Blog List

Monday 23 October 2017

Workplace Safety Is A Shared Responsibility

As Ontario’s Chief Prevention Officer, my goal is to ensure all workers return healthy and safe after a day’s work.

George Gritziotis
George Gritziotis
Ontario’s Chief Prevention Officer, Ministry of Labour







Workplace Safety Is A Shared Responsibility
In Ontario we have seen a steady decline in injury claims over the past 10 years, but critical injuries and fatalities remain at unacceptable levels.  In response we have been working to transform the health and safety system in Ontario. We are working to create a culture in Ontario where being safe at work is an intrinsic part of every workplace, and ingrained in all workplace parties.
Working at heights is one of the most dangerous types of work. For the past five years falls from heights in all sectors has been the second leading cause of traumatic fatalities.
Prevention of workplace health and safety incidents is supported by the province’s occupational health and safety strategy — Healthy and Safe Ontario Workplaces.  The strategy helps guide system efforts and ensures a clear, common vision and targeted approach for decreasing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.
When considering how to focus our efforts, it’s important all workplace parties promote prevention efforts in areas of highest risk. Working at heights is one of the most dangerous types of work. For the past five years falls from heights in all sectors has been the second leading cause of traumatic fatalities.
As of April 1, 2015, employers are required to ensure that workers on construction projects who need to use fall protection equipment complete approved working at heights training. This year the ministry will be conducting more than 20 targeted inspection blitzes in high risk sectors to raise safety awareness and help prevent injuries and fatalities, including a targeted blitz in construction focused on falls.
Our health and safety partners are also focusing their efforts this year on preventing falls from heights, providing training, raising awareness, and educating both workers and employers on how to prevent falls. 
In addition to focusing on the highest risk, all workplaces and the health and safety system must adapt and respond to emerging needs of workplaces.  This adjustment includes the recently announced post-traumatic stress disorder prevention strategy to help address this serious issue. Other emerging priorities include general workplace mental health issues along with workplace harassment. 
We can’t do it alone.  Workplace safety is a shared responsibility.  We all need to be responsible for what happens on the worksite every day.  Everyone has a role to play to keep themselves and their workplaces healthy and safe.
By working together — employers, workers, and our health and safety partners — we can take significant steps in preventing worker injuries and deaths.
For further information log on website :
http://www.industryandbusiness.ca/development-and-innovation/workplace-safety-is-a-shared-responsibility

Panel Of Experts: The Future Of Forestry

Industry experts weigh in on how British Columbia's forests can continue to grow and prosper.
Douglas A. Routledge
Douglas A. Routledge
Vice President, Council of Forest Industries
Arnold Bercov
Arnold Bercov
President, Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC)





Panel Of Experts The Future Of Forestry
naturally:wood
The experts share thoughts on the future of this booming industry.

Mediaplanet: Which trends/innovations in B.C.’s forestry industry excite you most?

Douglas A. Routledge: If I were to point to one thing, it would be the development of new engineered wood products and building systems. B.C. is a leader in wood design and innovation and this expertise is helping us expand the market for wood products in North America and abroad. Utilizing these new products, architects and engineers are now able to build taller and span further than ever thought possible with wood. Wood-framed mid-rise construction is now commonplace in B.C., and hopefully in other jurisdictions soon.
"As the world moves toward green, sustainable commodities, I think there are a lot of exciting innovations ahead."
Arnold Bercov: As the world moves toward green, sustainable commodities, I think there are a lot of exciting innovations ahead. Nanotechnology applied to the use of wood fibre and particularly the longer softwood fibres offers great potential for our industry. Also, innovations in engineering that could allow for taller wooden buildings and more laminated beams holds a whole new marketing opportunity for British Columbia, as well as generating much new, but needed employment in the value-added sector.

MP: What is most important to the continued growth and prosperity of B.C.’s forest sector?

DAR: In order for British Columbia’s forest industry to remain competitive we require:
  • Certainty around the availability of timber supply. The Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic and the forecasted decline in Annual Allowable Cut has made this a challenge.
  • Market diversity, both in terms of the customers we serve around the world, and in terms of the suite of forest products we produce. Tremendous growth in the Chinese market over the past decade has benefitted our industry — we need to build on this success.
  • Attracting and retaining an adequate supply of skilled labour. We need to be positioned as the industry of choice for skilled workers.
  • Modern transportation infrastructure that allows us to efficiently serve our customers around the world.
AB: Most important to the continuing growth and prosperity of B.C.’s forest industry will be its ability to adapt to a changing greener social movement. Our union has recognized the need to engage all stakeholders in managing our forests.
Dealing with issues of climate change, First Nations rights, and a growing challenge of getting more with less as the interior recovers from the pine beetle epidemic are all huge challenges to both meet head on and successfully overcome.
To reach these goals, the government, as owners of 95 per cent of our forested lands, must lead the way in engaging communities and all other stakeholders as we move forward. We must also put an end to the growing export of our raw logs and biomass. The world needs manufactured wood products, and B.C. should be at the forefront of that manufacturing.

MP: What is your advice to a young Canadian/British Columbian considering a career in forestry?

