Proposed CRC bid for Australian wood manufacturingFriday 4 Apr 2014 Forest & Wood Products Australia has taken the lead in developing a bid for a cooperative research centre (CRC) in the sector focussed on optimising the manufacturing sector to better suit the known quantity and quality of existing forest resources.Support and encouragement has been received from the R&D community for FWPA to advance a CRC bid, although to be successful, the bid will require significant cash and in-kind support from industry. The proposed CRC will focus on initiatives to improve the international competitiveness of existing manufacturing facilities and to assist in the deployment of the new generation of wood fibre technologies. The working title for the bid is the CRC for Transforming Wood Fibre. While much of the detail is still to be worked through with R&D and industry partners, it is hoped that a successful CRC will deliver on four key goals: - A robust value chain for the growing and processing of Australian wood fibre resources to maximise international competitiveness and attract new investment - Better understanding of the materials and customers for key markets, especially in the built environment of 2030 and beyond - Decision support tools to assist in the optimisation of existing and new products that capture key variables and outputs along the full value chain - The next generation of technically skilled experts that can help assist the industry make the transformation in its products and markets The bid is being led by Dr Chris Lafferty, FWPA’s R&D Manager, and he can be contacted directly at chris.lafferty@fwpa.com.au Source: ForWood, March 2014  |
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