Companies in the metals and natural-resources sector aren't known to be among the avant-garde of technology users, but they're fine-tuning existing technology to become more competitive and efficient.

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has been extracting weekly sales data from a system developed in-house five years ago and loading the information into a data mart, where employees use online analytical processing tools to look for trends. Last year, the $2.3 billion-a-year building-products maker merged product costs with sales information, building an application that lets its financial analysts identify manufacturing costs for all products at each of its mills. The same OLAP tool lets sales, marketing, and operations personnel extract nearly any combination of data and easily export it for further analysis. Now the company can calculate profit and profit percentages by specific products at each mill for each customer.

Similarly, Martin Marietta Materials Inc., a $1.7 billion-a-year maker of road materials such as asphalt and gravel, is implementing business-intelligence apps to detect customers who aren't paying their bills. The apps let analysts compare performance at Martin Marietta Materials' 325 quarries and distribution facilities to identify ways to improve and share practices for increased profitability, VP and CIO David Watterson says. The company also has deployed a self-service Web site for customers, called eRocks, that has improved service and cut costs, he says.

Doing established things right, rather than implementing new technologies, has proved fruitful for Universal Forest Products Inc., a $1.9 billion-a-year maker of pressure-treated lumber and roof trusses. The company's IT department prides itself on maintaining a 99.98% uptime for critical systems. In addition, Universal has established strict standards for acquiring and maintaining desktops, networks, and integrated enterprise-resource-planning software, saving $350,000 a year, CIO Ron Klyn says. As evidence of further efficiencies to drive down costs, the company employs only eight help-desk workers to support 2,500 employees, a 300-to-1 ratio.

Still, some companies use new technologies to reduce costs. Rayonier Inc. implemented VPN and voice-over-IP systems and negotiated new telecom contracts, cutting IT and related communications costs by 11% last year. Rayonier, a $1.0 billion-a-year supplier of timber, performance fibers, and wood products, now has networks that reach 20% more corporate sites than in 2002. The company reviewed major maintenance costs and realized that new tools and technology could provide significant returns by sharply reducing maintenance costs and increasing automation, says David Nettles, director of IT planning and administration. That, in turn, freed the IT staff to pursue objectives such as security and regulatory compliance.

INDUSTRY LEADERS
Company	Revenue in millions	Income (loss) in millions
Weyerhaeuser Co.	$19,873	$277
Tesoro Petroleum Corp.	$8,846	$76
International Steel Group Inc.	$4,070	($26)
Bowater Inc.	$2,721	($205)
Worthington Industries Inc.	$2,379	$87
Louisiana-Pacific Corp.	$2,300	$273
Universal Forest Products Inc.	$1,899	$40
Martin Marietta Materials Inc.	$1,712	$94
Rayonier Inc.	$1,001	$50
Financial data is from public sources and company supplied. Revenue is for latest fiscal year. Dashes indicate companies requesting financial information not be disclosed.

SNAPSHOT INSIDE COMPANIES Average portion of revenue spent on IT 1% Companies using radio-frequency identification -- Companies globally sourcing products and supplies 71% HOW COMPANIES DIVIDE THEIR I.T. BUDGETS Hardware purchases 16% IT Services or outsourcing 10% Research and development 2% Salaries and benefits 36% Applications 21% Everything else 15% INDUSTRY FINANCIALS Average year-over-year revenue change 14% Average year-over-year net income change 700% DATA: INFORMATIONWEEK RESEARCH See year-over-year shifts in business-technology practices for this industry. Compare and contrast this year's data with last year's.

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