DAR: We have a job for you. We offer well paying, family supporting careers in a wide variety of fields. Traditional roles like millwrights, machinists and electricians are just the start. Computer programmers, experts in robotics, truck drivers…you name it — we need it.
World leading sustainable forest practices, cutting-edge technology, variety, and the opportunity to live and work in communities around the province, are all part of what makes a career in our sector a rewarding one.
AB: My advice to a young person considering a career in forestry is to look at all opportunities, from harvesting, to manufacturing, to research and development, and then decide what interests you.
This industry has an amazing opportunity to provide good wages and stable employment forever if managed properly. It will also provide young people a greater challenge in shaping their careers. From apprenticeship to engineering to land management and working with communities and First Nations, the possibilities are almost limitless. This is not a sunset industry, but rather one with a very bright future, if managed properly.

MP: Where is British Columbia’s forestry industry going to be in 10 years?

DAR: The transformation and innovation occurring in B.C.’s forest sector is leading us to fibre supplies, manufacturing processes, products and markets not envisioned even a few years ago.  
"World leading sustainable forest practices, cutting-edge technology, variety, and the opportunity to live and work in communities around the province, are all part of what makes a career in our sector a rewarding one."
Most of us have long known wood is a sustainable, carbon sequestering, recyclable, and hence environmentally friendly source of building materials and paper products.  However, until recently only a few have understood from mill and forest residuals, wood’s cellular components also offer us a source of environmentally friendly building blocks for production of liquid bio-fuels and bio-chemicals & their by-products of plastics, pharmaceuticals and more.  Look for the industry of the future to be about much more than lumber, panels and pulp.
AB: In 10 years’ time I am hopeful we will see a stronger and even more vibrant industry. My hope is the entire province will be Forest Stewardship Council certified, which means we will be managing our forests to the highest standards.
As the interior recovers from the devastating pine beetle epidemic, there should be more opportunities in silviculture and a divergent forest economy that allows for more value-added products as well as continuing operation of the pulp and paper sector.
On the coast we should see more manufacturing and, hopefully, more integrated companies once again emerging to create a stronger, viable industry. I also think in 10 years we will see many more First Nations growing the industry but having direct community and localized involvement.
I hope in 10 years we can look back and say that all the conflicts of the past were just that, “the past”, and that we are on the path to creating even more employment and community stability.
For further information log on website :
http://www.industryandbusiness.ca/insight/panel-of-experts-the-future-of-forestry

The Shop of The Future – Now

Author
August 8, 2017 by  


Smart carts waiting for instructions. Each automatic guided vehicle unit uses flashing LEDs to direct workers to the correct slots on the two shelves.
When a wood shop wants to automate its manufacturing operations, often one or two processes get a high-tech upgrade. Not so Muskoka Cabinet Company of Alfred, Ont., down-river just east of Ottawa.
“Every inch of space is planned, equipment racks, shelving and ductwork is designed to be flexible to suit the changing needs of production as we automate,” says president Luke Elias.
Clearing the path for automation that now includes a custom radio-frequency identification (RFID) system, a “smart” enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and lately, automated guided vehicle (AGV) carts, has been the goal of business graduate Luke Elias since he purchased a 13-year-old company in 1989. His brother Eric joined in 1992 from the banking industry and is senior vice president.
The siblings are both from the Ottawa area, and the company also maintains a showroom downtown for sales, and where designers can transmit their software files directly to the shop. Luke leads the manufacturing technology innovation, while Eric oversees sales operations. The latter describes the company selling to as far as Kingston, Ont., to Montreal, Que., and Barrie to Waterloo, Ont.
“We’re able to compete with big guys in Toronto,” says Eric Elias. He notes residential construction, condominiums and the rental conversion market are currently fuelling the business.

Muskoka Cabinet senior vice president Eric Elias (right) gets a shop floor update.
Even property managers and general contractors can take advantage of Muskoka Cabinet’s cloud deployment and review orders on-site with a tablet computer. Luke Elias notes that in the future, with improvements to the Apple mobile operating system, tablets will be able to read the RFID tags embedded in the cabinets. This will allow for the accurate re-ordering of parts and traceability of defects back to the shop floor, he says.
The Elias brothers have overseen the transition of Muskoka Cabinet from its commercial origins to servicing the residential market exclusively by 1999. During this time, the company management took note of software then on the market that could help design kitchens and make cutlists. By 2000, the company implemented nested-based manufacturing, a first in Canada, according to Luke Elias. “We also had a computer network setup since 1993, something unusual for the time,” he says. In 2003, Muskoka Cabinet introduced cabinets manufactured from strawboard.
The next technology milestone was 2004 when an ERP system was introduced on the shop floor that would communicate between computers installed at each workstation and the front office. This implementation occurred at the company’s new location just up the street from the original one.
That was when Luke Elias learned overnight the real costs of material
handling. “Or better yet, the savings realized by reducing the time spent loading, unloading and remaking parts that were damaged as they were pushed around the factory floor,” he says. Before the move, the company spent months planning and streamlining parts flow with the use of conveyors, a parts sorting station and labelling. Production in the new plant doubled in the first month using the same number of people and machines. “I had no idea we were wasting that much time on material handling in our old factory,” he says.

