Project: Value added by optimal wood raw material allocation and processing
All processes from forest to end product’s use have to be effective with low environmental burden. VARMA is an international research project aiming at innovative, customer oriented business concepts for the European woodworking industry. Wood raw material form major share of sawmills’ production costs, being in the range of 65-70 %. thus, even a small change in the raw-material cost - or value yield - can give major increase in sawmills’ profitability. The sector needs to be able to react with more efficiency to allow for less waste and more productivity, not just at the mill but through the range. Currently, the cyclical industry is characterized with increasing competition of high quality wood raw material and bulk production. Apart from current harvesting methods, stems should be cut-to-length according to their internal characteristics so that the optimal use of the raw material can be secured. Additionally, more communication between different parties is needed and vast amount of data should be wisely utilised. In order to support specialization and resource efficient wood value chains, it’s essential to understand better the opportunities of new technology (e.g. x-ray, buking optimization), dynamics and requirements for supply chains and its operations in when networking is more emphasized and novel business opportunities. the project goal is to develop customer driven value chains and wood raw material allocation system by implementing smart bucking for stems. the above figure illustrates the proposed “Wood allocation centre” (WAC) that will be developed for each partner country arising from their own specific needs. the concepts will lean on networking as well as utilisation of information from various sources. the fundamental idea is to deliver the right product to the right customer in a timely manner with the highest possible value added. this will be done by optimizing raw material usage taking into consideration available stands and customer orders. Several scenarios for WAC concepts will be presented, taking a stand for value chain performance requirements and service opportunities.
| Acronym | VARMA (Reference Number: n/a) |
| Duration | 01/01/2014 - 30/06/2017 |
| Project Topic | Forest production, resource management and logistics |
|
Project Results (after finalisation) |
N/A (project still running) |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | WoodWisdom-Net+ |
| Call | WW-NET+ Call for Proposals |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland | Coordinator | Finland |
| 2 | FCBA Technological Institute | Partner | France |
| 3 | Fraunhofer-Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF | Partner | Germany |
| 4 | Finnish Wood Research Ltd | Partner | Finland |
| 5 | Selection Vosges | Partner | France |
| 6 | Wildau Institute of technology | Partner | Germany |
| 7 | James Jones & Sons Ltd. | Partner | United Kingdom |
| 8 | Woodilee Consultancy Ltd. | Partner | United Kingdom |
| 9 | Holtzindustrie Templin | Partner | Germany |
| 10 | Technische Hochschule Wildau | Partner | Germany |
| 11 | Koskisen | Partner | Finland |
| 12 | Natural Resources Institute Finland | Partner | Finland |