Mills around the world face a wide range of challenges in their operations. While these challenges can differ from mill to mill, all of these challenges share something in common: barriers that 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 barriers to profitability in their operations and identify the opportunities for profit improvement that exist. More than that, mills must also be equipped with the resources and expertise to capitalize on the identified opportunities.
COTTON USA™ offers mills using U.S. cotton a data-informed starting point on this journey to improved profitability with COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™, the consultancy program designed to take your business to the next level with U.S. cotton.
Identify the Opportunities for Improvement
The first step is to recognize the specific barrier, or barriers, currently inhibiting your mill’s full potential. COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ offers one-to-one Mill Consults—virtual or in-person conducted by COTTON USA’s world-class mill expert team—that can assist your mill in identifying areas to focus for profit improvement.
In fact, recently the mill expert team leading COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ conducted extensive research in order 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. The observation of the mills’ operations revealed 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 mills considered highest performing. Based on the data, achieving better performance against any of the six barriers—without sacrificing quality of product—results in achieving higher profitability.
Input the 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 your mill calculate the contribution margin of these collective factors on a daily basis while measuring the impact on your mill’s bottom line over time. The Profitability Model also offers alternative perspectives on your product portfolio and sales price calculation to provide valuable profit analysis focused on your mill’s output.
Implementing this data infrastructure from COTTON USA puts your mill in a position to react in real time to imbalances occurring in production and then to capitalize quickly on corresponding profit-driving opportunities.
Implement New Operational Practices with the COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ Team
In addition to the data model, COTTON USA SOLUTIONS™ also helps your mill implement the recommended operational practices to overcome the identified barriers. This includes personalized support from the technical team in your mill to make the needed adjustments to your processes in order 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 mill 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 your business 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.
About COTTON USA
Cotton Council International (CCI) promotes U.S. cotton around the world using our COTTON USA™ trademark. We’re dedicated to spreading the message of how our family growers are employing innovative precision agriculture techniques for a kinder, greener world, and we’re committed to establishing relationships of trust and transparency along the cotton supply chain. CCI is an equal opportunity employer and provider. Click here to learn more.