Muskoka Cabinet worked closely with Automatech Robotik to develop this CNC work cell.
As years passed and production grew, it became apparent a considerable amount of manual labour was still used to sort, label, load and unload parts. “We knew there were savings to be had if we could automate these labour intensive, mundane tasks,” he explains. “Robots were a possible solution as they could be programmed to handle and manipulate custom-sized pieces.”
To make this next transition, Muskoka Cabinet called upon the expertise of Automatech Robotik of Saint- Apollinaire, Que., in 2012. “Their robotic assisted nesting cell solution was a natural as it solved many of our goals,” says Luke Elias.
The Automatech robotic work cell was designed to have a three-year payback, but actually clocked in at two years, due to the existing deployment of automation in other areas, such as RFID and smart carts. The Wi-Fi activated carts employ flashing LEDs below slots to indicate where operators should place components from the same cabinet order.
Initially, the work cell took the place of such manual jobs as loading sheets on the nesting table, unloading cut parts, cleaning the spoiler board and feeding the horizontal boring machine. “In addition,” Luke Elias says, “the robot provided a unique solution to automate the application of RFID labels and RFID tag insertion as it is the perfect tool to orientate parts so they can receive additional operations.”
This is where the integration of technologies really starts to get interesting, according to Luke Elias. “So far, with no manual intervention we have loaded a sheet on the nesting table, unloaded cut parts from the table, fed selected parts to the horizontal boring and dowel insertion machine, applied RFID surface labels and inserted RFID tags into wood parts that require finishing. We have then created smart parts heading down a conveyor to the edgebanding machine for their first manual operation.

Luke Elias, president of Muskoka Cabinet, explains to a tour group how RFID tags are inserted into panels. Production manager Sylvain Gariepy looks on.
“Parts are edgebanded as required and the part’s RFID tag is read as it leaves the edgebander’s return conveyor. Reading the tag activates a wireless LED array on a slot in a smart cart, which tells the operator where to place the part in the cart. Each slot in the smart cart contains parts for a single cabinet.
“And presto, the parts are presorted, and ready for assembly.”
The current stage of automation rivals anything that could be found at an Amazon warehouse.
When the latest AGV-equipped smart cart is full, it is deployed to a parking area until the cart is called upon by the finishing or final assembly departments. Inventor, builder and former medical doctor, Les Buhler, describes the unique AGV requirements as being “able to move 10,000 lb loads in tight spaces — aisles with no room to spare.” Buhler also helped to develop the solution for embedding RFID tags into cabinet component panels so that they can be read at each process location throughout the shop. The solution involves cutting a narrow biscuit on the spine of each panel so a folded RFID tag can safely be inserted. The tag is designed so its RFID antenna is not damaged by this insertion process.
Each AGV sports eight Lidar units — the same technology being tested by big automakers in driverless road vehicles — and four infrared (IR) “beacons.” Together, the Lidar and IR scanning technologies ensure the AGV carts can navigate smoothly from workstation to workstation, and from parking lot to parking lot, with a stop at the assembly station along the way. No following rails on the floor.
The integration of robotics, RFID, smart carts, AGVs and ERP system facilitates an automatic, part processing, part sorting, part movement, part status, and part costing as each station and process reads each part as it passes through. Assemblers adjacent to the shipping department receive jobs via Windows tablets at each height-adjustable workstation table (to relieve back stress) or can access their jobs by picking a panel off the smart cart for their table’s RFID unit to read.

Specialized AGV wraps shipment on loading dock before going onto a truck.
Even when product is being palletized at the loading dock, RFID readers are used on the shipping doors and the system automatically applies a shipped status to product as it gets loaded on the truck. A robot AGV, much like a giant Roomba floor cleaner, wraps the assembled cabinet order with clear plastic by circling the pallet repeatedly until the shipment is safe for transport.
Luke Elias notes that Muskoka Cabinet has received and continues to receive substantial support from a National Research Council program (IRAP) for technology R&D and implementation. “We would not be as advanced as we are without their support,” he says.
IRAP industrial technology advisor and professional engineer Bernie Schmidt says the NRC has worked with Muskoka Cabinet for five years now — and that it is continuing its relationship. “The story is not finished! “We accelerated their technology adoption and introduced business resources,” says Schmidt, “by developing a robust technology roadmap and an IP (intellectual property) protection strategy.” He noted that after two or three years, IRAP (Industrial Research Assistance Program) was noticing the potential for commercialization of the technological developments at the company.
The opportunities and key innovative elements in the Automatech-Muskoka
robotic work cell project were the integration of technologies, robotics, RFID and ERP. “Truly an Industry 4.0 solution that has enormous potential,” says Luke Elias. “Automatech (also an IRAP client) totally embraced the project and opened up their system to integrate with ours. They are the only industry partner we have ever had to embrace what we are trying to achieve.”

