Current situation analysis: Manufacturing challenges in woodworking sector

Paper i proceeding, 2015

The woodworking sector is highly competitive and mostly competes by manufacturing cost and product quality. The raw material itself stands for more than 50% of total manufacturing cost. In order to decrease manufacturing costs, there is a need to increase quality and efficiency. Even though competitive manufacturing is a widely researched area, sparser research is focused on the woodworking sector. The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges affecting manufacturing competitiveness regarding the following components: management, people, production process, material and material handling, and information. The results are based on a literature review, supplemented by a case study conducted at a Swedish interior wood products manufacturing firm. Results indicate that lack of competence is a challenge inhibiting manufacturing competitiveness. Other challenges identified are related to, among others, adaptability. The woodworking sector have a low level of adaptation to new manufacturing methods and technologies, leaving it lagging behind other industries.