Wood Innovations

Topics covered: Log & lumber scanning, sawing, dry and planer mill, kiln drying, and timber preservation technologies, veneer, plywood and LVL, fibreboard products, pulp & paper, bio-fuels, bio-materials, wood plastic and advanced wood composites, wood modification, innovative building materials and systems, wood quality measurement and assessment.

Target audience: All senior managers, engineering, technical and R&D staff from Australasian forestry and wood products companies. Related equipment, product and service suppliers to the industry along with policy advisers and industry associations also attended this new series in September 2008.

Background:

The Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA) has a well deserved reputation for running independent and focussed technology programmes for forest product companies in New Zealand and Australia. They're designed with key researchers, technology providers and industry. Those technologies best suited to the wood resource and size of the industry are selected and brought into Australasia. The programmes are tailored to provide an overview of new product and process technologies that can be adopted by local companies to improve their operating efficiencies and international competitiveness.

What was Wood Innovations 2008?

Wood Innovations 2008 is an exciting NEW concept. It came about through ongoing requests to FIEA from New Zealand and Australian forest products companies. The message was clear, “time is precious”. Wood Innovations 2008 was designed with forest products companies to provide senior managers with a new two yearly update on leading product and process technologies that will impact on their operations. Over 150 delegates from New Zealand and Australian forest products companies attended the 2008 series.

It covered lumber through to composite, engineered and remanufactured wood - from raw materials through to finished products. In addition to short focussed presentations from leading technology providers, managed exhibitions, displays and posters from major research providers were provided along with an overview of new research cooperatives and relevant wood industry initiatives.

Why Wood Innovation?

New Zealand and Australian forest products companies face increasing competition from low cost producers, and from lower cost, better performing non-wood products. Low costs and high fibre recovery, achieved through process innovation, are prerequisites to competing in today’s global forest product markets.

Traditionally local companies have been very good at process innovation. Even though distant from many of the major technology providers, process technologies have either been designed, produced and adopted locally or modified from technologies developed outside Australasia. The focus has been on improving product recovery from fibre inputs in order to lower operational costs, reduce delivery time or increase flexibility.

To achieve competitive advantage against competing non-wood products, the industry needs to look closely at both its business systems and product innovations. Science, research and technology is central to this. However, there needs to be better collaboration and flow of ideas between businesses and research organisations. Because of our location and size, international partnerships are essential to augment our science capabilities.

Wood Innovations 2008 provided industry with an update on new technologies and upcoming R&D across a range of industries within the forest products sector.

Further information on the 2008 series can be found on post event details.