Tilhill Forestry, a wholly owned subsidiary of the BSW Timber Group is working with both the University of the Highland and Islands (UHI) and Innovate UK on a recently-launched Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).
KTP is a UK-wide programme that has been helping businesses for the past 40 years to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK knowledge base.
The purpose of this partnership is to develop and deliver “Trees to Timber Mill” (TTM), a digital end-to-end logistics solution that will deliver process ef_ciencies, improved reporting and reduced supply chain costs in the timber trade with a unique decision support system enabling the company to both optimise the standing timber crop’s conversion into logs during tree harvesting operations, and maximise the high value sawn timber product cut from these logs at the sawmill.
“Investing in innovation is a key indicator of an ambitious and forward-thinking company and it is a pleasure to be working alongside the academic team from the UHI and the North of Scotland KTP Centre to support Tilhill Forestry deliver this exciting project,” said Dr Ian Heywood, Innovate UK, knowledge transfer adviser, north Scotland.
Tilhill Forestry will be working with a new UHI researcher and KTP associate to look at the improved use of data in the forest to mill supply chain. The project will be looking to recruit an associate to lead on this work.
“We are looking forward to working with UHI and KTP teams,” said Peter Whit_eld, Tilhill’s business development manager. “The partnership will take place over two years and is a really exciting opportunity to give Tilhill Forestry a chance to better utilise the wealth of data available to us as a business.”
Jewson goes the extra yard
As part of its aim to be ‘best in class’ for timber, Jewson has worked with Wood Campus to produce a new training pack for staff working with timber called The Extra Yard.
“We are delighted to have worked closely with Wood Campus again on this ground breaking project, following our previous collaboration on the Jewson Timber Pocket Guide,” said Paul Robertson, Jewson category development manager for timber and panel products.
The Extra Yard pack will be used as a training aid in every branch to support the timber excellence initiative. The pack includes three sets of staff cards covering topics such as storage and display, career development, as well as cards on sawn carcassing timber, machined timber, panel products and timber fencing and landscaping, each with its own tips on what can be achieved by a regular ‘10 Minute Turn Round’.
The packs, produced with support from BSW Timber, James Jones & Sons and Norbord, combine the practical experience and expertise of Jewson with the industry know-how of Wood Campus, the UK timber industry’s free online knowledge portal (woodcampus.co.uk).