The cabinet assembly department, with smart carts on the left, cart “parking lot” at the top and warehouse shelves on the right.
For this reason, smartMRP Inc., Muskoka’s sister company, has partnered with Automatech to implement RFID part and product tracking systems in other shops, and has some projects currently in process that have the potential to fulfil the promise of commercialization seen by Schmidt and IRAP.
The cabinet manufacturing business can be highly profitable, the Elias brothers believe. In 2015, Muskoka Cabinet had a gross margin that exceeded 40, with a net profit before tax exceeding 20 percent. On $10 million in sales, for example, that would translate into a $2 million net profit, the company explains.
Administration and engineering offices occupy 2,000 square feet and manufacturing 10,000 square feet, with the warehouse and assembly departments accounting for 6,400 square feet. “Depending on demand,” says Luke Elias, “we run two shifts in some departments up to 24 hours, and six days a week in others. smart ERP keeps our inventory requirements to just-in-time so little space is required.”
Muskoka Cabinet’s commitment to its smart ERP system means that the constantly evolving tool connects everyone in the organization on-site and off-site with pertinent real-time information. “People are the most important asset in any organization, giving them a well maintained ERP system to work with reduces mistakes and therefore stress and will lead to a happier more productive work force.”
The total number of employees varies from 55 to 60, including the designer showroom, with 25 required for the shop floor.
Production manager Sylvain Gariepy arrived as an 18-year-old to join the company that had only five employees at the time. Learning on the fly came naturally. “I always liked working with wood, but other things came up on the job such as computers and RFID,” says Gariepy. “Some people don’t want to learn new things but they’re limiting themselves.”
Today he continues to look for better ways to make products, including acquiring new equipment and justifying its payback. Working leaner, fixing machines and reducing downtime all play their part, according to Gariepy.

Closeup of the RFID insertion slot on the side of a panel.
The company pays attention to the cosmetic look of the shop floor to provide a pleasant soothing environment for the employees. “You may have noticed the colour scheme is blue and grey,” says Luke Elias. “Our conveyors, safety fences, duct work, air lines and most equipment have custom-ordered paint finishes. Have you ever seen a light grey robot?”
Making the technology transition to 100 percent water-based finishes was a gruelling process taking several years, however. The company’s finishing line commissioning process was a disaster, admits Eric Elias. “We threw $100,000 worth of materials at it, even though it was tested before being installed in our shop,” he says.
Muskoka Cabinet is a manufacturer and distributor of Breathe Easy Cabinetry. The cabinets are constructed of non-toxic, environmentally friendly products such as responsibly harvested solid wood, formaldehyde-free cabinets, and non-toxic water-based glues and finishes.
Some consumers are quite sensitive to chemical off gassing in wood products, so when Muskoka Cabinet finally did get its finishing line up and running properly, one particularly allergic potential customer put their product to an unusual test. “She actually slept with a part under her pillow,” says Eric Elias. “And we got the order.”
In all, a designers’, producers’, marketers’ and consumers’ dream.
For further information log on website :
http://www.woodindustry.ca/index.php/the-shop-of-the-future-now/

The development of wood technology and technology developments in the wood industries—from history to future

Article · August 2010with1,801 Reads
DOI: 10.1007/s00107-010-0458-2

Author Alfred Teischinger

30.48
Institution
University of Natural Resources and Life Science Vienna
Department
Institute of Wood Science and Technology
150 Publications885 Citations5 Projects



Abstract

The term technology is frequently used in every-day communication and in the specific areas of producing goods and providing services. Technology comprises the science of knowledge and usage of tools and techniques or its systems, methods, organization and material products thereof. The meaning of the word technology itself as well as the specific meaning of the term wood technology has changed over the past centuries of industrialized production systems. The current paper analyses the development of wood technology over a period of about 300 years. Based on various COST Actions and the European Forest-sector Technology Platform current topics of wood technology are addressed and a future outlook is given. Im Alltag wird der Begriff Technologie häufig in einer sehr allgemeinen Bedeutung verwendet. Grundsätzlich umfasst der Begriff Technologie die Wissenschaft der Anwendung der Technik, wird aber häufig auch als Synonym für die eingesetzte Technik an sich verwendet. Der vorliegende Essay beleuchtet die Entwicklung des Begriffes Technologie sowie spezifisch die Technologie des Holzes, deren Entwicklung analysiert und diskutiert wird. Dabei werden die aktuellen technologischen Fragestellungen anhand der Themen verschiedener COST-Aktionen sowie der Europäischen „Forest-based Sector Technology Platform“ beleuchtet und ein Ausblick auf technologische Herausforderungen der Zukunft gegeben.

The development of wood technology and technology developments in the wood industries—from history to future (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226719933_The_development_of_wood_technology_and_technology_developments_in_the_wood_industries-from_history_to_future [accessed Oct 23 2017].



EJWWP458_source
2

Abstract

The term technology is frequently used in every-day communication and in the specific areas of producing goods and providing services. Technology comprises the science of knowledge and usage of tools and techniques or its systems, methods, organization and material products thereof.The meaning of the word technology itself as well as the specific meaning of the term wood technology has changed over the past centuries of industrialized production systems. The current
paper analyses the development of wood technology over a period of about 300 years. Based ovarious COST actions and the European Forest-sector Technology Platform current topics of wootechnology are addressed and a future outlook is given.Zur Entwicklung der Technologie des Holzes und technologische Entwicklungen in der
Holzwirtschaft – von der Vergangenheit zur Zukunft Zusammenfassung
Im Alltag wird der Begriff Technologie häufig in einer sehr allgemeinen Bedeutung verwendet. Grundsätzlich umfasst der Begriff Technologie die Wissenschaft der Anwendung der Technik, wird aber häufig auch als Synonym für die eingesetzte Technik an sich verwendet. Der vorliegende Essay beleuchtet die Entwicklung des Begriffes Technologie sowie spezifisch die Technologie des Holzes, deren Entwicklung analysiert und diskutiert wird. Dabei werden die
aktuellen technologischen Fragestellungen anhand der Themen verschiedener COST-Aktionen sowie der Europäischen „Forest-based Sector Technology Platform“ beleuchtet und ein Ausblick auf technologische Herausforderungen der Zukunft gegeben.

