Växjö
Växjö is both the center of southern Sweden’s forest industry and the base for Patrik Anderchen of ForestX.With new colleagues on the way and projects with well-known forestry companies, he does what he enjoys most about his job: enabling the use of the best digital solutions to forestry.
During autumn 2022, business developer and project manager Patrik Anderchen will be involved in several of the ForestX projects regarding some of the large forestry and sawmill companies based in southern Sweden.
Together with Johan Hedlund, ForestX, he is working on Sydved and the implementation of Trimble Forestry’s CFHarvest, which we have previously reported on. He is also working on an ongoing app development project with Vida. Together with ForestX’s product partner Remsoft, he’s investigating where Remsoft’s products are best suited for the Swedish market.
It was the opportunity to work directly with the latest technology and to be at the forefront of digital developments in forestry that attracted Patrik Anderchen to ForestX.
– I sometimes feel that there is a gap between the latest research and getting it out in a user-friendly way in forestry companies. Now I get to be part of enabling the move towards the most modern technology. I see ForestX as having that role to play.
– ForestX also shares my vision of where Swedish forestry should go. We see the whole chain through all processes. It is also a creative environment to work and develop in. Everyone wants to move forward, it feels stimulating. We’re already working on the solutions of the future.
At the moment, many forestry and sawmill companies are on a journey from self-developed systems to industry systems or standard systems.
– In that work we can be the partner that overcomes the obstacles by knowing IT and forestry. I also see that customers are asking for it, says Patrik Anderchen and continues:
– We have both the vision to connect all parts of the forestry chain and the tools to do it.
When Patrik Anderchen joined ForestX, it was the beginning of a larger focus on Växjö. Recruitment processes are underway and office space is being sought.
– It is only natural that we are here, as Växjö is the center of the forest industry in southern Sweden.
Growing up on a forest farm in Halland, Sweden, created an early interest in Patrik Anderchen to work in the industry. This led to studies to become forester, and then many years at Södra in a variety of roles.
– I have worked a lot with the use of harvest data, yield calculations and production planning.
– I have also worked with aptation simulations. There have been both large and small projects, and rollouts of various digital solutions.
From your position in the industry, what should not be missed in the forestry sector in 2022?
1. The use of harvest data. It will be at the core of managing optimization and improvement of the whole chain going forward.
2. The work on sustainability issues. Everyone needs to keep up with everything from regulatory changes from the EU to knowing how forest products are used and knowing the climate benefits of their operations. This will be extremely important in the coming years.
3. AI and optimization. The data is there now, but what do you do with it?
Name: Patrik Anderchen Role: project manager and business developer. ICF coach.Favourite tree:
Wood maple.
”There are five big maples on the farm where I grew up. Our family has lived there for generations. It’s beautiful to see the seasons change in the trees.”
Best nature experience:
Hiking at Grövelsjön in Dalarna.
”It’s a beautiful mountain setting and a great place to hike by yourself and for shorter hikes with children.”
Favourite apps:
Instagram
Spotify
SVTPlay
Frequently visited pages online:
Sportbladet
Lucidchart – drawing flowcharts
LinkedIn
Sydved is first in Sweden to choose CFHarvest from Trimble. ForestX is Trimble Forestry’s partner in the Scandinavian market and is working with Sydved in the implementation
– This is the first step in the rollout of the Connected Forest suite in Sweden. We can now offer the market a complete support for all forestry processes, says Carl Barck, CEO of ForestX.
Work is now underway to implement CFHarvest at the forestry giant. The work is led by project manager Johan Hedlund, ForestX.
– It is incredibly exciting to develop both operations and system support together with Sydved. We have now worked intensively during the summer and autumn to get into pilot operation with both production and forest management. Now we have the exciting acceptance tests ahead of us and a rollout that will begin in the fourth quarter of 2022, says Johan Hedlund.
CFHarvest is a forest harvest management and tracking system that provides real-time visibility of harvested volumes and where the timber is located. The system enables forestry companies like Sydved to reduce inventory levels at the roadside and terminal and improve productivity in harvesting operations.
