5. Wzmocnienie ekonomicznego i środowiskowego funkcjonowania leśnych łańcuchów dostaw

Spatially explicit GIS-method and a collection of tools to assess the energy wood biomass availability and transport costs at regional level to any given end-use location. In the process the technical harvesting biomass potential, local competing demand and the wood resource balance are assessed. The transport costs from the grid of supply points can be viewed as a function of transport distance. Also, different future growth and demand scenarios can be included into calculations thus providing a valuable decision support to investors of energy wood industry.

Most customer projects differ from every other project in some respect. Calculation methods need more or less adjustment.

Results from the analysis: 1. Numerical (GIS) maps of biomass potential for any given timber assortment, biomass demand and wood resource balance (e.g. balance of small trees, see picture above).
2. Graphs depicting transport costs as a function of distance. 3. Spreadsheets of the result data used for graphs. 4. Summary report of the results for the customers.

For more information, see the reference.

The objective of the project is to provide a set of tools adapted to the needs of very small forestry and logging companies. ForLog is a forest site management software connected to a remote database accessible via the web. The software allows structured messages to be sent to field teams (mission orders) and customers (sales slips). A mobile application on a smartphone allows to enter data concerning construction site activities. The service offer is proposed to companies in the form of a subscription.

It is an innovative solution to improve the quality of silviculture and forestry operations accessible to very small, poorly computerized companies, and a solution that enhances the possibilities offered by the web, mobile Internet, computerized mapping.

All operations concerning the commercial (estimates, invoices), administrative (site declarations), operational (site maps, digitisation of exchanges between operators and site managers) and financial (site balance sheets) management of the sites are proposed by ForLog, which is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) adapted to the organisation of very small forest companies. The objective of the tool is to limit the time spent on site management and improve the economic performance of forest companies. User feedback highlights:
- Easy handling of the tool;
- Time saved during administrative tasks;
- Ability to quickly access summary data on team activities (working hours, productivity, progress);
- Significant savings in travel time to access construction sites and locate boundaries;
- Improvement of the company's image towards its partners.

Finland has a lot of peatland and other areas with soft terrain. The challenge is that the soft terrain does not enable harvesting in the summertime.

The stability of the harvester comes from its eight wheels and active stabilization system. The patented stabilization system is based on detecting the crane direction and position, on the basis of which the rear frame is pressed in the working direction. Pressing the rear wheels against the ground and the weight of the rear frame improve the machine’s stability significantly when working on the side of the machine – also when the machine is moving.

The Cabin leveling, balances the cabin, also in difficult terrain. The frame of the machine consists of three parts linked by rotating joints. The cabin is located in the middle frame, which is kept hydraulically balanced, while the front and rear frames tilt according to the terrain.

Scorpion King is a three-frame harvester equipped with a fork boom. Its balancing keeps the cabin horizontal in all conditions. In addition, visibility from the cabin is perfect thanks to large glass surfaces and as the crane does not block the view in any direction. Its double-circuit hydraulics ensure that power does not run out even in difficult conditions. The balanced machine is at its best in demanding conditions and uneven terrain.

Metsä Group photographed in 2018 with drone about 3 500 hectares of forest in southern and western Finland and utilized the data as basis for forest plans for forest owners. According to experience, the method has been developed and now the drone forest plans are being sold as an alternative to traditional forest plans. The forest plan based on information described by Drone or copter with camera challenges the traditional forest planning. The method is used in particular to get more accurate tree information.

The drone plan will be of interest to the forest owners who want to be in the front and develop new developments with forest industry. For example, in a virtual forest, the data measured in the drone will create a precise tree map, where the trees are in the right places and the tree species are correct. In virtual reality, it will better reflect the fluctuations of the wood inside the forest compartment than the traditional forest plan information. The drone design and virtual forests form an interesting pair in the future by producing new experiences for forest owners.

