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RISE – The wood-cutting industry is moving to the digital age

EARTO Innovation Awards 2019 – Impact Delivered Category

    The European wood product industry, including wood-cutting in sawmills, represents 1.2% of the European economy. Sweden produces approximately 18Mm3 sawn wood annually, of which 70% is exported. Today the sawmill industry uses local data measured via several sensors. However, such data is not connected to previous or following measurements or processes. Not all available information is kept and transferred forward or backward in the chain of processes, which results in a loss of information.   Innovation: EARTO Member RISE Research Insitutes of Sweden developed an innovative project which collects all data in “the cloud”, enabling to correlate data from the whole sawmill process, from all measurements and also from other industries (e.g. suppliers and customers). The tracing of items is made by a cutting-edge patent pending method, using a new way of presenting measurement of objects in a production line and values on the screen.   Impact Delivered: This innovation could increase the process efficiency by 15%, increase the product value by 10% and reduce energy consumption by 10%. The participating sawmill is continuing the work to have the system fully running within 1-2 years. By then, the total annual savings can reach more than €3M, leading to €50M annually, once it is implemented in all of Sweden’s sawmills.  

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RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, is an independent state research institute and innovation partner. In international collaboration with companies, academia and the public sector, RISE contribute to a competitive business community and a sustainable society.   www.ri.se