Forstify makes digital wood lists easier than ever with new updates
What do you need wood lists for?
Good wood lists are the basis for successful timber trading. Along the value chain, wood lists are created at several points as the basis for calculating the timber to be sold. The wood list records all important information, starting with the tree species, the number and length of the logs as well as the total number of solid cubic metres. In addition, a comprehensive wood list also contains important information about the forest owner and the storage location, including GPS data, which is of decisive importance for transport and logistics. More recently, pile photos as a status update have also become an important part of this practice.
A wood list is thus the most important basis for selling timber, and provides the data needed in the further processing steps.
How does creating wood lists work today?
Once it has been determined which timber is to be harvested, the round timber, sorted accordingly, is collected at a designated storage area. Most often, the stored (“piled”) timber is found at places where it can be easily transported away.
Once the timber is piled, the next important step comes: measuring the timber. Various measurement techniques are used here (e.g. single-log measurement, section volume measurement, or top-diameter measurement). There are regionally different methods and customs here.
Regardless of the measurement method, the data obtained is entered into a wood list. In practice, this often happens in the form of a handwritten list, an Excel spreadsheet or some other digital form – unfortunately, there is still no standardisation in the use of wood lists today. The final step to completing the wood list is recording the solid cubic metres, which in most cases still has to be calculated afterwards from the collected data.
This is exactly where our wood-list feature comes in! It helps forest owners enter all data simply and quickly, directly via the Forstify app from anywhere, and takes over the calculation of the solid cubic metres fully automatically.
How do digital wood lists work?
>>Click here for the explainer video
What advantages do I have with digital wood lists?
Using digital wood lists offers a variety of advantages for forestry. A key advantage is the increase in efficiency, as digital wood lists enable fast and efficient recording of timber stocks. This reduces the time required and increases productivity. A standardised digital wood list can also contribute to more transparent and traceable recording of timber stocks. In contrast to varying handwritten or Excel lists, credibility is increased, which also helps to improve the trade in round timber and to promote compliance with standards. In addition, digitalisation enables easy data storage and management, which improves the quality and availability of the data. Moreover, digital wood lists can be shared and multiplied easily. This not only facilitates collaboration between different players, but also enables easy monitoring of stocks.
All the advantages of the digital wood list at a glance:
- Share wood lists easily
- Automatic calculation of the solid cubic metres
- All data at a glance
- Automatic location detection via coordinates
- Quick and easy addition of log piles and logs
- The bark deduction is adjusted automatically
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A look into the future
The digital recording of wood lists is nothing new in 2023, but it represents an important basis for further innovations in forestry. In addition to the features already presented, the wood lists will bring offline capability with the next release. Even if you are out in the forest without mobile reception, you can access, edit or share your wood lists at any time. Furthermore, there will also be an export and import function that standardises the processing of formats already in use. It will be possible to import common formats into Forstify, and these will be automatically converted into a digital Forstify wood list – and vice versa. This means you can also export your digital Forstify wood list into a selected format (Excel (.xlsx) & PDF).
The next big project Forstify is already working on is the visual measurement of timber piles with the smartphone camera, which saves you a great deal of time when measuring. Our goal is to make laborious steps such as timber recording more sustainable in the future through time and resource savings. We want to accompany you into digital forestry with our innovative tools.