0461-B4
Res. Asst. Mehmet EKER, Hulusi Acar 1
In Turkish forestry, the wood raw material has been produced as the main forest product. The wood harvesting and transportation process, from origin to destination points without qualitative and quantitative losses, entail a planning and organization with holistic approach.
The harvesting and transportation process are ill/semi-structured system aspect of managerial, but not practical and operational in Turkey. Nevertheless, a process planning and resource organization/management are required to carry out successfully the forest operations.
In this study, it was mentioned from the wood logistics system concepts to arrange the wood harvest and transport operations. As well, it was discussed that how the wood logistics system is to be constructed in Turkey' condition to reduce wood production costs, to shorten wood procurement process, to balance wood demand and supply, and to optimize forest, workforce, and machine resources usage.
The wood production process consists of biological, mechanical, economical, technical/technological, environmental, and socio-cultural components and relationships. A practical decision-making relating to each component necessitates being query of the others.
The main objective of sustainability forest operations is to satisfy the wood product demands firstly in domestic trajectory, to maximize the stand present value, to optimize the resource utilization with subject to topographic, economic, social, political, and environmental constraints. To be reached the purposed aims in the wood harvest and transport operations, an integrated and sequential planning approach should be assumed respect to all expectant. Just in time, it can be pronounced that the wood logistics system to plan, to execute, to make a decision for implementation, and to control of harvesting and transportation activities. Therefore, the wood production process comprising the harvesting and transportation can be planned and organized within a logistic concept from wood supply chain point of view.
Logistics has meant that the effectively planning, implementing, and controlling of flowing of information, technology, education, and same as goods and things throughout production or organization process from origin to destination within a supply chains by mission right goods or services should be at right place, at right time in desired conditions (Sjöström, 2001; CLM, 2001; Tolvanen et al, 1995).
The logistics systems have an economic and technical dimension. Economic dimension is related to production costs, which are the cost of transforming input into output, and transaction costs, which are the costs of coordination and motivation (Heinimann, 2000).
Furthermore, the wood logistics configuration has to be responded operational, tactical and strategic objectives. Operational objectives are to maximize the profitable of forest enterprises. Tactical objectives are spatial and industrial objectives with together supply chain objectives (market demands). Strategic goals are based on the developing and expanding of sustainable forest resources and optimizing of the implementation to supply the customer demands. Therefore, in the flowing of wood products from stand to customer are needed a wood logistics principles.
The logistics of forest resources arranges that the harvesting of forest products and transportation of them from stand to storage or sawmill. In addition that, it aims to minimize consecutive interaction costs, to optimize supply and demand equation, to maximize total usefulness from the forest products, and to organize harvesting and transportation of the products as optimal within the production process. To be solved the planning problem in the wood logistics system, mathematical models (Roise, 2001; Olsson, 2001), analytical models, productivity and cost functions, simulation (Gallis, 2000) or optimization models, heuristic algorithms, network models (Fotiou, 2000), GIS (Sutter, 2001; Hecker et al, 2000), artificial intelligence, and other planning problem solution techniques has been used in the worldwide.
The wood procurement process has been conducted and managed according to traditional methods in Turkey without any operational planning. There is no logistical planning and organization of the processes (Acar and Eker, 2001).
In this study, Turkish forestry sector was firstly introduced and actual wood production process was simply analyzed. Thereafter, the main concept of the logistics system was examined and it was scrutinized why we need the wood logistics and how we can establish the system as a decision support system for harvesting and transportation under no circumstances in Turkish forestry.
The total forest areas of Turkey are 20,7 million hectares, which is approximately 27 percent of total areas. Tree growing stock is amount 1.235.586.659 m 3 and current increment is amount 32.442.043 (m 3 /year). The total forestland, 99,9 % of which is belonging to Ministry of Forestry.
Turkish forests have significant economic, environmental, and cultural functions for Turkish peoples. About 15 percent of Turkey' s population (approx. 7 million) lives in forest villages and forest neighboring villages (Report, 2001). Theirs main source of income is forest workmanship during the forest operations.
The total annual allowable cut was estimated at 11.997.088 m 3 in normal high forest and 7.841.349 stere in coppice forest in State Forest. In the last six years, the wood production amount is 9.046.238 m 3 , which was provided from high forest. In addition that 79,8 percent of this production is industrial wood and rest of the amount is fuel wood. In the next 15 years, it has been expected that deficiency of industrial and fuel wood can be about 1 million m 3 (NDP, 2001).
In Turkish forestry, the wood production expenditures capture the majority of the total forestry expenditures, which is amount 35 percent of total expenditures. Taken into consideration the timber production per unit costs (with current price); 16 % of total unit costs is harvesting cost (cutting/felling, etc.), 31 % of them is extraction cost (bunching/skidding, etc.), and 30 % of them is transportation cost (loading/hauling, etc.) (NDP, 2001). Furthermore, the wood procurement operations are executed by forest cooperative as monopoly.
The new wood procurement system configuration is necessary to fulfill of the national demands as economic and quality, at the right time and right place. This configuration can be named as "Wood Logistics [or Timber Logistics (Eker and Acar, 2002)]".
General structure of the wood production system is as in Figure 1. The planning and organization of harvesting and the other relation operations are dictated according to forest management plans. But, in the operational decision process, the State Forest Enterprises cannot find an opportunity of exhaustive and applicable operational planning and organization due to absence of a decision support system interrogating whole wood production system and predicting the future of implemented operations.
Figure 1. The General Configuration of Wood Production Chain in Turkey
There are some general issues concerned to wood procurement that are;
In order to constitute of wood logistics within a conceptual framework, the actual wood procurement system should be transformed to wood logistics system as theoretical. In the each components of the organizational configuration, rational and modern data manipulation techniques usage is needed. The wood production assets and production technologies should be standardized for supply of market demands and for providing of forest enterprises' profitable.
An improvement of the integral logistics management can only be achieved by taking a close look at all elements of the production chain. The main task of forest harvesting and transportation logistics in Turkey is to be managed the wood materials and information, relating to their inventories, flowing in all segments of the wood supply chain from stump to destination. In order can be able to respond to the firstly national industrial dynamics it is important for the forest enterprises to know precisely their production output and stand inventory at any time. The logistical planning process within the operational system that are based on an up-to-date inventory of the standing wood raw material, machine capacity, and workforce capabilities could be optimized by using of supportive tools like optimization or simulation.
A lot of components of wood production system should be gathered to constitute a logistics system. The general transaction steps are pointed out in Figure 2.
Figure 2. The Flowchart of Wood Logistics System Configuration
The logistics system engineering is based on information systems. Thus, at first, detailed database system should be established. Data can be obtained by "national forestry plan", forest management plan, national development plan, and annual budget/investment plans including demand forecasting. The technological tools such as Remote Sensing, GIS, GPS, on-board computer or so on can be used to collect relating data. The collected data is manipulated and processed, and converted to information, that is, an inventory control and management can be applied.
In addition to inventory management, the facility location and transport design (physical distribution), which are the other components of logistics system, should be analyzed and planned according to strategic, tactical, and operational level as hierarchical.
The required data, based on economic structure of enterprise, can be provided by means of detailed economic analysis that is the economical capability and sufficiency of forest enterprises influencing directly the logistical events. This is a reflector for limitations of an aimed logistical planning and organization. As well, spatial/geographical characteristics of enterprise should be analyzed.
The constraints and limitations are based on economic, environmental, ergonomic, technological, and social criteria. Each of constraints is scrutinized with stand-based information. By adding of the variables, a classical mathematical model can be developed and this model can be solved by operations research techniques or other algorithms. The outputs concluded by mathematical (or heuristics) programming techniques, guide the planning and organization of forest operations. Thus, analytical and qualified decision mechanism can be obtained.
The implementations of decisions are conducted by forest contractors with mostly traditional methods. The implementation is the most important and risky part of wood logistics system. The techniques and equipment have to be appropriate to operational standardization.
The control of the system can be examined by satisfaction and successful of implementations. If reached the system success, the implementations are repeated to other stands in wood supply chains. In the each step of the wood production process, an optimal solution method can be explored with auxiliary analytic tools by using of a feedback on wood logistics system.
Data gathering and manipulation technologies like GIS, GPS, GSM, and on board computer or so are some of the auxiliary tools in logistical framework. Especially GIS is an unconditional decision making tool. GIS provides the attributes and graphical data on to be harvested stand. Likewise GIS can enable to solve adjacency problems for spatial constraints, network analysis and shortest path problems for distribution of wood material, and allocation of landing site and machine problems by developing of software interfaces.
By treating of detailed data, strategic-tactical-operational objectives, constraints, and other conjunctive parameters will be frankly transferred to the decision analysis system so can be produced that a decision support system. Thus, raw and semi-raw data will have been distilled and reconciled with each other to understand whole components of the system. In planning phase, decision maker can be able to see whole system, interrogate it, interpret it, and make a decision on implementations.
The selection of optimal acceptable harvest technologies reserve an important place to optimize the wood harvesting and transportation costs under the system. It can be determined that which operation methods and techniques are to be distinguished by using of simulation or optimization algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI), heuristics, analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and other evolutionary techniques as net present value.
When combined aforementioned above matters, it can be provided that an acceptable and tractable timber logistics configuration, optimizing and reducing production costs of wood, increasing timber quality and satisfying timber supply quantity_ and also making sure demands of national customers.
In Turkey of today, a national Forest Information System (ORBIS) has been established as GIS-based. This system will be important foundation for structuring of logistical wood production planning and organization. Besides, GPS has been used for topographical goals in Turkish forestry in applications and used other goals in researches. For making hierarchical decisions, operation management techniques have been studied in academic level. In addition that, adopted by National Forest Policies merchantable and competitive oriented forest managership approach has emphasized the logistical structure for forest operations.
To minimize wood production costs, to increase profitable of enterprises, to optimize resource usage, to supply of national market demands and to reduce environmental impacts of forest operations a logistical planning are necessary.
The forest harvesting and transportation problems and defectiveness in Turkish forestry can be removed and improved by constitution of wood logistics system. Thus, wood production unit costs can be also reduced. For example, by using of "Transportation Model" and by improving of micro and macro transportation planning the wood extraction costs can be reduced and provided an important economy saving for forest operations in Turkey (Acar 1997 and 1998).
When completed and tested proposed constitution of a timber logistics concept in Turkish Forestry these advantages can be obtained:
In the result of the wood logistics constitution in Turkish Forestry, a lot of objectives and gains that are economical and technical will have been obtained. Although these, some struggles should be fulfilled for accelerating of wood logistics system in the applications more than conceptual form. These are;
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1 Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Forestry, 61080, Trabzon,TURKEY
e-mail: [email protected]
2 Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Forestry, 61080, Trabzon,TURKEY
e-mail: [email protected]
web page: www.hacar8m.com