Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Today there is a widespread opinion that the woodmarket and the forest industry are dominated by a traditional way of thinking and not adapted to the customers of today; a lot of products are produced purely on routine. Also, there is a demand for improving the quality of sawn woodproducts. AB Karl Hedin wants to sort this out by increasingly adapt their products to the demands of the market, i.e. through introducing a short wallstud of standard length, "Hedinregeln". At tirst, the wallstud will be produced in lengths of 2,70 m and of guaranteed quality. The small amount of published material on length-adapted building timber has shown to be out of date. Therefore, we have through interviews with companies and questionnaires to private persons tried to tind out what customers of different categories think about the product and what quaiity aspects they evaluate the most when buying construction wood. Also we have found out how customers want to receive information about new and improved wood products and what they think could be improved with "Hedinregeln". The statistic process has been done in Microsoft Excel.

After the analysis of the interviews and the questionnaires we split the customers into four groups: private persons, small construction companies, medium-sized construction companies and big construction companies. Different trade patterns could be distinguished. In the results One can see that most people appreciate the intentions to produce new costumer-adapted products. Also, one thinks it is good that the sawmills try to improve the quality of sawed wood. One reason why many companies do not want to buy "Hedinregeln" is that they must keep their construction costs low. They chose instead a lower quaiity to a lower price. Most companies show a sceptical attitude towards the length of "Hedinregeln". The waste one avoids thanks to better quality, appears instead when cutting the studs of the "incorrect" length.

Private persons also show a sceptical attitude towards "Hedinregeln" but for completely different reasons. One of the main reasons why private persons go to the timber yards, instead of going to the supermarkets, to shop for wooden products is the possibility to sort timber from packages with timber of different lengths. Often, private persons do not account for their own time at the timber yard, i.e as an important cost. The construction companies have to consider time as a cost.

Even if most companies and private persons are sceptical about buying the "Hedinregeln", almost all of them see great advantages with the product. Probably it would facilitate the handling during construction and transport as weIl as lower the costs related to the handling of the product. We have found that the customers are not interested in buying the wallstud. There are same groups that we think could get benefits from buying the holt if one could find a proper way of giving them information as how to use the wallstud. Among others there are small and average small construction companies that would get advantages by using the "Hedinregeln". Big construction companies prefer to pay a bit extra to get the bolts of exactly the right length to get rid of as much handling of the wood as possible. Private persons do not mind spending some extra time sorting out the timber they want. Therefore they are not a target group.

Most of the customers agreed that the most important quality aspect is that the wood is straight. The quality aspect "right length" was not so important. More important is that the wood is knotless and without bark. Even the right amount of moisture in the timber is more important than the "right length".

Most companies lacked relevant information from the wooden industry. Among the companies who brought the timber from the timber yard themselves, a majority said they got the information by searching at the timber yard or by asking other people in the same business. The most reliable and the mostly appreciated information source is the information from the seller. And it is from the seller that most people want the information.

Det finns idag en utbredd uppfattning om att trävarumarknaden och skogsindustrin styrs av ett traditionellt tänkande som inte är anpassat efter dagens kunder och att man tillverkar alltför mycket på rutin. Dessutom finns det krav på en förbättring av kvaliteten hos sågade trävaror. På Karl Hedin vill man komma tillrätta med detta genom att ytterligare anpassa sina produkter efter marknadens krav bl.a. genom att introducera en kortregel av standardlängd, "Hedinregeln". Regeln ska i ett första skede tillverkas i längden 2,70 och vara kvalitetssäkrad.
Den lilla mängd publicerat material som finns att tillgå om längdanpassat virke har visat sig föråldrat. Vi har därför genom intervjuer med företag och enkäter till privatpersoner försökt ta reda på hur olika kundkategorier uppfattar produkten samt undersökt vilka kvalitetsaspekter de tittar på när de köper regelvirke. Vi har också fått en inblick i hur de vill ha information om nya produkter och vad de tycker skulle kunna göras bättre med "Hedinregeln". Den statistiska bearbetningen gjordes i Microsoft Excel.