Harvesting and operations
Learn
more about Research Program Three
Programme Leader: Mr Mark
Brown, (03) 5321 4188.
Join a growing industry!
Australia is experiencing a boom in forest
harvesting and transportation operations, which are set to double
over the next five years due to recent increased investment in
plantations, new mills, added value production facilities and
export facilities planned and coming online over the next five
years.
The best knowledge and technology is needed to
meet the challenge of implementing and running these operations, to
allow the Australian forest sector to be profitable in an
increasingly competitive world market and to grow into a world
leader.
To meet these demands and expectations, the CRC
for Forestry seeks skilled people and experts from a wide range of
backgrounds, many not traditionally linked to forest operations, to
fill a series of postgraduate positions working with existing
research teams. A key component of these projects will be to
engage extensively with industry throughout the project so that
results can be readily applied on an operational level. Such strong
industry contacts, coupled with a world-class postgraduate degree,
will undoubtedly lead to excellent employment opportunities.
If you have a project idea you would like to
discuss please feel free to contact us. Below are a few
projects which already have industry support and for which we seek
an appropriate candidate. We look forward to welcoming you to
our growing team, serving a growing industry!
Three full PhD scholarships are available from among the
following topics:
Optimised performance-based, designed
trucks for forestry transportation in Australia
Technical background: mechanical
engineering
Research area: machine design, vehicle dynamics,
lightweight materials
New truck transportation efficiency regulations
are coming into place in Australia whereby vehicles must meet
certain performance criteria (rather than the traditional
prescriptive approach).
This new approach presents an opportunity to
design purpose-built forestry tractor-trailers, optimised for the
needs of the industry, which allow for maximum productivity at
minimum cost. The project would entail:
- the evaluation of industry needs, including evaluation of
products to be hauled, road type used and distances
- creation of an innovative conceptual design of a trailer or
trailers to fit the forestry operational requirements and to fit
within the performance-based standards
- dynamic modelling of the vehicle to complete the conceptual
design within the performance-based standards and finalisation of
the designs for prototyping
- field testing of the prototype to confirm that it meets the
performance-based standards and forest operational needs and
expectations
- final trailer(s) designs and governmental applications for
industry-wide use.
Optimised logistic planning and management for forestry
transportation
Technical background: engineering,
computer science, supply chain management
Research area: logistics, supply chain management,
optimisation, programming
With increasing harvest levels and larger export
and processing facilities, the forest industry faces some unique
logistical challenges. Unlike most transportation models, forestry
is faced with moving loading points, uncertain and variable volumes
to transport, and multiple service providers delivering to a single
point of delivery often with varying demand and capacity. Handling
such logistical challenges manually has led to significant
bottlenecks in the transportation system, reduced productivity and
increased costs. This project would entail:
- evaluation of the current industry situation for transportation
logistics:
-
- how planning and scheduling is done
- how changes in the plan are managed
- what inefficiencies are encountered and their cost
- researching alternative international approaches to similar
transportation logistic situations
- developing a logistic planning and management tool tailored to
optimise forestry transportation on a contractor, company and/or
regional level
- validation of the tool by testing with real industry data
- field testing of the tool in an operational setting
- creating an implementation plan for the forest
industry.
Effecting change with contractors while maintaining an
independent business relationship
Technical background: business, law,
sociology, psychology
Research area: business relationships, effecting change
with limited influence
The reality for a majority of forest operations
in Australia is that land owners rely on independent contractors to
conduct operations on their land. This results in certain limits on
the control that the land managers can enforce in the operations on
their land. Land owners increasingly are large companies with the
interest and capability to invest in research to improve
operations, but they must work with their contractors to
effectively implement the results. Both land owners and contractors
see benefit in working together to implement the results but often
experience challenges in how to equitably share the gain, how to
share information and how to maintain their business independence.
