CAPÍTULO IV – PROPUESTA DE MEJORAS
4.1 Mejoras con respecto al proceso creativo, de gestión y mercadeo del talento
Forest and wood portal is a basic form of selling wood by State Forests. Forest and wood portal is a tool aimed at clients purchasing wood in bulk. It forms an integrated electronic database which allows the buyers following an earlier registration to obtain previously pledged raw materials, place orders in a form of internet negotiations as well as sign annual purchase-sale contracts.
A significant benefit for wood buyer is the fact that he receives, through the portal, material pledge. Such a pledge can be offered to anyone who over the consecutive four calendar years (selected out of the 8 years of being State Forests partner) did not have any
significant overdue receivables. A pledge is made following the proposal submitted by the buyer. It is an agreement in which State Forests confirm that the buyer, should a contract for the sales of wood will be signed with him for the following year, will receive the amount of material pledged to him. In 2008 it is possible to place an offer up to 100% of the mass from the contracts for 2007 concluded by the 30th of September 2007.
The basis for determining pledges is the recognition of market demand. The knowledge comes from the offers submitted by the buyers before the beginning of the next calendar year via forest and wood portal where they declare, who wants to buy, how much raw material and from where. The next stage embraces the comparison of State Forests offer and the demand put forward by the buyers, the recipients of round wood. Later comes the stage of negotiations between the buyer and the seller. At the moment the market is in short supply of wood, hence the supplier is in a much better negotiating position. He has a possibility to select the client and the offer submitted by him. Price is a decisive element here, however the up-to-date collaboration as well as buyer’s credibility and other similar factors are also important.
The system of gathering data on industry demand and subsequently the selection of clients in a form of tender facilitates monitoring of the demand as well as its complete satisfaction but only to the level of wood obtained in the given year. In case of an excessive demand and such is the demand in the current period of bull market the reduction of submitted offers takes place. The higher is the valuation of the offer put forward by the client the lower is the reduction of his proposal. Valuation criteria is shown in table 1.
In 2008 State Forests estimate putting on the market approximately 32.5 million cubic metres of wood, out of which 2.5 million cubic metres will come from blowdown and other felling following natural disasters in 2007. The shortage of round wood may reach 3-5 million cubic metres of wood which constitutes 10-15% of the amount acquired annually.
Forest and wood portal provides bulk buyers easy access to a variety of additional information, helpful for their practical business operations from the history of their purchases to the payment situation. Data is constantly updated using the mechanisms of data warehouses on which State Forests Information System is based.
Wood not sold during the initial tender cycle as well as the raw material which appears in State Forests’ offer only following its completion for example as a result of unforeseen sanitary felling, removing the damages caused by atmospheric phenomena or as a result of withdrawal of some clients from the initially declared purchase is put on sale during a virtual auction managed by IT application called by the authors of IT solutions at State Forests: e-drewno software.
2. E-drewno software
E-drewno software is fully based on market rules. Its basic parameter is wood price, additional, payment date. The rule: “who is going to give more” has a form of an internet auction. It allows the buyers to purchase the range of wood which was not sold during the initial tender or which appeared only during the given year as a result of buyers withdrawal or the necessity for additional sanitary felling. E-drewno auction allows for the purchase of wood in all Polish Forestry Commissions in a form of an electronic bidding. E-drewno may be used by businesses (following an earlier registration in forest and wood portal) or all proprietors who register directly in e-drewno system.
3. Auctions and additional issues, retail sales
New rules of wood sales via forest and wood portal and e-drewno software do not eliminate completely the up-to-date means of sales such as sales offer in a form of a regular auction, additional issue and other especially in case of valuable quality wood, as well as the sales of wood to organizational units which are obliged to buy wood via open tenders,
carrying out business activities or the sales to the companies which are a part of State Forests, which purchase wood to process it directly and for their own use or which forward that wood into previously known directions as well as Forestry Commissions own usage. Table 2 provides the size of offers of separate State Forests regional offices in 2007.
Especially important is the share for the clients who do not use the wood for the activities directly linked to business, that is clients buying wood incidentally that is artists, households and schools. Those clients traditionally buy wood at certain Forestry Commissions and the retail sales for them are carried out in accordance with the previous rules. For example the client who wishes to buy a few cubic metres of firewood does not purchase it via forest and wood portal but goes directly to a selected Forestry Commission. Retail sales is after the forest and wood portal the second largest offer of State Forests. In 2007, 18% of all wood from felling was assigned for the retail sales to individual clients. While in Lublin Forestry Commission up to 31% of it was sold to retailers.
After having considered reserves for the above mentioned aims, the final sales offer is placed on its forest and wood portal.