The measurements will provide both the amount of trees in cubic meters and the value of the wood in euros more accurately than before. With drone surveys we also get information about the amount of dead wood – it helps to preserve the important structure of forest for diversity.
The method is capable of identifying tree three species: pine, spruce and birch. The remaining deciduous tree species are logged into the category of other deciduous trees. Based on the measurement data, treatment recommendations are calculated. This drone-made plan differs from the traditional, where human being makes the treatment recommendations.
The forest plan produced by drone is particularly suitable for updating the forest plan that is about to expire.  It is also suitable for
forest owners, who are particularly interested in the amount and value of the timber.
The forest plan of the drone also benefits from a faster delivery of traditional forest plan. Delivery time is few months, which is only half of the delivery times of traditional forest plan.

CFharvest (WoodForce) is planning- and steering system for harvesting and silviculture to optimize and strengthen the supply chains of forestry. Forestry company delivers all the contracts the WoodForce-system according to the need of raw material. The contractor selects the contracts and the locations he will perform. Forest companies have decreased harvesting and average costs in Silviculture or Regeneration job types. There has been increasing productivity in the supply chain of stem wood and energy wood. Also increasing productivity in field operations in Forestry like Silviculture Harvesting Forest Services. Contractors have the ability to manage their own forestry services and receive the full benefit of all resources. Possibility to operate for multiple forest companies is important. In addition, there is less manual reporting and worksite navigation is easier. CFharvest supports a changing trend where progressive companies now contract for several forest companies and do the planning with one system. Since the contractor understands local conditions best, forest harvesting operations become more efficient: the contractor has direct control over work plans and scheduling his own fleet of harvesters and trucks.

MOTTI is a stand-level analysis tool and decision support software by Luke. It contains the key results of the growth and yield research carried out by Luke, which can be used to predict the growth of forests managed using different techniques. The software also enables making comparisons between different silvicultural methods. MOTTI can also be used to investigate the effects of forest management or non-management, selection of tree species, regeneration chains or individual silvicultural measures, for example, on forest growth, harvesting volumes, profitability of forestry or the amount of carbon sequestered by forests.

MOTTI is widely used among professional foresters, forest owners, teachers, researchers, authorities and companies in Finland. It has been updated regularly with the newest growth models. It has also been tailored for special purposes, e.g. for teaching and for calculating economic effects of forest protection. It has been published in several languages (Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian) and it has also been piloted in other countries and tree species.

The core of MOTTI is a stand-level simulator, which includes growth and yield models for e.g. natural regeneration, growth and mortality. It is designed to simulate stand development under alternative management regimes and growth conditions in Finland.
MOTTI predicts the development of the user-defined initial stand until the end of the rotation. The user can define various management schedules including management practices, such as precommercial and commercial thinnings, fertilization, and ditch network maintenance in peatland forests. The user can adjust parameters such as timing and intensity of thinning and proportions of tree species, and define the timing of final cut. Timber assortments include logs, pulpwood and energy wood compartments. If the user do not define management practices, MOTTI simulates a default management program for the stand based on the current recommendations for forestry practice in Finland.
For the economic analysis (net present value and bare land value), the user can enter stumpage prices by tree species and timber assortments, costs (e.g. costs of first commercial thinnings, fertilisation and ditch network maintenance) and interest rate. The results will be presented in the form tables, graphs and files exportable to Excel.

CFLogistics (LogForce) is a software service for forestry related transport that streamlines the business for both the haulage contractor and the forestry company. CFLogistics software covers all the planning and vehicle software needed by a haulage contractor. With the help of the CFLogistics service, a transport company can offer its services to several forestry companies using one information system. The forestry company can focus on managing delivery volumes and optimising stock turnover. With the CFLogistics software service, the haulage contractor can plan and manage the transport of logs, forest energy, chips and other by-products of the forest industry from the starting depot to the location of use.

Advantages for transport companies:

• Higher utilisation rate of the transportation equipment
• Ability to work for different forestry companies using just one application
• More flexible transport planning
• Forestry companys advantages:
• Focus on managing delivery volumes
• Better stock turnover
• Cost-efficient logistics

One of the challenges in wood mobilization is small-scale wood units within long distances from the nearest roads. These units are not profitable for harvesting, since forest and long-distance transportation are of high costs. The answer to the challenge might lie in bigger wood terminals where wood from multiple small-scale units would be gathered from the same area for intermediate storage. In general, storing the wood is sensible at a distance of about 100 to 150 km from the site of use. The best location for intermediate storage is at the beginning of forest roads.