The project would entail:
- an industry survey to establish the range of land owner /
contractor relationships in the Australian forest industry
- an international literature search to identify alternative
relationship models
- research and understand the legal and social limitations on the
land owner / contractor relationship
- develop and field test a set of land owner / contractor
interaction models to foster cooperation and implementation of
change in work method and technology
- based on field tests, develop a model or a set of models for
land owner / contractor business relationships to foster
cooperation and change
- create an implementation model for the forest
industry.
Promoting the acceptance and adoption of new technology
and work methods within the forestry workforce
Technical background: sociology,
psychology
Research area: change management, motivating people to
change
It is human nature for people to stick to what
they know and understand because it feels comfortable and
safe. Those in the forest industry are no different and often
attempts to implement new technology or work methods fail, not
because of the method or technology, but because it is too
difficult to get people to adapt. With significant investment
in research, like that being done at the CRC for Forestry, the
Australian forest industry wants to be in the best position
possible to implement the results in order to gain the greatest
benefit possible from that research investment. This project would
entail:
- a survey of all levels of the forest industry workforce to
better understand their perceptions, motivators, concerns,
understanding, etc
- investigating change implementation methods in other sectors
and from other parts of the world
- developing methods and guidelines for implementing change, new
technology and new methods in the Australian forest industry
- testing methods with different forest operations and different
levels of the workforce
- developing guidelines to implement different levels of change
with different levels of the workforce for use by the Australian
forest industry.
Quantify the impact of alternative harvesting systems on the
production capacity, cost and effectiveness of harvest
operations
Technical background: forest science, forest
management
Research area: machine productivity, network analysis,
harvesting system design
Forest harvesting operations are faced with a
wealth of equipment and technology to choose from to conduct their
operations, and an even greater range of ways this equipment and
technology can be combined to form harvesting systems. All systems
can be effective at some level in harvesting in different stand
conditions but little information is available as to which systems
are the most effective and efficient in particular conditions.
Building a knowledge base about what equipment and systems are best
suited to different Australian operating conditions and
understanding what stand factors have the greatest impact on the
different equipment types are critical to allow the forest industry
to use the most cost-effective systems in harvest planning and
management. A project would entail:
- surveying the range of operating conditions where the
technology or system of interest is used in Australia
- shift level and detailed time and motion studies on the range
of operations where the technology or system is used
- analysis of results to determine factors impacting upon
efficiency and to identify those conditions that resulted in the
best performance
- if appropriate based upon the analysis, test the technology or
system in conditions outside its normal range to further confirm
factors impacting upon efficiency and/or find an optimal Australian
operating condition
- if appropriate, test alternative systems in similar conditions
to benchmark technology or system performance
- populate a decision support tool for industry to use study
results to make improved planning and management
decisions.
Implementation of operational tracking technology for
improved resource management and machine productivity
Technical background: forest science,
forest management
Research area: automated data capture, operational
management, inventory modelling, equipment evaluations
The key to having effective planning and
management is access to good information in a timely manner.
This has traditionally been difficult and expensive in forest
operations, with much of the required data for informed decisions
being collected manually. In many cases, the cost and time
associated with collecting information forces operations to make
key planning and management decisions based on estimates rather
than real data. Technology is becoming available to address many of
these issues where information can be collected automatically,
quickly and cost-effectively. One example of this is onboard
tracking technologies for harvesting equipment that can collect a
range of information on machine use, machine productivity,
operational location, tree size, travel speed, etc. This
technology has seen limited application in Australia due to a lack
of knowledge around its use, how it fits in the Australian context
and how it can be integrated with existing systems. The project
would entail:
- an international technology search to learn what technology is
available in machine tracking
- evaluation of the Australian forest industry to establish its
information needs, current information collection, planning and
management tools
- identify the existing range of technology that can address the
range of industry needs and identify the technology development
required to address existing needs in Australia not met by existing
technology
- field test appropriate technology with industry and develop
implementation guidelines and procedures for the Australian forest
industry
- identify new opportunities for using operational tracking
technology to aide plantation and/or native forest resource
management information systems.
For more information contact Mr Mark Brown, (03) 5321
4188.
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