Mills around the world face a wide range of challenges in their operations. While these hurdles can differ from mill to mill, all of these barriers share something in common: they limit a mill’s ability to maximize profit.
Especially in the post-pandemic world that is emerging, it is critical that mills understand how to overcome these obstacles to profitability in their operations and identify existing opportunities for profit improvement. More than that, mills must also be equipped with the resources and expertise to capitalize on the identified opportunities.
COTTON USA™ offers mills a data-informed starting point on this journey to improved profitability with COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™, the consultancy program designed to take businesses using U.S. cotton to the next level.
Identify opportunities for improvement
The first step is to recognize the specific barrier, or barriers, currently inhibiting a mill’s full potential. COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ offers one-to-one Mill Consults—conducted virtually or in-person by COTTON USA’s world-class mill expert team—that can assist a business in identifying focus areas for profit improvement.
In fact, the mill expert team leading COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ recently conducted extensive research to identify the most common issues that global mills face today. The research analyzed more than 100 mill companies using U.S. cotton across 13 countries, and found six main barriers that limit a mill’s profitability:
- Raw material selection
- Waste control
- Machine and labor productivity
- Quality and process control
- Industrial engineering
- Cost control
This research from COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ also revealed significant opportunities for profit improvement in the highest-performing mills. Based on the data, achieving better performance against any of the six barriers—without sacrificing quality of product—results in achieving higher profitability.
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Input data into the profitability model
Once the specific barriers are identified, COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ inputs all of the influencing factors into its Profitability Model. The customized formula helps a mill calculate the contribution margin of these collective factors on a daily basis while also measuring impacts on the bottom line over time. The Profitability Model also offers alternative perspectives on the mill’s product portfolio and sales price calculation to provide valuable profit analysis focused on its output.
Implementing this data infrastructure from COTTON USA lets a mill react in real time to production imbalances and then to capitalize quickly on corresponding profit-driving opportunities.
Implementing new operational practices
In addition to the data model, COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ also helps mills implement the recommended operational practices to overcome the identified barriers. This includes personalized support from the technical team to adjust plant processes as needed to achieve significant financial impact.
Today, mills must ensure their operations are equipped to withstand and grow in the post-pandemic world—an environment that is likely to bring even more change to the cotton supply chain. Now is the time to identify the areas within operations that are currently limiting profitability. The expertise of the COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ technical team combined with the robust, customized data of the COTTON USA Profitability Model help optimize mill processes, and in turn production costs, to set businesses up for long-term success.
To qualify for COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ offerings such as the Profitability Model and reap the benefits for your business, we invite you to learn more and contact us by reaching out to the COTTON USA representative near you. COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ offerings are complimentary for qualified COTTON USA™ licensees with a U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol™ membership.
COTTON USA™ is a trademark of Cotton Council International (CCI), which promotes U.S. cotton around the world. Click here to learn more about CCI.