Procedures for Scanning Radiata Pine Stem Dimensions and Quality on Mechanised Processors

Four simulated procedures for scanning and bucking of 75 pruned and 75 unpruned radiata pine (Pinus radiata) trees were evaluated on the basis of productivity, costs, and value recovery. The procedures evaluated were: (a) a conventional scan where quality changes and bucking decisions were input by the machine operator, (b) a fully automated scan of the stem prior to optimisation and bucking, (c) a 6 m automated scan with 6.2 m forecast ahead, and (d) a 4.7 m automated scan with 7.5 m forecast ahead before optimal bucking took place. Cutting patterns for export and domestic markets were used in the simulations for optimally bucking each tree. After subtracting costs, net value recovery for the automated scanning methods was 5 to 8% higher than for a conventional scan. Based on the stand types and market conditions used in the analyses, breakeven capital investment costs for new scanning and optimisation equipment on mechanised processors could range between US$240,000 and US$450,000

Allocation of Stands and Cutting Patterns to Logging Crews Using a Tabu Search Heuristic

An algorithm that combines tabu search principles with a simple improvement- swapping heuristic has been developed for allocating stands and cutting patterns to logging crews for a single time period. A limited set of market and operational constraints has been included. Individual crew productivity has also been taken into account. The algorithm has been implemented in Visual Basic. Tests have been carried out on up to 60 stands, 10 logging crews, and seven cutting patterns. The "best" solutions have usually been found within a few hundred iterations

Uncovering the impact of organisational culture types on the willingness to share knowledge between projects

Current literature has established that organisational culture influences knowledge management efforts; however, it is only recently that research on project management has focused its interest on organisational culture in the context of knowledge sharing and some preliminary studies have been conducted. In response, this paper adds a significant contribution by providing rich empirical evidence of the relationships between culture and the willingness to share knowledge, demonstrating which cultural values are more and which are less likely to improve inter-project knowledge sharing behaviours. The use of interviews and the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) (Cameron & Quinn, 2005) in the cross-case examination of culture in four participating cases has resulted in rich empirical contributions. Furthermore, this paper adds to the project management literature by introducing the Competing Values Framework (CVF) of Cameron and Quinn (2005) to evaluate knowledge sharing in the inter-project context

Factors Affecting the Accuracy of Weighbridge Systems

The average log size in many parts of the world is getting smaller and it is becoming increasingly time consuming and expensive to individually scale each log. Truck scaling of various forms, including the use of weighbridges, is becoming increasingly popular. Understanding the factors affecting the accuracy of weighbridge systems is vital if measurement errors are to be minimized. We used a mixture of interviews with weighbridge operators, suppliers and government weights and measures staff in New Zealand along with experiments on a small set of weighbridges to identify, and where possible quantify, the most important factors affecting weighbridge accuracy. In our paper we have broken down the sources of variation into mechanical, environmental, truck, human and system-related. It is difficult to put a figure on the possible magnitude of these combined sources of variation, however, interviews, experiments and calculations show that it could be as much as 4% of the payload weight - although it is likely that some sources of variation will act in opposite directions and cancel each other out

Road Sediment Yields from Dispersed Versus Clustered Forest Harvesting Activity: A Case Study

Road sediment yields reaching streams over a twenty year period were modeled under two scenarios for a 4900 ha forest in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range. In the "clustered" scenario all forest harvesting activity took place in the northern half of the forest. In the "dispersed" scenario the same level of forest harvesting activity was allocated to the full forest estate. Three spatial modeling packages were used: SPECTRUM was used to schedule the harvest settings over a 150 year period, NETWORK 2000 was used to determine which roads would be used during the first 20 years of harvest and how many truck loads would be transported over them, and SEDMODL2 was used to determine the road sediment yields likely to reach a stream. Concentrating the forest harvesting activity on half of the forest estate resulted in a 36% reduction in total road sediment yields when compared with dispersed forest harvesting activity. Fewer roads would generate sediment under the "clustered" scenario but traffic intensities on these roads would be greater, partially negating the sediment yield savings

Seasonal Impacts on Bark Loss for Douglas-fir and Ponderosa Pine Harvested on the Pacific Northwest Coast of the USA

