Issues and Answers

Automation

Over the last 20 years, important advancements have taken place within the forest resource industry including improvements in forest productivity, wood fiber utilization, product quality and reductions in the environmental impacts associated with harvesting and manufacturing processes.

As a result of substituting new technology for labor, some jobs are lost in the short term. However, greater job skills, higher average wages, and the creation of new jobs have reserved from the increased productivity. The high wages have eased the economic impact of technological advances for some members of timber-dependent communities.

Over the last 20 years, raw material utilization has doubled. Today, the forest resources industry is able to recover twice as much wood from a single log as it could in 1970. In addition, the forest resources industry makes engineered wood products from wood fiber that was unusable 20 years ago. The technologies which made these new products possible also led to creation of challenging new jobs requiring advanced skills, particularly in the computer area. These jobs have more than made up for the initial job losses due to automation. Also, improvement in product quality and strength have reduced the amount of wood used per square foot of building space.

Between 1979 and 1987, advancements in manufacturing technology and automation generated a 40 percent increase in per worker productivity.

These advances have caused the loss of some labor intensive jobs in the logging and milling industries. However, contrary to what environmental special interests try to convince the public, automation is not the cause of great job losses within the forest products industry. An unstable, unpredictable federal timber supply is to blame.

Theoretically, automation should allow an increased number of logs to pass through the mill. If so, loggers would be working even when mill workers were losing jobs. This isn't the case. Loggers are out of work. Truck drivers are out of work. Local restaurants are closing. No logs, no jobs for anyone. Automation has helped companies compete in today's world; however, it cannot be held responsible for the timber supply crisis that now exists. Without a reliable supply of logs, the most up-to-date, state-of-the-art mill cannot function.

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