BAIN

&COMPANY

Paper&PackagingReport2026

Adaptingtoday,shapingtomorrow

BAIN&COMPANY

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Paper&PackagingReport2026

Contents

Introductionletter 2

ResilienceandEfficiency 3

Don’tUnderestimatetheCostofOvercapacity 4

TransformingMaintenancewithArtificialIntelligence 10

It’sTimetoRethinkEveryLinkinYourSupplyChain 15

Customer-LedGrowth 20

LuxuryPackaging:ResolvingtheTensionBetweenCreativityandImpact 21

ToMakeMoney,FollowtheMoney 26

M&AinPaperandPackaging:BiggerbutFewerDeals 31

BattleoftheSubstrates 36

Sustainability:LessTalkandMoreAction 42

ChemicalRecycling:PlasticsFirmsMustMoveNoworMissOut 47

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Paper&PackagingReport2026

Introductionletter

Paperandpackagingexecutivestodayfaceacomplexsetofchallenges,includinglowprofitability,overcapacity,andsubdueddemandlevels.Stiffpricecompetitionisthenorm,andmarketshavediverged.NorthAmericancompanieshavefaredslightlybetterintermsofoperatingratesandassetutilization

comparedwithEuropeandotherregions.Paperandpackagingcompaniesarespendinglesstime

marketingtheirsustainabilityeffortsanddoingmoreofthehardworktomeetsustainabilitytargetsandevolvingregulations.

Bain’ssecondPaper&PackagingReportdeliversinsightsintohowleadingcompaniesare

adaptingtothesechallenges,cuttingcosts,andtakingactiontogrowgoingforward.Thereportlooksatmanagingovercapacity,thesupplychain,andmaintenanceaskeywaystobuildorganizational

resilienceandefficiency.AIisstartingtohelpacceleratebothinternalefficiencyimprovementsand

top-linegrowththroughcustomerandconsumerinsights,impactingareasrangingfromcommercial

excellencetosustainability.Finally,M&Acontinuestobeactiveandisanincreasinglyimportantstrategyforpaperandpackagingcompaniestofindscalebenefitsandgrowthoutsidetheircorebusinesses.

IlkkaLepp?vuori

LeaderofBain’sGlobalPackagingsector

Resilienceand

Efficiency

Don’tUnderestimatetheCostofOvercapacity 4

TransformingMaintenancewithArtificialIntelligence 10

It’sTimetoRethinkEveryLinkinYourSupplyChain 15

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RESILIENCEANDEFFICIENCY

Don’tUnderestimatetheCostofOvercapacity

Overcapacityisendemictothepaperandpackagingindustry,buttheseactionscanhelpyoumaintainmargins.

ByIlkkaLepp?vuori,JoshuaHinkel,andMichaelTonelli

AtaGlance

Mostcompaniesaimtogrowtheirprofitsatfourtimestherateofthemarket,butonly7%ofindustrialcompaniesachievethisgoal.

Tomanageovercapacity,leadingpaperandpackagingcompaniesfocusonimprovingtheircostadvantage.

AIcanhelpbytransformingsalesandoperationsplanningintoacontinuousprocess,withinsightsconstantlyupdated,reprioritized,andalignedacrossfunctions.

Managingovercapacityandthelowprofitmarginsthatfollowisawell-knownheadacheforpaperand

packagingexecutives.AnewmultiyearstudybyBain&Companyshowswhyovercapacitypersistsacrossindustries:Executivesareoverlyoptimisticwhentheymaketheirstrategicplan.

Mostcompaniesaimtogrowtheirrevenuesattwicetherateoftheunderlyingmarketandprofitsatfourtimestherateofthemarket.Inreality,only7%ofindustrialcompaniesachievethisgoal.Furthermore,incapital-intenseindustrieslikepaperandpackaging,theseoptimisticplansoftenleadtosignificantcapitalspendingandpersistentovercapacity.Recentgeopoliticaluncertaintyandtariffshaveonlyaddedfurthercomplexitytotheovercapacityconundrum.

