Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The Swedish sawmill industries are searching for new technologies that aim to meet a more competitive market, demands for efficiency, sustainability and higher costs. With new technologies like Computed Tomography (CT) where internal features of logs can be scanned, the sawmills can optimize yield, enhance product quality and achieve traceability throughout the whole production chain. The adoption of the technology has been limited due to high initial investment cost, uncertain investment returns and a complex implementation process.

This study explores factors that influence the investing decisions in CT technology, focusing on the motives, benefits, and challenges encountered by Swedish sawmills. To answer the study`s aim, a qualitative approach that consist of semi-structured interviews, with respondents from sawmills, both with and without CT technology. The interviews have been thematically analyzed to uncover key findings about implementation and operational impacts of CT technology.

The study found that when implemented in the right way, CT technology can improve yield, value recovery and make it possible to produce high quality products. Early adopters of the CT technology use it to achieve traceability in the whole process from log to product. The technology gives the possibility to know what products you can produce before the sawing. With new directives, necessary measures are needed to achieve traceability in the process.

Despite these advantages, the spread of the CT technology is very limited. Findings showed that sawmills with lower turnover might struggle with justifying the high cost and the complex utilization of the technology. The results revealed that an implementation of CT technology is a difficult process with large amounts of data received. If a sawmill can overcome the investment cost and the complicated implementation phase, then the investment can be beneficial. The technology is early in its innovation phase and in the future CT scanners might be smaller and easier to implement in existing sawmill systems which could give more sawmills the ability to use the benefits with CT technology.