Secondary manufacturing in British Columbia: Structure, significance and trends

2001 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Wilson ◽  
Brad Stennes ◽  
Sen Wang ◽  
Louise Wilson

Similar to many other jurisdictions, British Columbia (BC) is no longer able to expand forest sector production and employment by drawing upon additional timber reserves, so it is seeking to expand value-added (i.e., secondary) manufacturing in forest products. Given the significance of the forest sector to BC, it is important that decision-makers seeking to promote an expansion in secondary manufacturing have accurate sector information. This paper presents the results of a 1998-99 survey of the BC solid wood secondary manufacturing industry. The project gathered operational, employment, production, marketing and financial information on nine defined product groups of business types (BTs) for 1997. The industry information is analyzed to provide a quantitative and qualitative examination on the current structure and significance of the sector, and a discussion on the major challenges confronting secondary manufacturing. An analysis of sector trends is also provided.Sector employment for nine business types totalled 19 490 person years and total sector sales an estimated $3.87 billion (about 22% of total BC forest product sales). Sales for seven business types (excluding panelboards, shakes and shingles) totalled $2.69 billion, up about 40% from 1994 measured in nominal dollars. Direct employment coefficients for a standard volume of timber equivalent are estimated for each of the business types. Key words: forest industry, value-added, employment, markets, policy

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 1703-1715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Crespell ◽  
Eric Hansen

Innovativeness can help companies differentiate themselves, with the ultimate goal of securing survival and improving performance. Modern theories in organizational behavior look at innovation as something that starts with individual creativity but that is also affected by the work environment. Using one broad industry sector, the US forest products industry, this study attempts to integrate into a unifying model the concepts of work climate, innovativeness, and firm performance using structural equation modeling. Results support the proposed theoretical model, with some modifications, finding a positive and significant relationship among all factors. Having innovation as a core part of a company’s strategy and fostering a climate for innovation positively affects the degree of innovativeness and performance of a company. This is especially true for secondary or value-added wood products manufacturers. A climate for innovation is characterized by high levels of autonomy and encouragement, team cohesion, openness to change and risk taking, and sufficient resources available to people. Lack of a validation sample suggests treating the model as tentative until further testing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Roope Husgafvel ◽  
Mikko Martikka ◽  
Andrade Egas ◽  
Natasha Ribeiro ◽  
Olli Dahl

Addressing the sustainability challenges in the forest sector in Mozambique require capacity building for higher education and training of new skilled expert and future decision-makers. Our approach was to developed a study module on and pedagogical approaches to industrial environmental engineering and sustainability. The idea was to developed a joint module that would eventually become a part of both PhD and MSc programmes in the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) in Mozambique. The basis of our development work encompassed the local priorities as identified by the UEM staff, UEM competencies in forestry engineering and the experience of the Aalto University in higher education in the fields of environmental engineering, sustainability and forest products technology. From the beginning, public authorities and industry/company representatives were involved in the development process to advance the created benefits in terms of sustainable development in Mozambique. The result of the joined work by these two higher education institutions was a study module that has been teached and completed by a class of MSc students as a part of the official UEM curricula.    


1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clark S Binkley ◽  
Daowei Zhang

On 14 April 1994, the British Columbia government announced a new stumpage formula that, at then-expected product prices, increased the average charge by about $12/m3 and more than doubled the rate at which stumpage fees change when lumber prices change. Most of the increased revenues are reinvested in the forest sector by a new organization, Forest Renewal British Columbia (FRBC), created specifically for that purpose. Using standard event-study methodologies, this paper documents the net effect of the fee increases and new policy direction on British Columbia forest products companies. After controlling for firm-specific risk and the decline in the Toronto Stock Exchange that occurred at about the same time, the new stumpage policy extracted about $1.0 billion from shareholders of the firms studied, and perhaps $2.4 billion from all licencees (an amount roughly equal to the capitalized after-tax cost of the higher fees). The impact on individual firms is highly correlated with the allowable annual cut (AAC) in replaceable licenses each holds, with an average impact of about $33.3/m3 of AAC. The market appears to have discounted both the good news about offsets in impending timber-supply reductions that the creation of FRBC implies and the reductions in earnings risk that the new stumpage system provides. When added to the increased regulatory costs associated with the new provincial Forest Practice Code, the timber-fee increases appear to have fully depleted the value of holding British Columbia timber quotas.


