Benchmarking technical and cost factors in forest felling and processing operations in different global regions during the period 2013–2014

Abstract

In a global bioeconomy, benchmarking costs is essential in the evaluation of current forest harvesting systems and addressing decisions on the most efficient supply chains for available forest resources. Benchmarking cost rates in forestry is challenging, due to a lack of harmonized terminology and difficulties in collecting information on comparable forest technologies. This study provides a firsttime series of cost factors to be used when modeling and evaluating the cost competitiveness of forest felling and processing operations on a global scale. It is based on an expert survey using a standardized method of data collection. This benchmarking identifies and updates the knowledge of technical and socio-economic factors capable of influencing the cost rates of forest felling and processing operations across different regions. This study is expected to act as a reference for larger investigations, and for regular updates, with the aim to provide current data that can be used by forest practitioners and decision makers for improving their cost efficiency and for designing future supply systems more effectively. ARTICLE HISTORY

Low-Investment Fully Mechanized Harvesting of Short-Rotation Poplar (populus spp.) Plantations

“…The operation tested in this study can be acquired with a relatively small capital investment, around 400,000 €. That is about half of what is needed in order to acquire purpose-built equipment for doing the same job [24]. Even if a purpose-built operation proved equally cost-effective-and that has yet to be proved-the higher investment cost of purpose-built machinery would make it more difficult for small-scale logging contractors to equip, given the generally low-investment capacity of rural entrepreneurs [25].…”

Selection of a chipper technology for small-scale operations - a Finnish case

“…In forest engineering, the estimation of maintenance and repair costs has been considered the most unpredictable cost element, because operating conditions, operator skills, repair and maintenance strategies, and machine qualities influence this cost (Nurminen et al 2009;Ackerman et al 2014;Dodson et al 2015;Di Fulvio et al 2017;Spinelli et al 2019). Since the machinery is expensive and is essential for the entrepreneur, it needs to operate both in an economically feasible way and with few breakdowns.…”

“…The objective of this study was to determine the economic performance of alternative chipper choices for small-scale chipping, based on unit cost (e.g. Harstela 1991;Uusitalo 2010;Ackerman et al 2014;Di Fulvio et al 2017;Kaleja et al 2018) and net present value (NPV) calculations (e.g. Beranek 1975;Levy, Sarnat 1994), thus offering an insight into price setting for small-scale chipping operations and the profitability of chip production.…”

Determining the relative importance of factors affecting the success of innovations in forest technology using AHP

“…However, it is difficult to define and measure the success of a NIP (Larsson, Stahre, Warrol, & Rönnbäck, 2018), due to the complexity and multidimensionality of "success," the different levels of analysis that can be examined (Griffin & Page, 1993), and the multiple stakeholders for whom different things are important in the NIP development process (Huang, Soutar, & Brown, 2004). For instance, the technical performance of an NIP is evaluated (mainly) through productivity studies (for specific regions and with specific forest properties) so these data can be easily found (Di Fulvio et al, 2017). However, the barriers and drivers that influence the diffusion of NIPs in the FMM sector have been little studied.…”