The success of your business will strongly depend on what price tag you attach to your products—and whether your customers are willing to pay this price. Hence your strategic marketing planning should include considerations about how to adequately price your products/services right at the start. After reading this publication, you...
“Quality is Job 1”—this slogan is familiar to many people because it was used by Ford Motor Company for nearly 20 years. All businesses know the importance of quality—with respect to quality of products and quality of service. However, knowing specifically how to manage for quality is another matter. Here...
Small landowners in the state of Oregon find it difficult to be competitive with larger companies to provide traditional forest products to consumers. Additionally, many landowners hope to be profitable from their land, but are not necessarily interested in or have the capability to harvest large tracts of timber. Specialty...
By nature, most entrepreneurs are "doers" rather than "planners." At the same time, we know that successful organizations, regardless of their size, must plan for the future. High-level strategic planning such as establishing the long-term direction of the company is critical, but useless without a plan for implementation. This "implementation...
In the forest products business and management literature, one common categorization of different types of innovation is product innovation, process innovation and business systems innovation. Forest products companies have long placed high emphasis on process innovations, which are related to yield maximization, manufacturing efficiency and operating costs reduction. This is...
This document outlines types and sources of information you might use in your marketing planning. A variety of sources are cataloged on the Oregon Wood Innovation Center web site. A concrete example from the experience of a local entrepreneur is provided.
The development of a market for currently non-merchantable forest material, such as harvest residues of tops and limbs of trees or small diameter trees, has been suggested as a possible win-win solution that could: (i) provide a financial incentive to help motivate treatments to reduce wildfire risk or restore forest...
The production of high value non-conventional products, such as long utility poles; or the production of low value bulky products, such as chips or grindings; provide opportunities for forest owners to increase value from their forests. The transport of these products requires the use of specialized trucks and trailers. However,...
Improving existing and developing completely new products is an important part of maintaining a healthy business. This document outlines key principles of new product development, illustrated through the activities of a small sawmilling company.
Forest landowners are interested in practicing alternative silviculture methods on their property without having to clearcut. This publication describes a case study on Individual Tree Selection (ITS) in a mixed conifer forest in Northeast Oregon. ITS is of interest because it provides a continuous forest canopy; potentially reduces reforestation costs;...