Arto Rummukainen , Heikki Alanne, Esko Mikkonen

Wood procurement in the pressure of change

Rummukainen A., Alanne H., Mikkonen E. (1995). Wood procurement in the pressure of change. Acta Forestalia Fennica no. 248 article id 7510. https://doi.org/10.14214/aff.7510

Abstract

Linear optimization model was used to calculate seven wood procurement scenarios for years 1990, 2000 and 2010. Productivity and cost functions for seven cutting, five terrain transport, three long distance transport and various work supervision and scaling methods were calculated from available work study reports. All methods are based on Nordic cut to length conditions. Finland was divided in three parts for description on harvesting conditions. Twenty imaginary wood processing points and their wood procurement areas were created for these areas. The procurement systems, which consists of the harvesting conditions and work productivity function, were described as a simulation model. In the LP-model the wood procurement system has to fulfil the volume and wood assortment requirements of processing points by minimizing the procurement cost. The model consists of 862 variables and 560 restrictions.

Results show that it is economical to increase the mechanical work in harvesting. Cost increment alternatives effect only little on profitability of manual work. The areas of later thinnings and seed tree- and shelterwood cuttings increase on cost of first thinnings. In mechanized work one method, 10-tonne one grip harvester and forwarder, is gaining advantage among other methods. Working hours of forwarder are decreasing opposite to the harverster. There is only little need to increase the number of harvesters and trucks or their drivers from today’s level. Quite large fluctuations in level of procurement and cost can be handled by constant number of machines, by alternating the number of season workers and by driving machines in two shifts. It is possible, if some environmental problems of large-scale summer time harvesting can be solved.

Keywords
productivity; cost; timber harvesting; wood procurement; future scenarios

Published in 1995

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Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/aff.7510 | Download PDF