With the combination of thin margins on most paper grades and energy costs at an all time high, older mills are struggling to compete with newer, more efficient mills in developing regions of the world where operating costs are far less and the demand for paper is rapidly increasing. As a result of these global factors, many mills are being forced to take downtime and, in some more unfortunate cases, to shut down mills permanently. Pulp and paper companies are being forced to make more and more difficult operating decisions every day. In order to remain profitable in such trying times, corporations need better access to operating information in order to make more informed decisions on their key performance metrics.