2024 SAG Award Winners

International Paper and Skytec LLC

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Project Goal

International Paper Company (IP)sources its wood from the US South where an estimated 1.8 million families own most of the forestland. The majority of these landowners are uninterested in pursuing forest certification because of their small ownership areas. Because of this, IP needed to change our procurement strategy and due diligence to demonstrate alignment with forest certification standards and meet the expectations of our customers and stakeholders. In response, IP and Skytec developed ForSite®- an innovative GIS mapping system that guides our fiber procurement on non-certified forestland in the US. Because of ForSite®, we know the precise location of all non-certified wood that is delivered directly to our mills prior to purchase. The location of the wood is vetted against an environmental mapping system to ensure our procurement activities maintain or enhance the ecological value of the forests from which we source.
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Business Problem Solved

IP sources from a wide range of forest landowners (large, small, private, public, certified and uncertified). However, the vast majority of our fiber comes from private landowners and a significant portion of that fiber comes from small, private, family-owned forests. We know that family forest owners are often reluctant to take on the additional costs and administrative burdens of forest certification. At the same time, our customers and stakeholders have asked what we are doing to ensure responsible sourcing on these noncertified lands. ForSite® has allowed us to move from a system of post-harvest audit inspections to a proactive approach that identifies potential concerns and requires mitigation plans be developed prior to making purchase commitments. It changed our procurement model to increase the transparency of our fiber sourcing operations to our customers and stakeholders.

Technology Implemented

ForSite® is deployed using ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Field Maps & Collector, and ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online

Development Team Biography

Jeremy Poirier
Fiber Supply Certification and Sustainability Manager
International Paper

Andy Carroll
CTO & Co Founder
Skytec

Brian Long
Global Fiber Supply Planning Manager
International Paper

Abhinav Tummala
Geographic Information Systems Architect
International Paper