1999 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 607-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clark S. Binkley ◽  
Susan B. Watts

In the decade between 1988 and 1998, expenditures on forest sector research in British Columbia have increased substantially in absolute terms but have fallen in relation to the scale of the province's forestry enterprise. These aggregate trends mask important shifts in funding sources and in the specific fields of research that have been supported. The crown corporation Forest Renewal BC has emerged as the dominant source of support for forestry research, clearly displacing appropriated funds with-in the B.C. Ministry of Forests. As a result of falling stumpage fees and changes in forest policy, this source of support is now declining and the long-term security of the Forest Renewal BC research program is in question. At present, expenditures on forestry research are more or less consistent with expenditures on forestry research in other advanced forested jurisdictions, but the anticipated decline in Forest Renewal BC research support belies this otherwise favourable finding. Expenditures on forest products research in the province have not matched their counterparts elsewhere in the world, and recently have declined precipitously. Forestry – forest conservation, management, products and production processes – is becoming ever more complex. Research activity in the province does not appear adequate to sustain the flow of economic and ecological wealth from forests that British Columbians have always enjoyed and have come to expect.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Николай Кожухов ◽  
Nikolay Kozhukhov ◽  
Николай Кожемяко ◽  
Nikolay Kozhemyako ◽  
Андрей Фитчин ◽  
...  

World experience shows the effectiveness of the creation of clusters in various industries. A lot of work and research domestic and foreign scholars and practitioners are dedicated to study and development of mechanisms of realization of industrial policy. The article analyzes the main indicators of the forest industry and forestry in Tomsk region in recent years, the basic provisions are revealed, Factors determining the development trends of the industry are analyzed. The authors identified the major systemic problems hindering the progressive development of forest sector in Tomsk region, including low level of development of periodic yield, the lack of transport and economically available forest resources, inadequate production structure and export of forest products, financial situation of enterprises of the sector, insufficient staffing, weak territorial cooperation of the enterprises and organizations. The article defines the objective conditions for creation of timber industry cluster in Tomsk region, goals, objectives and directions of sustainable development of the forest sector in Tomsk region on the basis of cluster approach are identified. Among the main areas that determine competitiveness of products and possibility of increasing the efficiency of forest management, the following issues are highlighted: development of deep processing of wood through the use of low-grade wood and wood waste, development of transport infrastructure in forests, improving human potential, expanding the range of manufactured timber enterprises in the cluster of products and implementation of joint projects. The conclusions can provide theoretical basis for further research in the field of economic security and development of timber processing complex and forestry. Obtained results can be used both by researchers in further research work to explore issues of cluster development of timber industry and regional authorities and business structures functioning in the sphere of forest industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-212
Author(s):  
C. Clinton Gabbert ◽  
Kathryn Gazal ◽  
Joseph McNeel

Abstract West Virginia's forest products industry (FPI) has long been viewed as an important industry to the state. However, there is a lack of recent data regarding the economic contribution of the industry to the state's economy. The housing market collapse of the mid-2000s, subsequent recession, continued increasing global competition, natural gas boom, and other macroeconomic trends have affected the FPI in the state. The continuing evolution of the state economy necessitates a reexamination of the role the FPI plays in the state. Thus, this article examines the historical contribution of the FPI to West Virginia's economy using 2006, 2010, 2015, and 2017 data. Both the direct and total economic contributions of the industry substantially declined from 2006 to 2010. The largest declines were experienced in the secondary solid-wood products and wood furniture sectors. Between 2010 and 2015, the industry's direct and total contributions rose for all measures evaluated. Between 2015 and 2017, all measures of direct and total contributions of the industry also increased but at a much slower pace and remained lower than 2006 levels. The inability of the FPI in the state to return to 2006 levels of direct contributions suggests that long-term industry trends such as the continued offshoring of value-added forest products sectors and increased industry automation are still putting negative pressure on direct industry growth. Additionally, the industry is facing new challenges such as uncertainty about the future availability of the foreign markets and competition for resources from emerging industries.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 1806-1820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaf Schwab ◽  
Thomas Maness ◽  
Gary Bull ◽  
Don Roberts

