How technology transformed forestry

When Andreas Råheim was a curious child growing up in Norway, he tagged along with a neighbor who transported timber with a horse. When he turned 18, he bought a tractor to make the job easier. Not much later, he was running a one-man forestry business, manually harvesting trees using a tractor and winch.

Today, almost 40 years after that first tractor, Andreas Råheim and his son Mikael run a business that’s helping test and develop forestry technology. They are using drones, satellite positioning and remote monitoring in tandem with equipment engineered with the latest automation and communication technology. Though it’s something Andreas could barely have imagined as a child, he has embraced it as a business owner. 

“Using new technology is a big part of success,” he said. “It makes you work safer, more efficiently, and more securely, putting you at the forefront.”

The logging practices Andreas observed as a child have evolved far beyond horses and tractors as foresters like him have sought ways to grow their business while adapting to environmental concerns and tight labor markets. Meanwhile, the demand continues to grow. At about 4 billion cubic meters a year, global wood production is at record levels, and the global wood products market is expected to reach $1.15 trillion in 2028. 

Joacim Henningsson’s  experience doesn’t go back as far as horses, but he has witnessed first-hand some dramatic changes in forestry engineering and technology.

When he started test-driving forestry equipment — initially for his then-father-in-law’s logging company, then full-time for Komatsu Forest — the equipment he operated was evolving rapidly. “Back in the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, it was a very physically demanding job to operate and to repair the machines,” Henningsson said. But that was changing with advancements in the machines’ power, reliability, operability and efficiency. Komatsu’s pioneering single-grip harvester, introduced in the 1980s, used a chassis designed from the ground up for improved stability and comfort. A fuel-efficient Tier 4 engine (also known as the EU Stage V engine) and a hydraulic cab suspension system were among many other game changers. They were all meeting growing demands to reduce engine emissions, operate more safely, work more productively and manage forest resources more responsibly for long-term health and biodiversity.

Smart technology began arriving on the scene around 2012, offering powerful new tools to meet the pace of new challenges, such as workforce shortfalls and climate change, while continuing to advance productivity, efficiency and safety goals. Henningsson travelled the globe to introduce the new technology to users.  “In the beginning there was some resistance. Customers didn’t really know what they could use it for.”

Henningsson still recalls the day, years ago, when he turned to a colleague one Friday afternoon and remarked that they hadn’t made a repair the whole week. "From my point of view, it was something extraordinary,” Henningsson said, adding with a laugh, “My colleague, on the other hand, said, yes, hasn’t it been boring?"

Andreas and Mikael Råheim embody the dramatic changes in forestry operations taking place in their lifetimes. Their company, Valdres Skog, is located 160 kilometers (99 mi) north of Oslo in the region of Østlandet and employs  20 people, including two apprentices. Using five Komatsu harvesters and five loaders, they harvest about 130,000 cubic meters (170,034 yd3) annually for more than 250 forest operations.

They made their first technology leap in 2015, after learning about Komatsu’s MaxiFleet system (now called Smart Forestry) at a trade show in Sweden. It was the first fleet management system of its kind: a web-based suite of tools enabling foresters to remotely visualize information from each machine's control system. It meant that production could be monitored at the office — a huge development for an industry that often functions in remote, hard-to-reach areas. 

When the Valdres Skog machines were retrofitted to use the new technology, it was the start of a long partnership. The Råheims helped Komatsu understand how their new solutions worked in the field and how they could be improved even further. This kind of partnership is critical, said Henningsson. "Even within one country like Sweden, for example, there's a big diversity of forests, trees, terrains, sawmills. So, it’s impossible to test things here in the north of Sweden and expect it to work in all other conditions."

When Mikael enrolled at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, which specializes in agriculture, environmental sciences and natural resource management, he had additional exposure to technologies Komatsu would later introduce to the market. “I have worked extensively with data and the potential of data for forestry,” he said.

The suite of solutions now known as Smart Forestry kept evolving, adding functions that helped Valdres Skog automate administrative tasks, receive remote training and support, use drones to collect data, share information among locations and machines and more. When a severe storm in November  2021 toppled an estimated 7 million trees in the region Valdres Skog serves, smart technology was an essential tool.

The most recent new offering Valdres Skog helped test, Smart Forestry Precision, uses the latest satellite positioning technology to determine a machine's position within a margin of error of just a few centimeters. “Precision’s Geofencing has allowed us to increase efficiency and avoid errors, especially when it comes to environmental considerations,” Mikael said. “I can’t imagine working without Precision now.”

Andreas grew up in the era of clearcutting, with every tree removed at once and then replanted. All these years later, the forest he watched his neighbor clear is ready to be harvested once again — but now with Komatsu Forest machines instead of horses, and with very different forestry practices.

Technology makes it possible to selectively harvest, plant diverse species, and work in a way that causes less disturbance to the forest ecosystem. Valdres Skog is investing in equipment for thinning as a way to future-proof the forest by making it more resilient to storms and disease. “If you take care of the forest, it stays healthy and binds carbon dioxide, and you can also extract the important forest raw material that adds great value by replacing fossil materials in many cases,” Andreas said.

Thinking back to his early days as a test driver, Henningsson said, “We now take care of the environment much, much better. And when we can do that together with meeting the demand for timber, I think it's a win-win for humanity.”