Draft: Capex Strategy

Capex strategy software for whole-business capital allocation

From strategic intent to capital decisions.

Weissr Capex Strategy lets capital-intensive companies design, compare and decide on whole-business strategic alternatives in minutes — not months. Replace the bottom-up project list with a top-down, system-level view of how every site, line and machine should evolve.

+100%

Potential uplift in future cash flow
* Based on Weissr methodology — see our guide

25+ yrs

Capital allocation expertise, productised

1,000+

Production sites worldwide

Paper & Forest ProductsEnergy & UtilitiesChemicals & MaterialsMetals & MiningOil & GasPharmaceuticalsFood & BeverageAutomotive

Built for organisations managing $10M+ annual capex across multiple sites, divisions, and currencies.

RETHINKING CAPITAL ALLOCATION

Most capex processes answer the wrong question.

The question most organisations ask is: “Which projects should we approve?” The question that drives long-term value is different: “What is the optimal use of capital across our entire asset base?” Shifting from the first to the second requires a different framework — not just better project analysis.

Traditional Approach The Weissr Way
Project-by-project evaluation in isolation System-level optimisation across the full asset base
Bottom-up: strategy emerges from individual decisions Top-down: a defined strategy governs every capex decision
“Delta” thinking against last year’s baseline Whole-business cash-flow modelling against alternatives
Closures and consolidation treated as constraints Closures treated as active strategic decisions
Decisions reactive, time horizon too short Long horizon, scenario-tested, decision-ready

“Significant for winning corporations is that they understand that the ongoing process of consolidation continues unabated, even in growing markets. They plan years ahead for these developments, resulting in making fewer bad and more good capex decisions.”

Fredrik Weissenrieder, Founder & Author

BUILT FOR

Different roles. One strategic framework.

Capex Strategy serves the executives who set long-term direction and the teams who model, compare and present the options to the board.

CEO · Group CEO · President

Capital allocation is one of the most consequential things you do. But most capex processes are bottom-up — strategy emerges from project lists, not the other way around. You need a system that lets you set the direction and see how every investment decision follows from it.

What Weissr Capex Strategy gives you

  • A system-level view of how capital creates value across the full asset base
  • Structured comparison of whole-business strategic alternatives — not individual projects
  • Long-horizon cash flow modelling that supports board-level decisions
  • Clear strategic directives that govern every downstream budget and investment decision
  • Scenario testing against market, demand and policy changes
  • Closed-loop feedback from execution back into strategy

HOW CAPEX STRATEGY WORKS

One model of your industrial system. Unlimited strategic alternatives.

Capex Strategy models your full production network — existing assets from ERP/EAM and future assets that don’t yet exist — and lets you evaluate strategic alternatives built from Strategic Building Blocks (SBBs): the structural moves that change how value is created across your asset base.

THE FIVE TYPES OF STRATEGIC BUILDING BLOCKS

Capacity expansion

Add capacity where demand and economics support it.

Technology upgrade

Modernise lines and machines for cost or product mix.

Assets replacement

Replace end-of-life assets in line with strategy.

Closure & consolidation

Close or consolidate sites as an active strategic move.

Relocation

Move production to better-positioned assets or geographies.

THE SIX-STEP CAPEX STRATEGY PROCESS

Model the current state of each asset — the baseline all strategic alternatives are measured against. Integrates directly with ERP and EAM data.

Build the structural moves available to your organisation: capacity expansions, closures, technology upgrades, asset replacements, relocations. Each SBB is modelled independently and reusable across alternatives.

Assemble SBBs into complete company-wide strategies and model their full cash-flow impact. Produce unlimited alternatives without rebuilding the underlying model.

Evaluate all alternatives on the same model, same assumptions. Stress-test against demand, price, cost and policy scenarios. Identify which strategies are robust and which only look good on paper.

Select and lock the preferred alternative. Generate strategic directives — site strategies, max payback parameters, asset-category priorities — that govern every downstream Capital Budgeting cycle.

Track execution against the approved strategy. Detect deviations early and re-evaluate when markets shift. The loop closes as actual costs and asset updates feed back into the next strategic cycle.

FROM STRATEGY TO ACTION

Strategy decisions become governing directives — not slide decks.

Once a preferred Strategic Alternative is approved, Capex Strategy generates the long-term needs, strategic directives and asset-category envelopes that frame every budget cycle — and flow directly into Weissr Capital Budgeting.

