Digitization in wood supply - A review on how Industry 4.0 will change the forest value chain

Abstract The term Industry 4.0 (I 4.0) has been shaping the discussion about increasing digitization in industrial and service value chains for several years. The concepts and technologies driving the fourth industrial revolution are increasingly moving to focus on forestry’s practice and research. They both are attempting to develop new solutions for the forestry sector by taking advantage of technological spillovers from other industry sectors. Based on an extensive systematic literature review, this article identifies general trends towards a smart wood supply chain and concrete I 4.0 application examples, which are already in practical use or still in the stage of research and development. On a process level, the I 4.0 application examples are described and discussed in detail, ranging from computerized decision support aids to electronic control, machine vision and post-harvest management. A process flow chart visualizes selected findings of the review, showing that the value of I 4.0 mainly lies in the interconnection of process steps along the value chain, with close to unlimited information flow and allocation in an internet of trees and services. This can lead to significant changes and value-adds in harvest planning, harvest organization and control, operations, transport and logistics as well as timber sales. Furthermore, we discuss the latest developments of simulation modelling based on remote sensing data in forestry, which turns out to be the basis for the concept of a virtual forest as digital copy of the reality. With respect to future research, we argue that the benefits of data generation and information flows across organizational borders within an internet of trees and services should be the interest of short and medium-term research. Moreover, we outline that research should not only work on overcoming the technical challenges of I 4.0 in wood supply such as robustness, reliability and accuracy. Socio-economic challenges such as willingness for cooperation, changes in work environments, labor qualification, data autonomy and added value distribution should also be discussed and analyzed. To conclude, with this review we contribute to a scientific discussion about the opportunities of I 4.0 and digitization in wood supply and give an extensive overview of technological developments, applications and challenges that wood supply will face in the future.

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