This paper describes the development and implementation of Cambium, an agent-based forest sector model for strategic analysis. This model is designed as a decision-support tool for assessing the effects that changes in product demand and resource inventories can have on the structure and economic viability of the forest sector. Cambium models aggregate product supply as an emergent property of individual companies’ production decisions and stand-level ecological processes. Modeling the forest-products sector as a group of interacting autonomous economic agents makes it possible to include production capacity dynamics and the potential for mill insolvencies as factors in analyzing the effects of market and forest inventory based disturbances. The utility of this model is tested by assessing the impacts of a market downturn in the US forest products market on forest industry structure and mountain pine beetle ( Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) salvage harvesting in British Columbia, Canada. Simulation results indicate a significant medium-term timber supply shortage; reduced stumpage revenues; intensive cost competition among primary wood-products manufacturers; and a large number of insolvencies in the panel, lumber, and pulp sectors.


1995 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 589-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clark S. Binkley

Sustaining high levels of productivity and productivity growth in the Canadian forest sector depends on rapid development and adoption of sophisticated technology for our forests, manufacturing facilities and products. Yet R&D expenditures in Canada lag those for most of its major competitors, suggesting that Canada is unlikely to produce the necessary technology on the schedule it is needed. This lack of investment in R&D stems at least in part from three factors: (i) the specific problems associated with being a net exporter with a large share of many global markets, (ii) the small size of Canadian firms when compared with our global competitors, and (iii) Canada's collective failure to articulate a widely-accepted forest sector strategy which guides the daily policy and management decisions of governments, industry and interest groups. This paper argues that an effective R&D strategy for the country involves rapid deployment of technological innovations, R&D targeted on the special features of Canada's forests and polity, and better links between strategies for the forest industry and the forest resource. Key words: forestry research, forest products research, research planning


1999 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 781-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor J. Barnes ◽  
Roger Hayter ◽  
Elizabeth Hay

British Columbian coastal forest communities have suffered substantial job losses over the last twenty years as the forest products industry has been restructured. One of the most dramatic results has been severe community dislocation. Our paper examines both the economic restructuring and the associated community dislocation that occurred in one such coastal community, Port Alberni on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. The paper is divided into two main sections. The first provides a conceptual framework that interprets the recent restructuring of British Columbia's forest industry as a transition from an older Fordist model of manufacturing to a newer model are based on principles of post-Fordism. The second uses that framework to understand the massive changes occurring in the town, which include severe job loss (more 2600 positions have been lost over the last twenty years), various forms of financial distress, and attempts to assemble alternative local economic strategies of amelioration. Key words: forest economy, British Columbia, industrial restructuring, Fordism, Post-Fordism, single-industry towns, local economic development


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (11) ◽  
pp. 1269-1278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose E. Guerrero ◽  
Eric Hansen

Cross-sector collaboration has gained attention from researchers in different fields of science in recent years because it represents significant business potential for forest companies to work with sectors possessing a more positive demand outlook, including those facing increasing pressure to detach from oil derivatives. Despite this, there is a lack of research regarding company-level, cross-sector collaboration in the forest-sector literature. This paper seeks to enhance the understanding of the cross-sector collaboration concept in the forest-sector literature and explore alternatives for forest companies to collaborate with other industries, rather than to compete. A systematic literature review is conducted to explore the relevance of cross-sector collaboration in the forest industry. Furthermore, the main drivers, benefits, and challenges of collaboration in the forest industry are identified. Results show that the literature has emphasized the importance of cross-sector collaboration for forest companies, but little empirical work has been done regarding the link between forest companies and other industrial sectors. Cost reduction, competitiveness, and environmental sustainability are among the principal drivers and benefits. Forest business culture, lack of trust, and lack of parameters to evaluate costs and savings generated are key challenges to forest companies implementing cross-sector collaboration.


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