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Inpaperandpackaging,leadingcompaniesdonotbetoncompetitorsscalingdownordisappearing;

instead,theyfocusonimprovingtheirowncostadvantage,asovercapacitycouldreoccur.Thismight

meanproactivelyclosingcapacitywhennecessaryandavoidingthescenarioinwhichsupplysooutstripsdemandthatplayerskeepundercuttingeachotheronprice,untilonlyafewcanmakemoney.For

example,leadingproducersofgraphicpaperlikeUPM,Domtar(formerlyPaperExcellenceGroup),StoraEnso,andNipponPaperhaveallclosedmeaningfulcapacityinrecentyearsasdemanddeclined.

Threestepstomanageovercapacity

1.Understandyourriskandexposure.Successfulcompaniesbeginbyanalyzingtheircurrentandexpectedsupplyanddemandbalanceinthegradestheyproduce,bothintheshorttermandthelongterm.Theyalsolookattheircompetitivepositionintermsoftheirfullylandedcashcostpertonto

determine:Dowehaveacompetitiveadvantage,andarewealsoabletomakemoneyacrossmarketcycles?Howsustainableisthatadvantage?Whatareourbreakevenpointsbymillandgrade,intermsofvolumeandprice?Theyevaluatewhereagivenmillorthecompanyitselfstandsinthemarket

(seeFigure1).Specifically,understandingthetrueend-to-endprofitabilityofdifferentproducts—andnotjustthecontributionmargin—iscritical.

Figure1:Thequestionstoaskdependoneachmill’spositioninthe

overallmarket

Isthereenough

long-termmarketgrowthtowarrantaninvestmentinnew,world-classcapacity?

Cashcostperton

Marketprice

Howmuchcanwechangeourcost

position,withandwithoutcapex?

Howmuchwouldithelp,relative

tocompetition?

Forhowlongcanweacceptlowreturns?

Whatcouldweconvertto?

Whatwouldwe

benefitfromclosing?

Howarethese

marginalplayerssurvivingtoday?Whenaretheyforcedtoexit?

Whathappenstopriceswhentheydo?

0

Shareofmarketbymill

100%

Source:Fastmarkets

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2.Mapyourstrategicoptions,offensiveanddefensive.Whilegrowingscalecanimproveone’spositionincertainindustries,it’susuallynoteffectiveincreatinglong-termdurabilityinpaperandpackaging.

Instead,thecashcostposition(i.e.,thecosttoproduceatonofboardorpaper)istypicallywhatmattersmost.Understandingyourtruecostpositionrelativetopeersishardworkandrequiresmorethanrelyingonexternalsecondarysources.Acompany’srelativecostposition,forexample,canchangedependingonthegeographywhereitsells,astransportcostswillvary,andtherelativepositionofanindividualmillisnoteasilyunderstood.

Leadingcompaniesdonotbetoncompetitorsscaling

downordisappearing;instead,theyfocusonimprovingtheirowncostadvantage,asovercapacitycouldreoccur.

Intimesofovercapacity,companieshavearangeofstrategicoptionstoweigh(seeFigure2).

Investingincapacity,efficiency,andconvertingtonewgrades.Companiesthatarecapableofmaking

investmentsoftendosoincompetitivenewcapacity,suchasinvestinginnewmillsornewtechnologies.Newassetsperformsignificantlybetterthanagingassets,andit’susuallynotpossibletoclosethatgapevenbyspendingsubstantiallytomaintainolderassets.LatinAmericanpulpproducerSuzano,for

example,hasinvestedinnewassetsduringtimesofpulpovercapacityandlowprices,trustingthatitssuperiorcashcostpositionwillenableprofitsregardlessofcycle.

Successfulcompaniesalsoimprovetheircostpositionbyinvestinginefficiency.Theydonotnecessarilyaddcapacitybutcontinuouslypushtoproduceeverytonatalowerprice.Theydosobyimprovingenergyandvariablecostefficiencyorbyusingautomationtolowerlaborcosts.

