continue.

Some sales companies have also merged. This centralized merger brings about reasonable results: The business is concentrated in the hands of a few suppliers, rather than just ordering small manufacturers as before. Many print shops now deal with only a few paper suppliers to get a more profitable overall price. The president of the world's largest printing company has repeatedly mentioned that one of the main factors in promoting the development of their company is the ability to purchase paper at a more profitable price.

Most people think that centralization will continue. Some people think that each type of business will be more closely linked and more globalized. If the printing company has branches in the country and even the whole world, or is united with other printing factories, it will make the scheme such as off-site printing more feasible. However, to achieve off-site printing, printers must have paper sources at each printing site. A large co-printer has plenty of time to complete such programs.

How does a printing house purchase paper?
Canada’s second largest printing company has a seven-person procurement team. They specialize in purchasing paper, ink and other consumables. Their job is to determine the daily needs of 34 trans-continental corporate printers, and then negotiate with domestic or international suppliers on price issues, and then sign a purchase contract.

It is difficult to purchase paper now. A medium-sized printing company in Ottawa will purchase $8 million worth of paper from three wholesalers each year to meet production requirements. Orders to a few suppliers can make a good price for the company when buying, and it also simplifies the paper procurement process. The printer orders every supplier every week, records the number each time it is purchased, and then settles on a monthly basis. The last thing the company has to do every weekend is to check one thousand invoices.

The main problem for the company is not the price but the flexibility. The company prints many time-critical jobs, including a daily publication that must be installed on the user's cargo ship every morning at 9:00 am. Printers can't dare to take risks for paper out of stock.

The company even ordered paper on the phone. They just started trying to use the online ordering system. Paper purchasing is no longer difficult and sales services are very good. The shift to online ordering via the Internet may make it easier to investigate inventory management, and the barrier to this shift is not technology but procedural. Not all printers can get the same price from paper wholesalers. Before ordering paper online, you must keep abreast of the price structure. It is essential to promptly notify online customers of price increases.

The use of the Internet in the printing industry, Noosh.com, Impresse.com, Print Bid.com and .com companies represent a web-based shopping approach. It is not surprising that printers in North America now use this method of ordering.

There are also some rapidly-developing network resources that provide more services for papermakers, vendors and customers. Paperhub (http://www.paperhub.com) is a website that provides online ordering for paper mills, retailers, and printers. In addition to contacting buyers and sellers, it also has some other features that can solve various problems in the paper procurement process.

But at least in Canada, paper products vendors have not adopted online e-commerce so quickly. Independent seller Coast Paper is one of the few sellers with online ordering services. The company has a powerful website in the Canadian paper sales industry. Like most companies, Coast's website has a history of four or five years, but it has only recently introduced an online ordering system.

The company offers a fairly complete ordering system, not an e-mail system. The easiest way to add “order paper” to a website is to create a mail link on the page and then ask the customer to indicate the order’s material, quantity, and shipping information. In fact, the network order that entered the Coast company triggered the company's sales system: the order was immediately sent to the automatic nuclear equipment. Once it was verified, it was sent to the accounting department and the invoice was issued there. Sales would increase. To the customer's invoice. This system can also print a copy of the order to the warehouse delivery personnel.

Ordering online Although online ordering is convenient and effective, it accounts for less than 5% of Coast's total sales. This may reflect the ability to order the system now.

Network orders will continue to grow as it applies to printers of all sizes. If small-scale printing companies want to order immediately, they can use the Internet ordering to get round-the-clock service. Large companies can coordinate work shifts through online ordering and allow the valuer to work from home. The company strives to introduce the site to different types of customers and make it accessible to the site in order to serve each unique customer.

Canada's largest distributor of high-grade paper and other consumables, makes full use of the Internet for ordering and order management. Requires the customer to enter the password to log in. Once entered, you can order, select the shipping path, and view account information.

Among manufacturers, a home site allows customers to check the price and availability of paper products, order paper products, and check the status of orders. The website and factory's existing sales channels work together.

This is a comprehensive website where customers can place orders, check goods, and track shipments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This provides immediate confirmation for each order. Through a web browser, the seller can inspect the company's total inventory and place orders at any time without interference from the company's employees. Some people claim that this method is to serve the company, but it is much less than the original kind of paper, fill orders and send and receive faxes. And when you send a fax, you will never be able to guarantee that it will be sent to your destination accurately.

However, even this degree of automation is far from the control of inventory and supply and demand management technologies in the automotive and aircraft manufacturing industries. Companies that use this system are passing strategic management contracts that seek to link their accounts, sales, inventory locations, and contact systems with the company. Using link management technology, companies can check the validity of materials, funds invested by suppliers or investors, and then automatically order. If the company needs to get more materials from suppliers, the system will order them. This sounds unreliable, but most companies use it.

However, is this absolute connection from the manufacturer to the customer desirable? Industrial systems may affect the degree of jointness. There are still many different manufacturers of paper products in the world. There are even more vendors. In Canada alone, there are thousands of small independent printers, like a large network of contacts.

Despite some hesitation, using the Internet as an online ordering medium may help printers solve problems with multiple link management. The application of the network makes the relationship between supply and demand for printing easier to handle. It is the bond that connects you and the customer. It makes the cooperation between the two parties simple. At this point it is very difficult for customers and suppliers to leave you.

In the coming years, most paper companies may provide such interactive computer-controlled ordering. The union of the paper industry is also accelerating the development of this approach.

Consolidation and expansion are not bad. With the increase in supply, the customer base has expanded on the same basis. When customers and suppliers reach a certain degree of balance, it is beneficial to all three parties.