Although only a few harvesting systems today intentionally remove bark prior to transporting logs to the mill, little is known about how much bark is lost during harvesting operations at different times of the year. Depending on where you are located in the forest to mill supply chain, the presence or absence of bark can be seen as a cost or a benefit. Understanding the magnitude of bark loss and the factors that affect it should lead to minimization of the costs and maximization of the benefits. Quantification of seasonal bark loss (expressed as a percentage of the surface area of the stem) for two commercial tree species was conducted monthly over a 10-month period. All assessments were carried out on Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine harvesting operations that were using mechanized processor heads with chains over rubber feed wheels. Over 400 stems were assessed. There was a substantial (up to five times) increase in bark loss during late spring and early summer compared with the winter season. We were also able to show that the amount of bark loss is species dependent, with Douglas-fir incurring more than twice the bark loss than found for ponderosa pine. It is possible that the distribution of bark loss along the stem is also species dependent; we found greater bark loss towards the top of the stem in ponderosa pine than towards the bottom of the stem, but no such trend for Douglas-fir

Preharvest Veneer Quality Evaluation of Douglas-fir Stands Using Time-of-Flight Acoustic Technique

Acoustic technology has been successfully used as a nondestructive technique for assessing mechanical properties of various wood products and species as well as in tree selection and breeding based on stiffness. In an ongoing endeavor to optimize merchandizing and enhance timber value recovery, seven second-growth Douglas-fir stands of similar age classes in western Oregon were sampled, totaling 1400 trees and more than 3000 logs. The objectives of this research were to 1) investigate the spatial variability of time-of-flight (TOF) acoustic velocities in standing Douglas-fir trees; 2) develop relationships between average Director ST300® (ST300) TOF acoustic velocities of standing Douglas-fir trees and actual veneer produced; and 3) determine the influence of diameter at breast height (DBH) on TOF sound speeds. Spatial location of the stands in terms of their latitude, longitude, or altitude had no predictive capability regarding their veneer quality. Standing tree TOF acoustic velocity and the actual G1/G2 veneer produced using a stress-wave grade sorter had no significant correlation. Significant differences were found among the three different ST300 tools used along the duration of the study as well as between the two opposite side measurements within trees. DBH correlated poorly with both acoustic velocity and G1/G2 veneer recovery

The role of trust in inter-projet knowledge transfer

Knowledge is a powerful organisational asset yet intangible and hard to manage, particularly in a project environment where there is a tendency to repeat the same mistakes rather than learn from previous project lessons. A lack of effective knowledge sharing across projects causes reinventions that are costly, and time consuming. Research on knowledge transfer has focused mainly on functional organisations and only recent attention has been directed towards knowledge transfer in projects. Furthermore, there is little evidence in the literature which examines trust in the knowledge transfer processes. This paper studies how the three types of trust - ability, benevolence, and integrity impact on knowledge transfer from the inter-project perspective. Three case studies investigated the matter. A detailed description of the work undertaken and an analysis of interviews with project professionals from large project-based organisations are presented in this paper. The key finding identifies the positive impact of ability trust on knowledge transfer. However, it was also found that perception on both integrity and benevolence varied across organisations suggesting that there can be a possible impact of organisational factors on the way trust is perceived in inter-project knowledge transfer. The paper concludes with a discussion and recommendations regarding the development of trust for inter-project environment

THE IMPACT OF USER CAPITAL ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS SUCCESS

Despite continual advancements in technology, organizations still struggle to attain benefits from the usage of Information Systems (IS). Continual advancements in technology has resulted in a hypercompetitive, and globalised marketplace. Consequently, in order to remain competitive, organizations are placing increased pressure on their operational employees to be autonomous, solve problems, make decisions, and complete a broad range of tasks. Prominent IS success models continue to focus predominantly on the technological drivers of IS use, overwhelmingly neglecting the complexities of users. Therefore this research seeks to formulate a \u27user capital’ construct which considers the increased pressures placed on operational users. We define user capital as a multidimensional construct consisting of the skills, affective attitude, motivation, and cognitive characteristics possessed by individuals who employ an Information System to perform tasks. This document primarily focuses upon the research method and the a-priori conceptualization of user capital, which is part of a larger research project which seeks to examine user capital in the context of IS success