Finally,theyoftenconverttoanothergradewherethereismoreroomtogrowthanintheexistinggrade.Theytakeintoaccountthetechnicallimitationsofcurrentassetsaswellaswhichproductstheycouldproducewithreasonableinvestments.

Closingcapacityandoptimizingexistingmills.Alongwiththehigh-performingmillsinitsportfolio,everypaperandpackagingcompanylikelyalsohasmillsthatarestruggling.Forthesemills,thebestoption

maybetocloseuncompetitivecapacity.Closingmillsusuallycomeswithhighcostsandstrongsocialconsiderations,makingitoneofthehardestdecisionsforpaperandpackagingexecutives.

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Figure2:Therearemanystrategicoptionstoconsiderinamarketovercapacitysituation

Gobigorgohome

Investincompetitivenewcapacity

Whatyouneedtobelieve

?Marketovercapacityistemporary

?Youhaveastrongbalancesheetandabilitytotakerisk

?Yoursiteswillhavealong-termfutureinthegradesproduced

?Costpositionofyoursitescanbeimprovedmeaningfully,throughmoderateinvestments

?Otherswillexitorstopinvesting

Investmentneed

MEDIUM

HIGH

Investineficiency

Investinequipmenttoimprovecostpositionofexistingproductionsites

WhatyouneedtobelieveInvestmentneed

Stoplossesthroughconversion

Converttoamorefavorablegrade

Investmentneed

Whatyouneedtobelieve

MEDIUM

?Yourcurrentlossesareunbearable,andthesituationisunlikelytoimprove

?Youcanthroughmodestinvestmentsconvertmachinesintogradeswhereyouhave:

–The“righttowin”

–Healthysupply/demandbalanceevenafteryourinvestment

Stoplossesthroughclosingcapacity

Closecapacitytosupportsupply/demandbalance

Investmentneed

Whatyouneedtobelieve

?Yourcurrentlossesareunbearable,andthesituationisunlikelytoimprove

LOW

?Youdon’tseeapaybackinconversion

?Closingcapacitywillhelptherestofyourbusiness(e.g.,woodcosts,marketsupply/demandbalance)

Runforcash

Investincapabilitiestoimprovecostpositionofexistingproductionsites

Whatyouneedtobelieve

?Marketovercapacityistemporary

?Yourwillingnesstoinvestcapitalislow

?Youroperationalteamisstrongenoughtomakeastepchange

?Youarequicktoreactifthemarketpicksupagain

Investmentneed

VERYLOW

Source:Bain&Company

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Paper&PackagingReport2026

Whataboutmothballing,orshuttingdownfacilitiesforaperiodtosaveonoperationalcostswhile

maintainingequipment,soit’spossibletoreopencapacitybetterandfasterthanpeerswhenconditionschange?Whilemothballingcapacityforlongerperiodsoftimecanbeeffectiveinotherindustries,it

isrelativelyrareinpaperandpackaging.Incertainsegments,however,suchasgraphicpaperand

nonintegratedmills,turningproductiononandoffiscommon,asithelpscompaniesadjusttodemandfluctuationsandcanbeusedtooptimizeelectricitycosts,forexample.

Leadingcompaniesalsofocusonday-to-dayoperationsandmaketheirexistingmilloperationsascostefficientaspossiblewithoutmajoradditionalinvestments.Still,withoutexpendingsignificantcapitaltomodernizeoperations,evenaverysystematicoperationalexcellenceprogramwilllikelyyieldonly

a7%-10%costreductionperton,accordingtoBainstudiesoverseveralyears.Suchcostreductionsaremeaningfulbutnotgame-changingconsideringthat,acrossmoregrades,top-quartileproducershave20%-40%lowercoststhanbottom-quartileones.

Finally,M&Acanbeausefuladditionaltooltoprovidescaleandtocreatenetworksofmills.Withalargerfootprint,closingcapacitywillbelesschallenging,astheproportionatehitofclosingonemillisabsorbedmoreeasily.Latelywehaveseensignificantconsolidationintheindustry,suchasInternationalPaper’s

acquisitionofDSSmithandSmurfitKappa’smergerwithWestRock.

