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Doctoral thesis, 2013

An analysis of potential improvements within Lithuanian sawlog supply

Puodziunas, Mindaugas

Abstract

The wood supply from the forest to the industry is often characterized by high variability caused by the divergent structure of forest products, seasonality and uneven geographical distribution of forest resources and forest products industries. Based on previous knowledge on wood supply this thesis aimed to identify existing wood supply patterns and strategies in the Lithuanian state forest sector, to evaluate supply chain performance for sawmills and to examine potential improvements for roundwood transportation as well as handling operations at the sawmill. The research presented in this thesis was based on data gathered in the timeframe of 2000-2008. The studies demonstrated how state forest enterprises in wood supply and sawmilling activities focused on so called main products, as compared to by-products (I, II). This was reflected by the lead times which for high value assortments were 2.5 times shorter compared to low value assortments (I). This was also reflected in the degree of dynamics between upstream and downstream positions at the sawmills, which for by-products were 40 % lower than for main products (II). Although the study showed some signs of coordination between wood supply and market sales, the wood supply from state forest enterprises were still primarily driven by silvicultural requirements and not by market signals (I, II). Roundwood transportation planning was carried out independently by each state forest enterprise. The results (III) demonstrated that, given the existing geographical distribution of forest resources and customers, improved transport planning can potentially reduce roundwood ttransport costs. It was found that up to 60 % of volume for studied period could be included in a backhaul route thus resulting in an average potential reduction of transport costs by 14 % (III). Discrete-event simulation model was applied for analysing roundwood handling operations at a sawmill (IV). The model proved to be an effective tool for simulating different roundwood handling operations and could be used as a supportive management tool. It enabled the identification of key factors – roundwood sourcing and delivery scheduling - that could improve capacity utilization both for the sawmill and roundwood hauling.

Keywords

supply chain; strategy; lead-time; transport planning; backhaul; sourcing; scheduling; simulation

Published in

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae
2013, number: 2013:87
ISBN: 978-91-576-7912-3, eISBN: 978-91-576-7913-0
Publisher: Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences