A model approach to include wood properties in log sorting and transportation planning

ABSTRACTThere is a trend that sawmills are more focused on particular valuable products in their production. This has led to an increased demand for sawlogs that are better adapted to the target products and production efficiency. Depending on the product being produced there are different log properties which are better adapted for certain products than others. Sawmills can require hard constraints on log properties such as length, diameter, internode length and sound knots. Some properties are not required but are desired as they make the production more efficient or increase the frequencies of preferred products. In these cases, we include an added value corresponding to what the industry is willing to pay for improved adaptation of the raw material. To achieve this, we propose an optimization model that integrates logging operations (bucking and forwarding) at harvest areas, transportation planning and flexible description of demand at sawmills. High flexibility for sorting at harvest areas may requir...