Reorganisation of wood production for improved performance: a swiss forest district case study

An extremely fragmented timber supply, high harvesting costs, low profitability, high subsidies and insufficient competitiveness characterise forest enterprises in Switzerland. In a case study using a forest district in the state of Solothurn as an example, it was sought to identify strengths and weaknesses of wood production and to formulate possible improvement opportunities. The results indicate that there is considerable potential for industry rationalisation. The greatest handicaps are the small sized forest holdings, excessive numbers of staff, insufficient use of modern harvesting technology and costly business administration. The most eminent of the proposed improvement measures are those which aim to increase concentration of timber supplies and reduce production costs. These include greater centralising of timber sales as well as planning and steering of production, making full use of modern harvesting systems, reducing transaction costs, supporting administration, planning and steering of wood production with modern information technology and reducing input on stand tending. In principle, amelioration can be best achieved by close cooperation with neighbours or even merger of enterprises. Consequently, there is a need for related business tasks to be combined in functions. The paramount prerequisite for success is the willingness and readiness of all affected stakeholders to make changes. The situation described is typical for Swiss forestry and the proposed solutions could well be used as models for a wide range of Swiss forest districts.