3.Improveyouroperationalflexibilitywithscenarioplanning.Leadingcompaniesaremovingawayfromthinkingaboutsalesandoperationsplanning(S&OP)asatraditionaldeterministicprocessfor

allocatingdemandtoparticularmills.Instead,theyconsiderthedifferentscenariosthatcouldplayoutintheirmarketsandtheirrelevantendcustomermarketsandaskwhatsignpostscouldalertthemtothosescenarios.Thiscaninformhowandwhentheyactandhowtheyrespondtocompetitors.

AIcanalsobeapowerfultoolintheS&OPprocess.Specifically,itcanhelptransformplanningintoa

continuousprocess—whereinsightsareconstantlyupdated,reprioritized,andalignedacrossfunctions.

GenerativeAI,meanwhile,candeliverricherinsights,increasingforecastaccuracyandenablingfaster,smarterdecisions.

Inoneexample,aglobalpackagingcompanyenhanceditsforecastingsystembyintegratingboth

traditionalstructureddata—likeorderbookinformationandhistoricalsales—andunstructuredor

externalinputs,whichwerepreviouslytoomessyortime-consumingtouse.Thisdataincludedeconomicindicators,competitorbehavior,anddomain-specificsignalssuchasindustrytrendsandevencommoditymovements.GenAIwasabletoparseandcontextualizetheunstructuredinputs,transformingthemintopredictivefeaturesthemodelcoulduse.Asaresult,themodelimproveditsabilitytodetectearly

inflectionpoints—especiallyinvolatilesectors—beforetheywerevisibleintheinternaldata.

TheAI-enabledforecastmodelenhancedpredictiveaccuracy,reducingtheerrorratebyover10%.Thatkindofprecisionhasadirect,measurableimpactonthebusiness;itdecreasesoverproduction,tightensinventorycontrol,andresultsinfewerstockoutsandbetteralignmentwithupstreamsuppliers.

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Moreimportant,theteammovedfrombeingreactivetoproactive.Plannerswerenolongerspendingtheirtimedebatingthevalidityofthebaselineforecast—theywerescenariotesting,stresstestingkeyvariables,andcollaboratingwithsalesandopsteamstoalignonrisk-adjusteddecisions.

Whilethisexamplefocusesondemand,thearchitectureappliesjustaseasilytosupplyplanningand

capacitymodelinginthepaperandpackagingindustry.Withtherightdatafoundation,thesemodelscansimulateleadtimevolatility,factorythroughput,orcomponentavailability—empoweringplannerswithanend-to-endprobabilisticview.

Historywouldsuggestthatovercapacityisnotgoinganywheresoon.Tothrivedespiteovercapacity,well-runcompaniesallocatemorevolumetothemostprofitablecustomers,products,andgeographies.TheyconsiderM&Aasanoptiontoexpandnetworkcoverageandimprovetheefficiencyoftheirassetbase.

Theymaptheoptionsforeachproductionsite,accountingforthesystem-wideimplicationsofpossibleclosuresandconversions.

Inadditiontounderstandingtheirownbusinessinlaserdetail,leadingcompaniesunderstandhowtheyfitintothelargercompetitivelandscape.Successfulpaperandpackagingexecutivesemployachess-likementalityastheyplotouttheirownstrategy,forecastdifferentmovesthatcompetitorsmaymake,and

plantheirresponsesinthosesituationsasscenarioscontinuetoevolve.

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RESILIENCEANDEFFICIENCY

TransformingMaintenancewithArtificialIntelligence

Withlittletonocapex,companiescanturnmaintenanceintoanengineofcashflow.

ByMarcosRutiglianoandBenGrant

AtaGlance

Companiesthatfocusonmaintenancetypicallyincreasetool-in-handtimeby15percentagepoints,leadingtoanoverallreductioninmaintenancecostpertonof17%to23%.

