Sweden is the second largest producer of lumber in the world with significant exports to eg Japan. Setra has seven sawmills and processing units for pine and spruce from the Swedish forestry industry.
Daniel described the product management’s iron triangle which illustrates the interaction between cost, time, quality. To this triangle, climate has been added and needs to be incorporated with the other elements; indeed it needs to be the central focus.
Daniel also described current projects: (1) Timber concrete composite, ie hybrid construction, which is new in the Nordic countries, more common in southern Europe; there is also possibilities to incorporate steel in this hybrid construction. (2) The interplay between timber and moisture requires timber treatments during construction when the timber is exposed to the elements. (3) An installation module: as almost a third of the total costs is installation costs, there is a need to continue to develop modular units eg a unit containing a bathroom, ventilation, plumbing, etc which can be slotted into different projects. (4) Façade systems are also under development. (5) Digital tools are currently used for 3D design and manufacture but could they also be used during the assembly phase.