Sydved’s IT manager Örjan Vorrei sees great opportunities with CFHarvest:
– CFHarvest supports our desired way of working and creates opportunities for major efficiency gains in our production process. The system will also serve as a key component in our harvesting operations that can enable us to focus on our quality and sustainability goals. The service will help to manage the resource-efficient use of roundwood and minimize the emission of unproductive engine hours, as well as protecting soil and natural habitats.
– With CFHarvest, our contractors will be better able to both plan their work and share important information in real time. This creates the conditions for efficient use of machinery and personnel while reducing the risk of damage to cultural and natural environments. Overall, CFHarvest enables a combination of sustainable working practices and good profitability. Addressing sustainability challenges was an important factor for us when choosing CFHarvest, says Örjan Vorrei.
Trimble Forestry and ForestX’s partnership was also important in the selection of CFHarvest.
– To be the best forestry partner in Sweden, we need to work with the best technology providers. That’s why we chose Trimble Forestry. It’s great that Trimble has ForestX as a partner. ForestX’s extensive knowledge of Swedish forestry and our conditions is an asset for us, says Örjan Vorrei, IT Manager, Sydved.
ForestX has previously implemented CFHarvest at Danish HedeDanmark and now sees the system being used more in Sweden:
– This is the first step in the roll-out of the Connected Forest suite in Sweden. We can now offer the market complete support for all forestry processes. It is exciting that we get to start doing this together with a well-established and well-informed customer like Sydved, says Carl Barck, CEO of ForestX.
About CFHarvest
CFHarvest is a forest harvesting management and tracking system that provides real-time visibility of harvested volumes and location of wood. The system enables forest companies such as Sydved to reduce roadside and terminal inventory levels and improve the productivity of their harvesting operations. By minimizing equipment moves and improving locational awareness between the harvester and forwarder, CFHarvest can support the reduction of emissions from forestry operations. CFHarvest is a web-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution to also manage silvicultural operations and forestry services. In addition, CFHarvest can be used formixed fleet operations and provide traceability to the source.
About Sydved
Sydved handles approximately five million cubic metres of timber annually and offers consultancy and full forestry services. Sydved is based in the southern parts of Sweden with headquarters in Jönköping. Sydved is owned by Stora Enso and Ahlstrom-Munksjö. For more information, visit sydved.se
About ForestX
ForestX digitizes the Scandinavian and European forest industry with sustainable solutions through selected systems and specialist knowledge in IT and forestry. ForestX was founded in 2018 and today has close to 50 employees in Sweden and in Pune, India.
Trimble’s forestry division provides SaaS and enterprise software to improve the productivity and sustainability of the world’s most recognized integrated forest-related organizations. Trimble’s Connected Forest™ solutions manage the entire commodity lifecycle of planning, planting, growing, growing, harvesting, transporting and processing. For more information, visit: forestry.trimble.com.
About Trimble
Trimble is an industrial technology company that is changing the way the world works by delivering solutions that enable our customers to thrive. Core technologies in positioning, modeling, connectivity, and data analytics connect the digital and physical worlds to improve productivity, quality, safety, transparency and sustainability. From custom products to enterprise lifecycle solutions, Trimble is transforming industries like agriculture, construction, geospatial and transportation. For more information about Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB), please visit www.trimble.com.
HedeDanmark chose Trimble product CFHarvest from the Connected Forest-suite when it was time to make the entire work process digital. As Trimble’s partner in the Nordic region, ForestX has been involved throughout the journey.
In glorious autumn sun, we finished the project on site in Denmark.
Carl Barck, CEO, and Johan Hedlund from ForestX then had the opportunity to try out HedeDanmark’s log measurement solution LogStackPRO. We’re always curious about new smart digital solutions in the forest!
HedeDanmark wanted to get its entire work process digitized. CFHarvest turned out to be the solution for the missing link; the planning and management of the work in the forest. Rasmus Willumsen here tells the story about HedeDanmark’s journey towards a completely digitized work process in the forest.
HedeDanmark is Denmark’s largest private forestry company. Everything from forest seeds to the management of small and large forests owned by private individuals, the state and municipalities is managed within the company. HedeDanmark have 1,000 employees and a turnover of DKK 1.75 billion.
Digitize work in the forest
A couple of years ago, the company wanted to solve the only part of the work process that was not yet digitized, the part of controlling and planning the execution of the work in the forest.