1 Roots of wood technology In his „Forest Journey – The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization“,Perlin (1991) asserted wood’s crucial place in the evolution of civilization, and he states wood as the unsung hero of the technological revolution that has brought us from a stone and bone culture to our present age. For many centuries the raw material wood served as society’s principal fuel besides the use as a building material, and it was the emergence of the fossil fuels which brought a decisive change in the supply of heat and fuel. Perlin also chronicles various scarcities of
wood throughout the history of civilization which triggered major technological changes and advances. Quite similar to Perlin’s chronicle Radkau (2007) puts a strong emphasis on the
conflicts between the technological development and the rise of civilization, which resulted in deforestation due to an excessive use of wood. Many times throughout history, the scarcity of wood became a driver for resource efficient use of the material, innovations and new technologies, but efficiency gains and
innovations have quite often been eaten up by so-called rebound and backfire effects as well (Krafft 2009).

The period of the Industrial Revolution with major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural condition of the civilizations involved and marked a major turning point in human history. Besides the arts, humanities and the natural sciences at the EJWWP458_source various established and new universities, technology as a separate discipline slowly emerged with the foundation of the first mining and mechanical schools such as the University of Technology in Ostrava (1716) and the École 
Polytechnique in Paris (1794).

Presumably it was Beckmann who first set the term “Technologie” in the year 1777 in his first edition of a technology handbook (cit. in Beckmann 1780, Fig. 1)and other technologists followed such as Karmarsch (1825) at the Institute of Polytechnique in Vienna with his book “Einleitung in die Lehren der Technologie” (introduction to technology). Later on as the head of the school of polytechnique in Hannover he dedicated a whole chapter to wood technology in his handbook of technology (Karmarsch 1851).Fig. 1 Part of the front page of J. Beckmann`s instruction to “Technologie” (technology) from the year 1780 (courtesy library of the University of Vienna)
Abb. 1 Ausschnitt der Titelseite von J. Beckmanns „Anleitung zur Technologie“ aus dem Jahr 1780 (Bibliothek der Universität Wien)
In German and some other European languages, there is a difference between the terms “Technik” and “Technologie” that does not exist in English. As both terms are usually translated as "technology”, one has to bear in mind that the German term “Technologie” is not completely identical to the English term “technology”. Over the years the term “technology” has been further developed into the current meaning but still today dictionaries and scholars offer a variety of definitions. Most widely technology can be defined as the entities, both material and immaterial, created by the application of intellectual and physical efforts (sometimes referred to as techniques) in order to meet demands and create values (sometimes also threats) as discussed by Teischinger and Müller (2010).
Technology is not usually an exclusive product of science but as a cultural activity, technology predates both science and engineering, each of which formalize some aspects of technological endeavor.
As there is a strong but not exclusive link between science and technology, many universities, institutes, handbooks and scientific journals establishing new knowledge contain in their title “technology” or the phrase “… science and technology …”. For example the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in USA with its mission statement: The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge
and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century (http://web.mit.edu).

Also the International Academy of Wood Science refers to technology (“The EJWWP458_source International Academy of Wood Science … is a non-profit assembly of wood scientists, recognizing all fields of wood science with their associated technological domains”) and its Journal “Wood Science and Technology” (http://www.iaws-web.org/) paves the way from science to technology. 

2 The development of wood technology The development of wood science – with some aspects of technology, too, is well documented in a compilation in the first volume of the journal Wood Science and
Technology (Coté et al. 1967) and a series in Holz als Roh- und Werkstoff (now European Journal of Wood and Wood Products). A continuous update of a documentation of new knowledge in wood science – besides the many scientific wood science journals – is given by the Springer Series in Wood Science (ed. R. Wimmer) which also covers aspects of technology. Before the start of this series
of wood science and parallel to it, books and collected works such as “Wood and
Cellulose Science” (Stamm 1964) and “Wood – Chemistry,ltrastructure,
Reaction” by Fengel and Wegener (1983) – with many other wood science compilations and specialist literature referred to – built up a profound basis of wood science, followed by Hon and Shiraishi (1991) and Rowell (2005) focussing on wood chemistry and Niemz (1993) with the focus on wood physics. With the textbooks by Bodig and Jayne (1982) and Smith et al. (2003) wood material science and engineering mechanics is combined and a deep understanding of
wood mechanics is provided.

Following the first documentations by Beckmann (1780) and Karmarsch (1851) - besides many other books which cannot be fully listed in this essay - the books by Kollmann (1936), Vorreiter (1949 and 1958) in German and the English versions Kollmann and Coté (1968) and Kollmann et al. (1975) as well as Haygreen and
Bowyer (1982) became the very documentation of wood technology. Additionally many further technological aspects have been covered in a deeper or more specific way by various authors such as: wood machining by Koch (1964), the field of wood adhesives and technology of bonding by Pizzi (1983) and Marra (1992), wood-based materials by Maloney (1977), Deppe and Ernst (1977), Sellers (1985), Dunky and Niemz (2002) etc. With the “Primary Wood Processing” by Walker (1993) one example of the many books dealing with the first step of wood processing is given.

