Articles containing the keyword 'interview'

Technological development gives forest companies opportunities to maintain competitiveness in the highly cost-sensitive market for forest products. However, no previous studies have examined the technological development decisions made by forest companies or the support tools used when making them. We therefore aimed to describe and analyze 1) the processes used when making such decisions, 2) the associated decision situations, and 3) the use of and need for decision support tools in these processes, with a harwarder concept as case. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents from six forestry organizations. Two theoretical frameworks were used to analyze the interviews, one for unstructured decision processes and one for decision situations. The respondents’ descriptions of their decision processes were consistent with those observed in other industries, and it was shown that decision-making could potentially be improved by investing more resources into diagnosing the problem at hand. The main objective in decision-making was to maximize economic criteria while satisfying threshold requirements relating to criteria such as operator well-being, soil rutting, and wood value. When facing large uncertainties, interviewees preferred to gather data through operational trials and/or scientific studies. If confronted with large uncertainties that could not be reduced, they proceeded with development only if the potential gains exceeded the estimated uncertainties, and implemented innovations in a stepwise manner. These results indicate a need for greater use of existing decision-support tools such as problem-structuring methods to enable more precise diagnoses, simulations to better understand new innovations, and optimization to better evaluate their theoretical large-scale potential.

• Jonsson, The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk), Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: rikard.jonsson@skogforsk.se
• Woxblom, The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk), Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: lotta.woxblom@skogforsk.se
• Björheden, The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk), Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: rolf.bjorheden@skogforsk.se
• Nordström, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Resource Management, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: eva-maria.nordstrom@slu.se
• Blagojevic, University of Novi Sad, Department of Water Management, Trg D. Obradovica 8, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia E-mail: bosko.blagojevic@polj.edu.rs
• Lindroos, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: ola.lindroos@slu.se

Forest operations involve several different actors. Each actor imposes their own requirements on the harvester in relation to their differing roles in the industry, whether they are concerned with the harvester itself, information, environmental concerns, etc. The manufacturers of harvesters need to meet the requirements imposed by multiple actors, among them logging contractors, whose survival depends on their harvesters. This paper aims to identify the present drivers of product development and describe the roles of the actors who have been identified as those currently affecting the development of harvesters. A multiple-case study of harvester manufacturers was conducted. In total, 4 cases were studied. Each case was comprised of five interviewees: two from each harvesting manufacturer, two logging contractors, and one dealer. Following 20 interviews and 3 validation interviews (with experts from both the industry and academia), the paper concludes that the present drivers of product development of harvesters are legislators, logging contractors, and expert and research organizations. Harvester manufacturers appear to develop harvesters aligned with requirements coming from both logging contractors and legislators. Logging contractors are the primary customers, and they prioritize requirements that reduce cost and improve work environments. Legislators, and expert and research organizations are supporting development in relation to current regulations.

• Gustafsson, Department of Accounting and Logistics, Linnaeus University, Universitetsplatsen 1, 352 52 Växjö, Sweden E-mail: asa.gustafsson@lnu.se
• Johansson, Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Linnaeus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden E-mail: jimmy.johansson@lnu.se