2017 International Forest Industries Magazines April May 2017 | Page 6

ISSUE 56 APRIL / MAY 2017 SUBSCRIPTIONS Tel: [phone] e [email protected] Annual Subscription UK and Europe £160, €230 Rest of the world US$270 EDITORIAL T: [phone] F: [phone] www.internationalforestindustries.com 2 Claridge Court, Lower Kings Road Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2AF, UK Editorial Director John Chadwick [email protected] Editor Chris Cann [email protected] Editorial Board Dr Patrick Moore – Chairman and Chief Scientist of Greenspirit (Canada) Darren Oldham – Managing Director Söderhamn Eriksson (UK) Professor Piotr Paschalis-Jakubowicz – Warsaw Agricultural University (Poland) Mr Kim Carstensen Director General Forest Stewardship Council Eduardo Morales South American Forestry Consultant ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS Lansdowne Media Services Ltd Advertising Manager Phil Playle [email protected] Group Advertising Manager David Lansdowne [email protected] [phone] Associate Editor Robin Peach [email protected] Advertising Production Enquiries Emma Smith [email protected] International Forest Industries is published by International Forest Industries Ltd, 2 Claridge Court, Lower Kings Road Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2AF, UK International Forest Industries (ISSN 1755-6732) is published bi-monthly by International Forest Industries Ltd GBR and is distributed in the USA by Asendia USA, 17B South Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831 and additional mailing offices. Periodicals postage paid at New Brunswick NJ. POSTMASTER: send address changes to International Forest Industries, 17B South Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831 © International Forest Industries Ltd 2007 – 2014 IFI uses, as preference, SI units throughout. All dollars are US unless otherwise stated. 4 International Forest Industries | APRIL / MAY 2017 EDITOR’S COMMENT Industry events crucial to innovation Industry events crucial to innovation I love conference season, which is right about now for the Northern Hemisphere. Apart from signalling that the long, dark days of winter are well and truly behind us, it also kick-starts a period during which we periodically take a break from harvesting and processing trees to meet with others in the industry, kick the proverbial (or literal) tyres of a few machines and have a few drinks with old friends. I personally enjoy this period because it allows me to get out from behind the desk and, at times, handle the controls of some of the most powerful and sophisticated pieces of technology in world – it makes a nice change from writing about them and looking at the pictures. But there are, clearly, far more important reasons to hold these events than to give journalists a chance to play ‘make believe’ with expensive pieces of kit and for industry professionals to socialise. Industry events give forestry professionals a chance to compare, contrast and move innovation forward through collaboration. They provide concentrated periods of discussion when not only technology is broached but topics such as sustainability, best practice and safety. The first two events on the International Forest Industries radar are Ligna and Elmia in Germany and Sweden, respectively. Both these events provide a comprehensive program of technical presentations, machine demonstrations, as well as a high-level sessions for foresters and sawyers to learn more about what’s driving their industries right now and what might be driving those same industries in the future. For Ligna, that will this year centre on a theme of ‘Access to Resources and Technology’, within its World Industry Summit initiative, which started in 2015. Every day, the forum will highlight a topic of current international interest in the industry, with experts from Germany, Austria, Canada, Russia, Sweden and Spain giving presentations and fielding questions from the audience. The main themes at the Wood Industry Summit 2017 are: Forestry 4.0 – Vision or Future?; Development and Infrastructure to Ensure Sustainable Forestry; Forest Fires – Prevention, Detection and Firefighting; and Fleet Management to Optimize the Logistics Chain from the Forest to the Factory. At Elmia, the show and coverage promises to be bigger than ever with three new sections being added. They are: Load & Transport; the Drone Zone; and Hunting. We would hope many of the ideas that come up appear misguided and, at the extreme, slightly crazy. These are the ideas that today seem far-fetched but may turn out to be the cornerstones of a better, more efficient, more productive industry in the future. That final section is unlikely to interest a great number of our readers but one must be wondering why haulage hasn’t been covered previously and all will be hugely excited by the wide-ranging applications possible with the introductions of drones to the industry, particularly for woodland managers. At one point, biomass wasn’t collected, all scanning and sorting was done by humans, and sitting in the cab of a harvester was cold and uncomfortable. We’ll of course be at both shows with pens and cameras at the ready so please look out for us if you want to enjoy one of those high- level discussions (or maybe just a cold beer!). Can you imagine the look on the faces within the sawmilling space when the idea of using machines to watch, analyse and optimise mill throughput and cutting patters was first floated some decades ago? At best, the cost would have been seen as horrendously prohibitive. Today, sawmills failing to invest in the latest technology risk losing money on a daily basis to inefficiency. Enjoy, Chris Cann Editor