COPA wants to help businesses prepare for the move toward a paperless office.

In a recent market and industry discussion, Rheal Gingras from Domtar Inc. takes a closer look at the paper decline and presents his findings to fellow COPA members.

Paper Decline Statistics

• Cut size demand (copy paper) went down 3.3% in 2012.
• Offset and opaque demand (book paper, bristol, colours) went down 5.8% in 2012, which was actually an improvement compared to 2011 when this sector was down over 8%.
• Envelope demand went down 6.5% in 2012.

“A lot of this has to do with technological change – there’s no question about that,” said Gingras. “The Internet has had an impact on all of us.”

Technology and the Envelope Sector

In his presentation, Gingras explains how technology has impacted the envelope sector, specifically. “A lot of us are now paying our bills online, so that means you’re not getting the invoice,” he said. This means two less envelopes per billing statement (one used to mail the invoice, and one used to send back the payment). “Multiply that by the number of people in North America, and that’s a whole lot of paper that’s no longer being used.”

Gingras notes that while many companies will say the changes are for environmental reasons, “it’s cost cutting more than anything else.”

Demand Forecast for 2013

• 2% decline in cut-size demand for 2013, vs. nearly 3% in 2012.
• 5% decline in offset and opaque demand for 2013.
• Envelope sector decline expected to slow down (as long as postal rates remain the same).

What Will The Paperless Really Look Like?

Domtar shared the following video clip to give us a glimpse into the future of the paperless office.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv8SNSOO2y0]