Wood in Manufacturing—Capacity Building

By: Zoish Bengali

Director, FII

Three key markets have a strategic focus on wood in manufacturing (WIM): India, China and Vietnam. The WIM strategy targets high potential end-use segments, such as indoor and outdoor furniture manufacturing, interior finishing products and the door and doorjamb industry.  While the strategy is most advanced in India, efforts are expanding in China, with exploratory work underway in Vietnam.

To support in-market capacity building for working with B.C. species, Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) Vancouver collaborated with the Canada Wood Group and teams in India, China and Vietnam to develop two tools for use within these markets; an illustrative guidebook on B.C. Interior wood species and lumber grades, and an informative video on B.C. wood in manufacturing. Both tools work to expand the knowledge and use of B.C. softwood products within the WIM sector.

The Interior Wood Species and Grades Book

The Interior Wood Species and Grades Book serves as a guide to understanding B.C.’s Interior softwood species, their most successful applications and the lumber grades typically available for export within each species group. The book includes at-a-glance descriptions, illustrations and full-page photos of Interior Douglas-fir and Spruce-Pine-Fir (S-P-F) lumber and their primary grade characteristics.

This publication was developed in response to a need identified during a collaborative strategy session by in-market team leaders and is intended as a guide for buyers, users and specifiers to help identify the grade of B.C. interior wood species that best meets their requirements. The development and promotion of this document seeks to showcase the versatile and aesthetic properties of B.C. wood species for use within India, China and Vietnam.

Phase 2 will incorporate the development of a Coastal species grades book which will include western hemlock, western red cedar, yellow cedar and Coastal Douglas-fir.

Download the Interior Wood Species and Grades Book here.


The Story of B.C. Wood in Manufacturing Video

Another initiative to support cross-market collaboration was the development of the video, The Story of B.C. Wood in Manufacturing. The video tells the story of B.C. wood, from planting a seedling to manufacturing and shipping lumber, while highlighting the B.C. forest sector as a sophisticated and interconnected industry of sustainable forest management and wood processing.

Developed for use in Vietnam, China and India, the video serves as a promotional and informative tool to expand the awareness and use of B.C. softwood forest products within WIM sectors. The video has been translated and is available in English, Mandarin and Vietnamese languages.

Watch The Story of B.C. Wood in Manufacturing video here.