Yet also the reinvention of old technologies such as the wood modification process has to be mentioned and as this area is undergoing huge developments at present, driven in part by environmental concerns regarding the use of preservatives treated wood. Hill (2006) provides a new scientific basis for these
“green” wood protection technologies.Society’s concern over increasing fuel prices, green house gas emissions, and the
associated global warming have created tremendous interest in the science and technologies that promise the sustainable production of materials, chemicals, and energy from domestic resources. These considerations unambiguously dictate the need for practically oriented scientific research and the book by Argyropoulos
(2006) is just one example of a comparatively new compilation of the abundant research literature covering a wide range of the production of materials, chemicals and energy from forest biomass. Predating a handbook which contains the many findings of the various research
being done, much of the new knowledge is firstly presented at conferences and published in conference proceedings and scientific journals. With the growing EJWWP458_source emphasis on wood research and the growing new knowledge in this field of research, more and more wood research journals have been founded in order to
build up a wood science and technology literacy (Table 1):
Table 1: selection of international wood science and technology journals, sorted according to their year of foundation. Journals with a “*” are listed in the ISI web of science Tabelle 1: Auswahl internationaler Zeitschriften auf dem Gebiet der Wissenschaft und
Technologie des Holzes, gelistet nach dem jeweiligen Gründungsjahr. Zeitschriften mit einem "*" sind im ISI web of science gelistet
Journal title Founding year Homepage * European Journal of Wood and
Wood Products (before: Holz als Roh- und Werkstoff)1938 ttp://www.springerlink.com/content /0018-3768?sortorder=asc&p_o=647

* Holzforschung 1947 http://www.reference-global.com/loi/hfsg
* Forest Product Journal 1951 http://www.forestprod.org/fpjover.html
* Wood Research 1955 http://www.vupc.sk/sdvu/index.htm
Journal of the Japan Wood

Research Society 1955 http://www.jwrs.org/editor/index-e.html
Holztechnologie 1959/2005 http://www.holztechnologie.de/index.php?id=223 * IAWA Journal 1965 http://bio.kuleuven.be/sys/iawa/
* Cellulose Chemistry and Technology 1966 ttp://www.ear.ro/3brevist/rv45/rv45.htm
* Wood Science and Technology 967 ttp://springerlink.metapress.com/content/
102511/?sortorder=asc&p_o=205
* Wood and Fiber Science 1968 http://swst.metapress.com/content/120742/
* Canadian Journal of Forest

Research
1971 http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/rp-
ps/journalDetail.jsp?jcode=cjfr&lang=eng
* Journal of Wood Chemistry and Technology
1981 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=
t713597282
* Scandinavian Journal of Forest

Research
1986 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=
t713711862~db=all
* Cellulose 1994 http://www.springer.com/chemistry/organic+
chemistry/journal/10570
* Journal of Wood Science 1998 http://www.springerlink.com/content/1435-
0211?sortorder=asc&p_o=49

Journal of Forest Products
Business Research 2004 http://www.forestprod.org/jfpbr.html 
* BioResources 2006 http://www.bioresourcesjournal.com/index.php/
BioRes/index

Wood Material Science and Engineering
2006 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=
t741771155~db=all

International Wood Products Journal
2010 http://www.maney.co.uk/index.php/journals/iwp
It has to be emphasized that Table 1 only provides a selection of wood research journals in the core of the discipline, and it is not easy to set a clear line between forest related journals, pulp and paper technology and timber (civil) engineering journals. One can also observe that more and more wood technology related research work is published in journals related to general material and composites science, adhesives and polymer science, bioresource technology, chemical engineering and technology, drying technology etc. Is this a challenge to the established journals of the community of wood science and technology or can this also be seen as an emancipation of wood within the general material science and
technology disciplines? EJWWP458_source 6
As a scientific discipline the further development of wood technology is strongly related to forest products research (a worldwide overview on wood research institutes is given by Ellefson et al. 2007) and academic education, which is covered by the subdivision 5.14.00 of IUFRO Division 5 “Forest Products” on a
worldwide scale. There are many international and national networks in order to document and foster wood education programmes such as the Society of Wood Science and Technology (http://www.swst.org/). Observing the global changes and developments in society and technology and screening the various documentations on wood technology education programmes one can state that it is
very important to redefine and strengthen the numerous programmes worldwide,to anticipate the future and to make wood technology the key technology of a renewables-based sector.

3 Current wood technology issues
In the last decades the key issues and driving forces of wood technology have changed significantly. Many – but by far not all - of the current issues of wood technology have been addressed by COST actions of the forest-related domain of
COST (Forests, their Services and Products/FPS) as summarized in Table 2. In general, COST (http://www.cost.esf.org) is an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology, allowing the coordination of nationally-funded research on a European level.

The forest domain FPS has the mission to promote research along the whole forestry-wood-chain by providing a platform for the effective coordination of
nationally funded research activities in the areas of forestry, wood technology and pulp & paper. Analyzing the various actions within FPS, it becomes evident that the domain has changed its focus in the last years: from a technology-focus to a more environmental-related focus.