  • Site strategy — Develop, Maintain or Close (with target year) per site
  • Max payback years — acceptable investment horizon by site
  • Asset-category priorities — where capital should be steered, where held back
  • Strategy description — intent, context and rationale in plain language

In Capital Budgeting, these become Capital Allocation Pools at Group, Division, Business Area and BU level. Every project approved is consistent with the strategy you decided on.

SITE STRATEGY PARAMETERS — EXAMPLE

Site Strategy Max Payback
Site A — Antwerp Develop 8 years
Site B — Linz Maintain 4 years
Site C — Stenungsund Close (2031) 2 years
Site D — Houston Develop 10 years

CAPABILITIES

Built for whole-business decisions, not project paperwork.

Compare alternatives in a click instead of days. Stress-test against any market scenario. Let the chosen strategy govern every downstream capex decision.

Compare, update and evaluate whole-business strategic alternatives instantly — same model, same assumptions, full transparency.

Produce unlimited iterations of strategic alternatives without rebuilding spreadsheets or breaking the audit trai

Automated approval workflows, fully customisable presentations, and automatic commentary on each alternative. No more hand-built decks.

One coherent model of every site, line and machine — current and future — with flows, constraints and interdependencies.

Stress-test strategies against demand, price, cost and policy scenarios. Identify which alternatives are robust and which only look good on paper.

Every assumption, every revision tracked. Decision history and rationale stay with the model — auditable, defensible, board-ready.

PART OF A CLOSED LOOP

Capex strategy that makes every next budget cycle and project smarter.

Your asset base is at the centre of everything. Weissr Capex is three tightly integrated modules sharing one asset base — every capital expenditure linked to exactly one asset, so execution data updates the asset record and feeds back into strategy.

1

Capex Strategy
Defines where capital should go based on long-term priorities. Models the asset base, evaluates strategic alternatives, and produces the directives that frame every budget cycle.

2

Capital Budgeting
Reconciles strategy with demand. Governs allocation, scenarios and approvals through Capital Allocation Pools at Group, Division, Business Area and BU level.

3

Capex Management
Executes projects and feeds results back for smarter next cycles. Approved budgets and phasing flow straight from Capital Budgeting — no re-entry, no manual handover.

4

Feedback closes the loop
Actual costs, asset updates and bottom-up demand signals flow back to Strategy and Budgeting. Deviations are detected automatically.

From Capex Strategy →

  • Long-term investment needs and capital trajectories
  • Strategic directives and site-level direction
  • Asset-category priorities and organisational envelopes

From Capital Budgeting →

  • Approved budgets with authorised spend levels per project
  • Approved scenarios with conditions and phasing
  • Full approval history on every Capex Request

↺ Back from execution

  • Actual costs vs. approved budgets
  • Asset updates and bottom-up demand signals
  • Close-out data for post-investment review

Integrates with your existing systems. Direct integration with financial data from ERP and asset data from EAM systems.

See all integrations →

 

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Real results from capital-intensive industries.

We have actively deployed their approach to capital allocation and have executed investments that are creating real competitive advantage.

Stephen Scherger
EVP & CFO, Graphic Packaging International

The simplicity in the methodology has helped us focus on company cash flow and long-term strategy. We have a much better understanding of the relationship between investments and shareholder value.

Henrik Sjölund
President & CEO, Holmen

Both quotes from our book Redesigning Capex Strategy — published by McGraw Hill.

FEATURED BOOK

Redesigning Capex Strategy

Fredrik Weissenrieder & Daniel Linden · Published by McGraw Hill

This groundbreaking guide provides a brand-new approach that you can use to vastly improve the impact of your capex decisions — and dramatically increase company cash flow. It’s all about focusing on more sustainable operations and processes from an enterprise-portfolio perspective.

“It’s extraordinary and nothing short of dropping a bomb in the world of capital allocation. This is not about incremental improvement. It’s a radical transformation of how you allocate capital.”

John Williams, CEO Paper Excellence

FREE GUIDE FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

Unlock the secrets to superior capital allocation

Download our comprehensive guide to learn how our holistic approach, backed by decades of experience, can boost your company cash flow by up to 100%.

  • Proven strategies implemented across 1,000+ production sites worldwide
  • How to eliminate common pitfalls in traditional capital budgeting
  • The systems-thinking methodology behind the Weissr approach
  • How holistic capex decisions guide long-term value creation

See Weissr Capex Strategy in action.

Book a demo and see how the world’s leading capex strategy software applies to your organisation. 30-minute demo. No commitment.