Wood Supply Chain Optimisation 2010

The technology programme will target key decision makers from forestry and wood products companies in New Zealand and Australia. It will provide practical updates on innovations being used by forest products companies and leading technology providers. Strategies and technologies that have been adopted to improve planning, logistics and operations within the sector will be outlined and include;

•  Analysis of successful international models for supply chain optimisation

•  Optimising value recovery through improved harvesting systems

•  Remote sensing and real-time tracking of logs and wood products

•  Innovative systems that integrate planning, operations, harvesting and sales

•  Materials handling, packaging, freight forwarding and distribution developments

•  Key issues facing the freight, shipping and transport industries

•  Radio frequency and electronic identification technologies

•  The latest international trends in logistics and supply chain management.

Volatile wood fibre costs, increasing energy costs and shifting product demand have created significant pressures on forestry and wood products companies to reduce costs and take advantage of demand opportunities.  The structure of the supply chain has been a major issue for the sector maintaining its international competitiveness. In Australasia it tends to be horizontal rather than vertically stratified between each of the major players; forest owners, wood processors, manufacturers and distributors. Consequently, there is a high degree of separation between each of these operations.  The sector does not have an integrated production model. Rather than maximising the overall net return to each company, New Zealand and Australian operations largely look to access margins at each stage of the supply chain. The result has been a fragmented industry with few end-to end supply chain participants.  Because of increasing competition, domestic and global markets are requiring more sophisticated approaches to every-day routines of manufacturing and doing business. Sourcing and purchasing materials, manufacturing products, and getting them to market mean forestry and wood products companies are now looking closely at solutions to make supply chain improvements, efficiencies and cost savings.  Having optimized their manufacturing strategies, many companies are turning to their supply chain and distribution strategies to differentiate their products and cut costs. Over the last two decades, drivers such as globalization, data sharing technology, economic deregulation and the changing nature of marketplaces have pushed companies to think outside their own boundaries. They have expanded their perspective on logistics processes. It now includes the processes of all companies involved in getting the right product, at the right cost, at the right time, in the right condition and in the right quantity to the end user.  In a global sense, it's supply chains, not individual companies that are competing with each other to get their products to market.