– When there is no central system, people invent their own way of getting it done. We had a lot of manual work, and as soon as there was a change or update on an assignment, it involved even more manual work, says Rasmus Willumsen, business developer at HedeDanmark.
– We thought we should be able to do this better, both for us as a business, for our employees and for our clients.
HedeDanmark analysed what the company needed and demanded of a new system. People working in the practical operation had to specify what the system would be able to do, but they were also allowed to make requests in addition to that.
CFHarvest combined with existing systems
HedeDanmark looked around Europe for solutions and at a trade fair in Germany, Rasmus Willumsen met Trimble. With the help of ForestX, Trimble Forestry’s agent in the Nordic market, they found out that it was CFHarvest that best met HedeDanmark’s requirements.
– We got great help from ForestX, they know both IT and forestry, not all IT companies do.
– Another advantage of CFHarvest was that we could combine it with our existing systems before and after in the process. It is a flexible system. In terms of operations, it has provided a completely digital flow. For the individual in the company, it has provided a much better approach and a calmer way of working, says Rasmus Willumsen.
It was also important in the decision for HedeDanmark to find a large company with well-known systems and good resources to update. The fact that ForestX existed as an industry-savvy partner for Trimble Forestry was also a security for the relatively small Danish company.
Now that the workflow is well established with CFHarvest, Rasmus Willumsen and colleagues see clear advantages:
– In the office we’ve got a good overview. We can see what we have coming up and you get an understanding of what the colleagues workload looks like. We also receive continuous feedback on the status of the work; Has it started? Is it finished? What was done?
– Employees in the forest can see where they will work, their own position on the map and where the boundaries go for felling. They can see what tasks are planned for each one of them.
350 users in HedeDanmark
Another strength Rasmus Willumsen sees in CFHarvest is that HedeDenmark is one of many customers in a system that is used all over the world. With the large number of other users, HedeDanmark can benefit from others’ ideas and suggestions for development.
At present, CFHarvest is used by about 350 people in the work of HedeDanmark, both employees and contractors.
Digitalisation has probably never been such a hot topic as during the first half of 2020, and the forest industry holds no exception. During spring, ForestX has been working hard to implement CFHarvest, Trimble’s smart management system at HedeDanmark.
The first region went operational just before summer vacations, and at this very moment two out of five regions have been fully implemented. All according to plan.
– We are now in operation! The customer is satisfied, and we are happy for their trust. HedeDanmark now has a system effectively keeping all information in one and the same place throughout the entire production chain. Accessible to everyone, anytime, anyplace – both in the office and in the field, says Johan Hedlund, project manager at ForestX.
HedeDanmark, Denmark’s largest and leading service and trading company within the green area with 800 employees, was already using many IT-solutions developed in-house, but felt the need to take an even bigger step towards total digitalisation. Trimble Forestry’s software CFHarvest proved the ultimate choice for further digitalisation. ForestX was entrusted with carrying out the project as implementation partner.
The client explains: Why we chose ForestX
– ForestX’s great strength is their unique combination of IT and experience of forestry in all its aspects. It is a great pleasure to work with people who know m3, pine, bits and bytes. The collaboration with ForestX has been both constructive, efficient and on schedule. They have the ability to see, and work with not only the technical side, but also our workflow and the way we work, says Rasmus Willumsen, HedeDanmark.
The main difference today, compared to before:
– CFHarvest brings our value chain together digitally, so that all employees can reap profits from the data, no matter where they are.
– Being able to see one’s position on the map, being guided to tasks and having the ability to report back, all within the same application is a big leap forward for our forest workers, says Rasmus Willumsen and continues:
– The benefits of digitalisation are many. With new digital tools, HedeDanmark is taking a big step towards fully digitizing the workflow. This means more efficient work, easier reporting, access and handling of information – both from offices and out in the field.
The next upcoming goal is to have CFHarvest live and operating throughout the full organization by Christmas 2020. At the moment the last three regions and two workflows remain.
Best nature experience:
Hiking at Grövelsjön in Dalarna.
”It’s a beautiful mountain setting and a great place to hike by yourself and for shorter hikes with children.”
Favourite apps:
Instagram
Spotify
SVTPlay
Frequently visited pages online:
Sportbladet
Lucidchart – drawing flowcharts
LinkedIn 