Table 2: Wood technology-related COST-Actions within the COST domain “Forest, their Services and Products/FPS” from about 1994 up to now. From COST action E 14 onwards, the results anvarious activities of each action are well documented on the domain´s homepage
(http://w3.cost.esf.org/index.php?id=146)

Tabelle 2: Auflistung von COST-Aktionen ab ca. 1994 mit Bezug zur Technologie des Holzes innerhalb des COST-Arbeitsgebietes "Forstwirtschaft, ihre Leistungen und Produkte". Ab der
COST-Aktion 14 können die Resultate und Aktivitäten der einzelnen Aktionen im COST- Arbeitsgebiet "Forstwirtschaft, ihre Leistungen und Produkte" auf der Bereichs-Homepage
abgerufen werden (http://w3.cost.esf.org/index.php?id=146)

Number of the COST action Title of the action1)
E 2 Durability of wood
E 5 Fire safety of medium-rise timber frame residential building
E 8 Mechanical performance of wood and wood products
E 9 Life cycle assessment of forestry and forest products
E 10 Wood properties for industrial use
E 13 Wood adhesion and glued products
E 15 Advances in the drying of wood
E 18 High performance in wood coating
E 20 Wood fibre cell wall structure
E 22 Environmental optimisation of wood protection
E 24 Reliability of timber structures
E 29 Innovative timber & composite elements / components for buildings
EJWWP458_source
7
E 31 Management of recovered wood
E 34 Bonding of timber
E 35 Fracture mechanics and micromechanics of wood and wood composites with
regard to wood machining
E 37 Sustainability through new technologies for enhanced wood durability
E 40 Innovative utilisation and products of large dimensioned timber including the
whole forest-wood-chain
E 41 Analytical tools with applications for wood and pulping chemistry
E 44 Wood processing strategy
E 49 Processes and performance of wood-based panels
E 53 Quality control for wood and wood products
FP 0602 Biotechnology for lignocellulose biorefineries
FP 0702 Net-acoustics for timber based lightweight buildings and elements
FP 0802 Experimental and computational micro-characterisation techniques in wood
mechanics
FP 0901 Analytical techniques for biorefineries
FP 0904 Thermo-hydro-mechanical wood behaviour and processing
1) Besides the title, the names of the various working groups (WG) within an action give even a
more detailed impression of the science and technology issues to be addressed e.g.: COST Action
E53 – WG 1 scanning for wood properties, WG 2 moisture content and distortion, WG 3 strength,
stiffness and appearance grading
It is the aim of science to build up new concepts, theories and methods in order to
create knowledge by employing formal techniques. Technology, however, is the
usage of knowledge and the techniques in pursuit of business and life in general.
For entrepreneurs and corporations it is important to develop and choose the
proper technology to become successful and competitive on the market, for
government bodies and political decision makers it is important to support proper
technologies in order to make a national economy successful. The latter includes
the evaluation of technology impacts and hazards by means of technology
foresight studies, which are becoming more and more important in the course of
introducing new technologies.
Aiming for future technologies many approaches are to be made. Currently
technology roadmapping is a frequently used tool in order to develop a plan that
matches short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions to help
meet those goals of a company, industrial cluster or a national economy (Garcia
and Bray 1997). Besides corporations and wood industry clusters (e.g., Kirstof
and von Geibler 2008), wood industry associations and governmental institutions
have launched and supported several wood technology roadmaps addressing a
specific forest products industry, value added wood products, nanotechnology in
the forest products industries etc. in the USA, Canada and Europe as referred to
by Teischinger and Tiefenthaler (2009).
In 2003, the Confédération Européenne des Industries du Bois (CEI-Bois)
launched a process to establish a “Roadmap to 2010 for the European
Woodworking Industries” with the main objective of producing an updated
analysis on key factors and challenges affecting the European woodworking
industries, identifying the opportunities for the sector, describing the ideal
position and producing an action programme towards 2010
(www.roadmap2010.eu). This roadmap has become an important nucleus of
strategic R&D activities within the European wood industries sector but is also an
EJWWP458_source
8
important tool to convince political decision makers on the European level of the
importance of the wood industries in Europe.
With the European Technology Platforms (ETPs) the European Union (EU)
provided a framework for stakeholders, led by the industry, to define research and
development priorities, timeframes and action plans on a number of strategically
important issues where achieving Europe's future growth, competitiveness and
sustainability objectives is dependent upon major research and technological
advances in the medium to long term (http://cordis.europa.eu/technology-
platforms/). ETPs are addressing technological challenges and play a key role in
ensuring an adequate focus on research funding on European level (e.g. European
Framework Programme) and national levels and foster public-private partnerships
as well.
With the support from the European Commission, the European forest-based
sector, represented by various confederations for the woodworking industries,
forest owners and paper industries, launched a forest-based sector technology
platform in 2004 (www.forestplatform.org). This platform is based on a vision
document “innovative and sustainable use of forest resources – vision 2030” and a
strategic research agenda for innovation, competitiveness and quality of life. In
addition to this research agenda many European countries developed national
research agendas. Reading the European and national research agendas one can
analyze the various research topics addressed along five different value chains
(VC) such as: VC forestry, VC wood products, VC pulp and paper products, VC
specialities (incl. biorefinery) and VC bioenergy.
4 Future aspects of wood technology and final
conclusions
Besides the various roadmaps and the research agenda of the Forest Technology
Platform addressed above, the COST action E44 “A European Wood Processing
Strategy” (van Acker and Fioravanti 2008), many papers and essays are
envisioning the future of wood technology such as Wegener (1995), Sutton