In-housedevelopmentofnewmaintenancesolutionsusinggenerativeAIcantakeaslittleasaquarterofayear,withasmallbudget.

Assetssuchasrotatingsetsandengineshavebeencandidatesformoreadvancedsolutionscombiningsensorsandalgorithmsthatlearnonthego.

Maintenanceinthepaperandpackagingindustryisanarearipeforbothtraditionalandcutting-edge

AIapplications.Someofmaintenance’squantitativeandmathematicalcharacteristicsarebestsuited

fortraditionalmachinelearningmodels,suchaspredictivemaintenancealgorithms.Inaddition,the

human-machineinteractionsofmaintenancearewellsuitedforLLM-poweredgenerativeAI,suchas

maintenancecopilotsthatprovidereal-timeinstructionstoemployeesbydrawingonmanuals,ledgers,

andsensorprescriptions.Moreover,thecostofinstallingthesensorsthatcollectthedatatheseadvancedmodelsrequirehasfallenprecipitously,removingwhatwasonceasignificantcapitalbarrier.

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Asaresult,equipmentmaintenancecangeneraterealvalueforpaperandpackagingcompanies.

Reducingdowntimecandrivehigherthroughputandthereforerevenue.Moreproductivemaintenancereduceslaborcosts.Lowersparepartsinventoriespushworkingcapitaldown.Finally,well-maintainedmachineslastlonger,andcapitalexpendituredrops.

Leadingcompanieshavealreadyseenrealreturnsfromfocusingonmaintenance.Specifically,they

areabletoimproveoverallequipmenteffectiveness(OEE)intherangeof1to2percentagepointsby

reducingfailuresanddowntime.Thismayseemsmall,butthecorrespondingvolumeincrease,valuedatcontributionmargin,hasasignificantimpactonacompany’sEBITDA.Whenitcomestowork

productivity,byfocusingonmaintenance,companiescanreducethemeantimetorepairasystemby

5%to15%,whiletool-in-handtimewilltypicallyincreaseby15percentagepoints,leadingtoanoverallreductioninmaintenancecostpertonof17%to23%.Andfinally,sparepartsinventoriescanbereducedbyasmuchas20%to40%incaseswheretheyhaven’tbeenoptimizedintherecentpast.

Threewaystocreatevalue

Therearethreeleverscompaniescanpulltocreatevalueusingmaintenance(seeFigure1).

Assetstrategyandmanagement.Uptoadecadeago,maintenancecouldbecategorizedaseithercorrectiveorpreventive.Morerecently,predictiveandprescriptivemaintenancehavecomeintoplayatthecommercialscale,thankstosensorsthatcanflagassetsthatareabouttobreak,allowingforanimmediateresponse.

Assetsthataremorecommonacrossindustrialsectors,suchasrotatingsetsandengines,havebeencandidatesforthemostadvancedsolutions.Thesetechnologicalsolutionsstartwithcheaper,basic

Figure1:Smartmaintenanceiscomposedofthreepillarsand

underlyingenablers

Valuelevers

Assetstrategyandmanagement

Focusingondowntime

Work

productivity

Focusingoncost

Spareparts

optimization

Focusingoninventories

Enablers

Technologyanddata

Organdoperatingmodel

Changemanagementandscalability

Source:Bain&Company

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predictivesensorsthatshootalertswheneveragivenvariable(e.g.,temperature)goesaboveorbelowpredefinedthresholds.Theissueisthattheygeneratemanyfalsepositives.Totacklethisissue,onthemoresophisticatedend,AI-poweredprescriptivemaintenancecombineshardware(i.e.,sensors)withsoftware(i.e.,code/algorithm)thatlearnsonthego.Forexample,falsepositivesarefedbackintothealgorithmsothatitlearnsfromitsmistakesandadapts.

Workproductivity.Reducingmaintenancecostsdependsheavilyonimprovingproductivity.Tool-in-handtime(orwrenchtime)isthekeyproductivitymetric.Whileit’spossibletomeasuretool-in-handtimeautomatically,mostcompaniesstillshadowasampleofemployeeswithachronometertounderstandwheretheyspendtheirhours.

