Abstract
Logging businesses throughout the northeast United States regularly encounter variable harvest conditions and timber sale characteristics that can impact productivity and costs, with implications for profitability. This research used various methods, including shift-level time study methods, case study simulations, and a written survey to assess a cross section of harvest systems and logging operations in terms of costs, productivities, delay factors, management strategies, and impacts of BMPs on logging productivity.
Eight logging crews of various size and equipment mixes collected shift-level data throughout the entirety of a harvest operation. Loggers recorded start and stop times, activities, machine-relevant production, and delays over ten minutes on a daily basis. Delays were categorized as either maintenance, mechanical, personal, BMP, or other. The undefined “other” delay type had the greatest impact on the small sample of harvest operations analyzed, followed by mechanical delays and BMP-related delays. Machine rates for each system were calculated in order to estimate production costs. Productivities ranged from 51 ft3/hr for a single-operator conventional harvest system that encountered many delays to 668 ft3/hr for a cut-to-length system operating a partial clearcut with few delays. Production costs varied from $0.40/ft3 to $1.44/ft3.
Three crews used single-operator harvest systems. Data from these three harvests were used to estimate change in costs and productivity for simulated two- and three-logger crews. The addition of a second logger to operate existing equipment lowered costs substantially and increased productivity for all three harvests. The three-logger system improved productivity for only one of the three harvests. When additional loggers were added, operator utilization decreased while equipment utilization increased.
A survey of 112 loggers was conducted to assess how a hypothetical set of BMP requirements impact logging productivity. Moreover, loggers indicated their levels of compensation required for the BMP requirements. The results showed that a harvest that requires 50 water bars, 3 stream crossings, and 150 feet of corduroy required an additional 7 days and $20/MBF and $8/cord. The expected additional days to complete the harvest with BMPs was significantly less for loggers who used mechanized harvest systems than for those who used conventional systems
This study demonstrates how logging data can be used to inform operations management decisions and strategies, particularly if used in conjunction with established operations management theories, such as theory of constraints. Looking ahead, emerging telematics and onboard monitoring technologies are promising signs. Future research must focus on assessing barriers for adopting these technologies and the required training needed to maximize their potential.