Assessing the role of the harvester within the forestry-wood chain

摘要

In recent years, a lot of effort has been devoted to implementing the concept of an integrated forestry-wood chain. Good management of such a complex system requires a clear understanding of the effects that different factors involved may have on the final output of the chain. Raw material databases and simulation software capable of spanning the wood-processing operations have now been developed and are being used as a support tool in understanding and optimizing the forestry-wood chain. This paper reports results of simulation tests using the virtual SawMill software and the Swedish Pine Stem Bank database. The simulated scenario tries to mirror a very customer-oriented production philosophy. The bucking, the sawing, the crosscutting, and the board-grading procedures were simulated for different end-user requirements and a statistical model was built. The purpose of the model was to investigate the theoretical sensitivity of the final product to parameters such as external sawlog features (taper, ovality, bow), harvester measurement accuracy (for length and diameter), sawing pattern optimization, and log positioning in the saw line. Special emphasis was put on evaluating the role of the harvester within this "puzzle." The results show that small improvements of the harvester's measuring performance could lead to considerable improvements in the wood transformation chain.