Companiesthathavenevermeasuredtool-in-handbeforewilltypicallyfindthataboutone-thirdof

maintenancetimeiseffectivelyspentdoingmaintenance.Theothertwo-thirdsisspentonadministrativework(e.g.,fillingoutformsandsafetydocumentation,collectingspareparts,registeringnotes)aswellasonmeals,transit,etc.Mostpulpcompanies,andindustrialcompaniesbroadlyspeaking,facethisreality.Typically,whentheydiscovertheirtool-in-handtimeisonlyaboutone-thirdofmaintenancetime,they

focusoneliminatingunproductivetimewhilemakingtheproductivetimemoreefficient.Toincreasetool-in-handtime,leadingcompaniesdeploysolutionsthatrangefrommoretraditionalprocedures

enforcementandprocessredesignmeasurestocutting-edgetechnology,suchasvoicedocumentationbasedongenerativeAI.

Companiesthathavenevermeasuredtool-in-handbeforewilltypicallyfindthataboutone-thirdofmaintenancetimeiseffectivelyspentdoingmaintenance.

Sparepartsoptimization.Managingsparepartsisprobablythetopvalue-creationleverthathas

benefitedleastfromrecenttechnologies(e.g.,sensors)andgenAI.Companiescan,however,leveragemachinelearningandtraditionalartificialintelligencetohelpidentifylowsparepartsinventoryandreliablyprovidereplacementpartsasquicklyaspossiblewhenmaintenancedemands.

Goodsparepartsmanagementcanalsoenablehigherproductivity.Onepulpcompany,forinstance,redesignedprocessesinsuchawaythatthestoreroomwoulddeliversparepartstotheclientareasinsteadofgettingthemaintainerstopickthemup,boostingproductivitysignificantly.

Enablers:technology,operatingmodel,andchangemanagement

Technologyanddata.Inordertoimplementsuchsolutions,companiesneedtoanswersomekey

questions,including:Howdoweconnectapplicationsseamlesslytotheunderlyingenterpriseresource

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planning(ERP),cloud,andothersystems?Whatdatawillberequired?Isthisdataavailable,ordoweneedtostartcollectingitnow?Whatisthedata-lakearchitecture?Masterdataconsistencyisalso

important.It’snotuncommon,forexample,thatthedataledgerinthemaintenancemoduleoftheERPsystemdoesnotmatchthatofthesparepartsreplenishmentmodule,andcompaniescanspendafewmonthscleansingdatatoensureconsistencybeforeimplementingtheirusecases.

Organdoperatingmodel.Noprogramwillbesuccessfulifpeopleontheshopfloordon’tadoptthenewprocessesandtools.Thefirststepistoadjusttheoperatingmodeltosupportthenewmaintenancemodel.Thisincludesdocumentingchangesinprocesses,responsibilities,andtheorganizationalstructure.

Changemanagementandscalability.It’salsocriticaltogetpeopletrainedandincentthemtoadopt

newtoolsandprocesses.Tofosterthisadherence,companiestendtomonitoradoptionrates,following

uponnoncompliantgroupsandultimatelyshuttingdownoldprocesses.Recognizingindividualsonthe

shopfloorwithspecificfinancialrewardsiftheyadoptearlyandcorrectlyisalsoapath,albeitlesscommon.

Thefourstagesofa“smartmaintenance”program

ThejourneytosetupanddeploysensorsandAIaspartofamaintenanceprogramtypicallyconsistsoffourphases(seeFigure2).

1.Diagnosticandplanning(3–4months):Theinitialperiodshouldfocusonassessingthecompany’spointofdeparture,identifyingopportunities,quantifyingthem,andbuildingthestrategyandroadmap

ahead.Athoroughunderstandingofthecurrentandhistoricalstatusofallthreepillars—assetstrategies,workproductivity,andsparepartsmanagement—isimportantandwillhelpdeterminewherevalue

canbecreated.

