| Summary: | The use of supply chain management is of increasing importance in the wood industry. The overall wood-flow starts with standing trees in forests and continues with harvesting, bucking, sorting, transportation to terminals, sawmills, pulp mills, paper mills and heating plants, conversion into products like pulp, paper, lumber and ends at different customers. 237 Co-ordinating this wood-flow is important for the effectiveness of the whole supply chain "wood" as there is a pressure to reduce costs, expand globally, introduce new products fast and increase service levels. This paper analyses the supply chain of the Austrian wood industry and their sub-branches sawmilling industry, wood working industry, panel industry and paper industry. Within the framework of a study, carried out in co-operation with the Association of the Austrian Wood Industries and the Institute of Transport Economics and Logistics (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration), companies of the Austrian wood industry had been asked about their procurement and distribution policies and important characteristics. Based on these results this paper aims to show potentials for further improvements. One significant result is the fact that stocks are rather high and lead to high capital costs. Supply chain management helps to reduce stocks and stock costs through a better collaboration of all supply chain partners and introduction of supply chain management systems like EDI. Another possibility to control the so-called bullwhipeffect responsible for high stocks is to reduce uncertainty through centralising information. (...) The paper also deals with a simplification, synchronisation and automation of processes in this branch. This study aims to offer all participating companies a possibility for benchmarking and to make them aware of the necessity of supply chain management. (author's abstract) === Series: Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Transportwirtschaft und Logistik - Supply Chain Management
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