In Lapland, for instance, a few big terminals have been built close to the railway to advance the efficiency of wood transportation by train. In the provinces, larger terminals are usually located mainly according to the needs of industry and large forestry companies. Benefits of common terminals occur especially in wintertime, when maintenance of storage area could be done commonly or by the certain terminal operator. The joint terminals are well suited for energy wood and wood for which the need for storage is at a different time. This allows continuous use of area.

Operating culture, various practices, and lack of cooperation of the actors are experienced to restrict the wider deployment of common terminals. However, an increase in wood flows will require building more terminals. There is a need for more joint terminals, but it requires cooperation between forest service providers. It would be highly useful to gather the intermediate storage places in one map-based spatial database, which would be open-accessed for all the service providers. This would advance bringing together different actors in the wood procurement chain. In summary, the main benefits comprise:

• Joint wood terminals of forest companies for short-term storage of wood
• Profitable harvesting from the small-scale unit
• Efficiency in wood transportation by train
• Less environmental effects because of centralized terminals

Transportation costs are the most costly part of wood mobilization especially in sparsely populated areas with long distances.  The distance between forest and factory can be over 500 kilometers. To reduce costs of long-distance transportation of wood, bigger lorries were innovated and are now tested in Finland in a research project. The environmental effects and traffic safety are also explored.

Full utilization of HCT vehicles requires maintenance of road networks including forest roads, main roads, and bridges.

The 33-metric vehicle combination is able to carry even 70 tons of wood. The vehicle consumes less fuel than the smaller one and therefore contributes to reducing the environmental effects of transportation. The vehicles will also contribute to traffic safety since fewer vehicles will be needed to wood transportation in the future.

The research project is participated by experienced research institutes: Aalto University, Oulu University, Metsäteho, and Tampere Technical University. In the research project, the impacts on the road as well as the features of the lorries are investigated: braking distances, passing capacity, oscillations of the vehicle, and curve driving. The consumption of fuel, emissions, and durability of tires are also focused on.

Cost efficiency is gained in long-distance transportation of wood. The HCT vehicles reduce transportation costs and carbon emissions.

The first combination to transport wood started shipping with a pilot permit in December 2020.

Biomass Atlas is an open service which collects the location data of biomasses under one, single user interphase. Developed by Luke together with Finnish organizations SYKE, TAPIO, UEF and UVA, and by the funding of the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the service enables calculations of the amount of biomass in a given geographical area, as well as examining the opportunities and restrictions to utilise the biomass.
The map user interface is easy to use and allows user to watch, analyse and report biomasses from forestry, agriculture and biodegradable wastes from communities and industry. You will find approximately 300 map layers of different biomass types or land use categories in map user interface.

Based on Biomass Atlas, assessments of regional availability of biomass, procurement and logistical costs of biomass, procurement technology and optimization in Luke and other organizations have been successfully accomplished. Analyses of content of biomasses, their nutrients, energy potential, and the nutrient recycling have been optimized regionally using Biomass Atlas.
The potential to utilize biomass regionally can be assessed with focus in employment, regional economy or environmental impact. It is also possible to make scenarios, how these things will develop in the future.

The biomass data is planned to support investment decisions and sustainable use of natural resources, for example, and to help decision-makers to do sustainable energy politics. At the moment Biomass Atlas is available in Finnish. International version of Biomass Atlas will be built in cooperation with Baltic Forbio project, which starts at autumn 2017 and exports the Biomass Atlas concept to Sweden and Baltic sea countries. In Biomass Atlas you will find GIS data and maps of different biomass and land use types:

• multisource national forest inventory data describes biomass that is growing in forests
• forest chip potential
• field and crop areas
• crops and crop side streams
• manure of production animals
• biowaste from communities
• biodegradable waste from companies in scale that requires environmental authorization (VAHTI-database).

Field area, crops and waste data is updated yearly. Manure data is updated when needed, and forest data approximately in every five years. All the data in Biomass Atlas is described also in Finnish metadataportal for geodata, Paikkatietohakemisto.