1

Diagnosticandplanning

Pointofdeparture

Maturity

assessment

Value-creationthesis

Initiatives

prioritization

Businesscaseandroadmap

2

Developmentandpiloting

Makevs.buy

Vendorselection

Development

Piloting

4

Sustainingand

scaling

Monitoring

Deploymenttoothersites

Launchofnewwaves

Figure2:A“smartmaintenance”transformationincludesfourstages

3

Rampingup

On-site

deployment

Change

management

Source:Bain&Company

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Prioritizingwhichofthesepillars(andwhichinitiativesbeneaththem)tofocusoniskeyandvaries

companytocompany.Aglasscompany,forinstance,focusedonworkproductivityandspareparts

management,butnotonassetstrategies.ThecompanyhadgivendisproportionalimportancetoOEEhistoricallyandhadreachedveryhighlevelsofequipmentreliabilityandlowdowntime.Butitdidsoattheexpenseofhighmaintenancecostsaswellasalowsparepartsinventory.

2.Developmentandpiloting(6–9months):Thisisthepartofthejourneywhensolutionsaredesignedindetailandtested.Therearebasicallytwotrackshere:oneforinternallydevelopedsolutionsandtheotherformarketsolutions.Naturally,definingwhichinitiativeswillgodownonepathvs.theotheris

thefirststep.

Organic,in-housedevelopmentusedtobelengthy,withnocertaintyonoutcomes.ThegoodnewsisthatgenerativeAIchangesthespeedandcostofinternaldevelopment.Whereasdevelopmentbasedon

automationortraditionalanalyticswouldtakemanymonthsormostlikelyyears,genAIdevelopmentcantakeaslittleasaquarterofayear,withasmallbudget.

Formanyothertypesofmaintenancesolutions,especiallythoserelatedtosensors,thesecondpieceofgoodnewsisthatorganicdevelopmentisn’ttheonlypath.Withtherapidaccelerationinsmart

maintenance,marketvendorsnowcoveragoodportionofcompanies’prioritizedproblems.

3.Rampingup(3–5months):Atthispoint,solutionsthatweresuccessfulintheirpilotsreceivegreenlights,andanythatfailedreceiveredlights.Nowit’stimetoensureon-sitedeploymentofsolutions

andtheiradoption.Newprocedureswillbereleased,potentialorgchangeswillbemade,trainingswillbeprovided.Variousdashboardswillgauge—initiativebyinitiative,areabyarea—thelevelofadoption,triggeringactionstoaddressadherencetothenewwaysofworking,untiltheoldprocessortoolis

shutdown.

4.Sustainingandscaling:Bythisstage,the“smartmaintenance”projectwillbenearingarelatively

stablestate.Yet,closemonitoringiscrucial.Thisisalsotherighttimetolaunchthenextwaveofinitiatives.Companywide,thisisthemomentwhenallthenovelsolutionsthathavebeenrecentlyrampedupin

plantAwillhavetostartmakingtheirwayintoplantsB,C,D,andbeyond.

Maintenanceoptimizationcanunlocksubstantialvalue,whetheritisviaincreasingthroughputor

reducingopex,capex,andworkingcapital.Therequiredinvestmentbecomessmallcomparedwiththeupsideandcontinuestodropassolutionsgainscale.Thishasmademaintenanceahigh-return

opportunityandatoppriorityformanypaperandpackagingexecutives.

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RESILIENCEANDEFFICIENCY

It’sTimetoRethinkEveryLinkinYourSupplyChain

Afunctionthatoncegotlittleattentionisnowbecomingakeydifferentiator.

ByMikaelJohansson,EmilyKasavana,JoshuaHinkel,andMikkoPeni

AtaGlance

Leadingpaperandpackagingcompaniesareusingsupplychainperformanceasacompetitivedifferentiator.

Inordertoprepareforandrespondtodisruptions,companiesneedvisibilityintotheirfullsupplychains.

Tomanagesupplychainseffectively,leadersmustmakestrategictrade-offsandde