StepChange Consulting

What StepChange Consulting does

StepChange Consulting is an industry-focused management consultancy specialized exclusively in the wood, pulp, paper, packaging, and tissue value chain. Founded in 2006 in Vienna by Joachim Klein (Managing Director), the firm supports top-tier organizations from strategy development through operational improvement, with a service portfolio covering M&A strategy, post-merger integration, restructuring, organizational design, supply chain transformation, sales strategy and effectiveness, procurement excellence, turnaround and profit improvement, and operational excellence / lean manufacturing. The company addresses six primary vertical segments - paper, timber, pulp, packaging, forestry, and converting - each with distinct pain points around overcapacity, low profitability, raw material costs, and supply chain efficiency.

The firm's principal proprietary product is B3NCH, a biannual financial benchmarking publication covering seven peer groups (Packaging, Graphic Paper, Specialty, Pulp, Tissue, Flexibles, Wood) along with the StepChange B3NCH Index (SBI), which it reports has delivered a higher five-year CAGR than any other major global index. StepChange also publishes the StepChange Economic Outlook Survey and positions itself as a digitalization thought leader for the fiber value chain, combining data science with industry expertise to articulate quantified opportunities such as €10bn in working capital and 3–17% procurement savings via its TCO+QRP methodology. The technology stack is described at the framework level only; no patents, software products, AI models, or integrated platforms are disclosed.

StepChange operates as a B2B professional services firm with project-based, multi-year enterprise engagements executed via direct field sales. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company is privately held with no institutional, private equity, or parent ownership disclosed and is headquartered at Jordangasse 7/18, 1010 Vienna (StepChange Consulting GmbH, Trade Register FN 272709 v). The team of 11–50 employees is led by Klein, Dr. Veronica Schey (COO), and Ralf Möbus (Executive Director), supported by an international bench with operating experience across Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Name

StepChange Consulting

Legal name

StepChange Consulting GmbH

Website

https://stepchange.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

StepChange Consulting is a Vienna-based management consultancy founded in 2006 that provides strategy, operational improvement, M&A, supply chain, and digital transformation advisory exclusively to the wood, pulp, paper, packaging, and tissue industries for top-tier enterprise clients globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Change Management & Transformation Consulting (BPAHAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Operations & Process Improvement Consulting (BPAHACAB), Organization Design & Change Management Consulting (BPAHACAD)

Keywords

• Pulp paper consulting
• Forestry fiber consulting
• Operational excellence services
• Supply chain transformation
• Merger integration advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Vienna

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Management Consulting Services: Professional consulting services covering strategy development to operational improvements, turnaround management, M&A strategy, post merger integration, restructuring, organizational design, supply chain transformation, sales strategy, and operational excellence for the pulp, paper, and packaging industries.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

StepChange Consulting is an industry-focused management consultancy specialized exclusively on the wood, pulp, paper, packaging, and tissue value chain, providing enterprise advisory services from strategy definition through operational improvement, turnaround management, M&A strategy, post-merger integration, restructuring, organizational design, supply chain transformation, procurement excellence, sales strategy, and digitalization. The firm also sells B3NCH, a proprietary biannual financial benchmarking publication covering seven peer groups across the industry.

Product overview

StepChange Consulting is a management consultancy offering strategic advisory and operational improvement services specialized in the wood, pulp, paper, packaging, and tissue industries. Their primary named offering is B3NCH, a bi-annual financial benchmarking publication covering seven industry peer groups. Beyond this publication product, they provide consulting services including strategy development, operational excellence, supply chain transformation, turnaround management, M&A advisory, and digitalization consulting. They also publish ongoing industry research and outlook surveys on trends affecting the forest and paper value chain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• B3NCH: A biannual StepChange publication providing comprehensive financial benchmarks covering seven peer groups: Packaging, Graphic Paper, Specialty, Pulp, Tissue, Flexibles, and Wood.

Products and services

• Management Consulting Services for the forest, pulp, paper, packaging and tissue value chain End-to-end advisory services from strategy definition to operational performance improvement and turnaround management, delivered to top-tier organizations across the forestry, fiber, paper, packaging, tissue, timber, pulp, converting, merchanting, printing and financial segments of the pulp-and-paper value chain.
• B3NCH Financial Benchmarking Publication Biannual financial benchmarking publication delivering comparative financial-performance analysis of key industry players across seven pulp-and-paper peer groups, used by industry participants for peer benchmarking and tracked via the StepChange B3NCH Index (SBI).

Quantifiable outcome

• B3NCH Index (SBI) higher five-year CAGR than any other major global index
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Forest Economic Advisors (FEA): FEA provides economic analysis, market research and strategic advisory for the global forest products industry. Comparable to StepChange on strategy and market intelligence work but with a more research-oriented delivery model and smaller global footprint.

Direct peers

• ResourceWise: ResourceWise offers data, analytics and advisory services for the forest products, pulp, paper and bioeconomy value chains. Competes with StepChange on benchmarking, market intelligence and strategic advisory for the same vertical.
• Fisher International: Fisher International provides pulp and paper benchmarking, performance analysis and strategic consulting (now part of Solenis/Platinum Equity). Closest direct competitor to B3NCH and overlaps with StepChange on operational benchmarking and strategy work for paper producers.
• AFRY Management Consulting (formerly Pöyry): AFRY's management consulting arm absorbed Jaakko Pöyry, historically THE leading consulting firm for the global forest, pulp, paper and packaging industries. Directly competes with StepChange on strategy, M&A, operational improvement and turnaround mandates for the same top-tier client base.
• Fastmarkets (formerly RISI): Fastmarkets owns RISI, the dominant pulp & paper market intelligence and price benchmarking provider. Direct competitor to StepChange's B3NCH benchmarking publication and adjacent consulting/advisory services for the same forest products client base.

Broad incumbents

• Bain & Company: Bain serves forest products and packaging clients globally on strategy, M&A and operational improvement, overlapping directly with StepChange's service portfolio at the larger end of the deal spectrum.
• Boston Consulting Group: BCG has a long-standing Industrial Goods and Forest Products/CPI presence that competes with StepChange for global paper/packaging strategy engagements. StepChange offers deeper fiber value chain technical depth while BCG offers broader corporate transformation resources.
• Oliver Wyman: Oliver Wyman has an Industrial and Corporate Finance practice that advises pulp/paper and packaging clients on operational and commercial transformation. Larger incumbent competing for cross-functional mandates where StepChange also plays.
• McKinsey & Company: McKinsey operates a Forest Products & Packaging practice serving the same C-suite paper and packaging clients as StepChange. Competes for large strategy and transformation mandates that exceed StepChange's delivery capacity, while StepChange wins on deep sector specialization.

Others

• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): TCS and other global IT/digital services firms increasingly deliver digital transformation and Industry 4.0 advisory to pulp & paper clients, competing with StepChange on the digitalization mandate specifically while serving as potential delivery partners.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stepchange

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about StepChange Consulting