(2000), Youngs (2007), Winandy et al. (2008) etc. As a general conclusion one
can state that the forest-based industry is essentially a mature industry which has
to rejuvenate and innovative science and technology will be critical drivers for
incremental improvements and breakthrough processes as well.
Challenges and a call for improved or new technologies can be identified along
the whole wood supply and process chain:
Wood supply – forest resources are being squeezed between growing
needs (including fast growing demand for wood as an energy carrier) and
environmental restrictions. This will open the raw material allocation to
semi-natural forests, forest plantations, agroforestry and agricultural
resources and new mobilization concepts for wood resources as discussed
by Scarascia-Mugnozza and Pisanelli 2008). This new raw material
spectrum, including the increasing use of recycled material, will have a
huge impact on wood technology and material design as well.
Timber in construction - Wood is a highly synthesized and optimized raw
material from nature with load-bearing functions as one of its main
functionalities. Using wood as timber in construction comes next to the
natural features of wood, but man still can improve the mechanic
performance of wood by proper grading and excluding natural pattern and
inhomogeneities and building up engineered material structures. Material
EJWWP458_source
9
and building components models and simulation will become a major tool
in order to understand and improve the materials and components.
Material engineering - Engineered wood composite materials and
structures on all hierarchical levels (from nano- to macrostructures) are
already a main field of technology research and will become even more
important in order to make wood materials more competitive. A strong
focus on resource- and ecoefficiency of materials, including raw materials
from any renewable sources, will lead us to “Green Composites” as
envisaged by Baillie (2004).
Wood aesthetics - Morphology and chemical composition including the
various extractives create an inimitable surface aesthetic appearance of
wood, especially with the various hardwoods. Unfortunately the colour of
wood is not UV-stable so is a main challenge to prevent fading and
discoloration to a further successful and viable use of wood surfaces
(veneer and solid wood) in indoor and outdoor application in competition
with technical surface structures.
Wood modification - Much emphasis has been put on wood modification
in the last years in order to make it more durable and stable etc. Putting
new functionalities (including multifunctionalities) into the wood or onto
the wood surface will be necessary in order to create a new wood
performance which pave the way to so-called smart materials.
Fractionizing wood - Various mechanical disintegration and chemical
decomposition processes are well established in order to break down and
fractionize the raw material wood and to re-arrange and re-engineer it to
glued components, wood-based panels, paper sheets etc., however,
improved and completely new processes of disintegration have to be
envisaged.
Machining and processing - Primary and secondary wood processing has
improved a lot in the last centuries (e.g. high capacity sawmills,
continuous presses for wood based panels, high-performance wood
machining), but new process technologies, manufacturing concepts (mass
customization, tailoring of products etc.) have to be developed. Resource-
and eco- efficient processes have to be envisaged in wood industries by
means of improved and new process analytics as discussed by Kessler
(2006) and production management systems which in turn are part of a
concept of knowledge-based production.
Wood refinery - Thermo-chemical processes, and increasingly,
biotechnology are used to break down lignocellulosic feedstocks to their
building blocks for the chemical and energy industry – the terms
“integrated biomass technologies” and “wood biorefinery” became the
key-words within the emergence of a new industrial sector of renewables-
based technologies, which is outlined by Dewulf and van Langenhove
(2006). Today we are in a labyrinth of different though ambitious
approaches to unzipping lignocelluloses to their building blocks so that
they can be used for further processes. Even though parts of that concept
already exist, a sweeping economic breakthrough is still missing.
Recycling – Even as the majority of wood products are considered as
medium- und long-term products, an increased use of wood builds up a
huge secondary feedstock to be used as a material and/or energy carrier.
The material, industrial and building designs have to be matched to a
future demolishing of used structures and the recovery of wood. Wood
EJWWP458_source
10
technology becomes an important role in the concept of a cascadic use of
wood.
Technology assessment - In the future, the development of new
technologies has to be accompanied by technology assessment (such as
described by Bröchler et al. 1999). As technological progress is pursued, a
concept of the selection of the appropriate technology has to be
implemented in order to minimize risks and environmental hazards but
that still provides future well-being. An eco-driven material and
technology selection – based on various indicators currently being under
discussion – has to become a must in future productions.
Technology education - Wood technology as an academic discipline has to
be further developed (and discussed within the wood science and
technology community) encompassed by rigorous academic curricula in
order to provide a profound technology education to the students, which
has to create the intellectual backbone of tomorrow’s forest-based
industries and a knowledge-based society as well.
This essay was meant to be a journey from the history to the present state of wood
technology, including an outlook on the future. Because of the limitations in space
not all aspects of wood technology have been covered. Yet it was a main
intention of the current contribution of this special issue of the European Journal
of Wood and Wood Products to discuss the link between wood science and
technology so as to point out that scientists prepare the foundations of new
knowledge and technologists have to pave the way of knowledge for the crafts
and industries. It is their turn to meet the society’s needs, to make the products
desired and to solve problems. One can observe that the parties involved do not
always steer in the same direction.
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