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costs, while others are already ready for practical use. detectable defects on the stem.
For instance, Radio Frequency Technology (RFID) had Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of these tools
been proven suitable for marking standing trees with relatively in surveying the visible properties of stems and branches, often
inexpensive passive tags, which remained operative over two performing better than visual quality classification conducted

years once inserted in the trunk and even after the hauling by operators.
operations of the roundwood. Moreover, the ability to obtain quantitative measurements
Pichler et al. presented a demonstration case where different of various attributes makes these techniques versatile and
technologies were integrated along the forest-timber supply adaptable to different information needs (for example, different
chain. The data flow was guaranteed by RFID tags applied qualitative classes can be reconstructed based on quantitative
to standing trees and logs; all information was stored on an data).
accessible server. Despite these positive outcomes, widespread application
Data collected by remote sensing (laser-based) technologies has not yet been achieved. The aspects that deserve attention
were linked to trees tagged in the forests. The authors also for progress towards their more common use are the reduction

identified potential bottlenecks at each processing step and in hardware costs, but above all, the development of user-
conducted a risk analysis. In conclusion, they highlighted friendly software and algorithms that speed up the processing
that the technology is ready, but there is still reticence in of data collected in the field.
its operational adoption, especially due to the higher (but An interesting research field could also be the fusion of
still accessible) costs and the difficulties in coordinating and the two technologies to mitigate their respective limitations
aligning the different actors in the supply chain. and utilise the benefits of both.
At the same time, our review highlighted the need for

Conclusions of the Study further research into how measurable attributes on standing
Assessing the wood quality already on the standing trees can trees are truly descriptive of the quality of the sawn product.
bring numerous benefits for forest management, harvesting, In this regard, empirical studies could be valuable, which also
and wood product manufacturing. assess the products produced downstream of the supply chain.
This work focuses on attributes that are visually detectable Wood quality modelling, then, is a rapidly developing
on the stem. The overview of technical standards and traits field, as is similar modelling for forest growth. However, this
assessed as wood quality attributes in forest inventories requires data that connect the several phases of the production
revealed the absence of a generalised rule. However, it was process, from the forest, to logging operations up to sawmill
possible to group the main characteristics into categories: processing. Data could be stored effectively with the use of

dimension, stem form, branchiness, and damage. traceability systems so that information is not lost from one
Scientific studies that applied laser- or image-based survey phase to the next.
techniques for automatic definition of these attributes were Finally, increasing the collection of forest and wood quality
also reviewed. Initially, laser or image-based techniques were data in accessible databases would allow the application of
primarily focused on measuring common inventory variables innovative information management and processing techniques.
such as dimensions (tree diameter, height) and biomass. The recent growth of deep learning and other artificial intelligence
However, due to promising results, interest has expanded techniques is extremely promising, but these require large

to include the survey of other parameters closely linked to amounts of data to implement efficiently. FDM
wood quality, such as stem form, branch characteristics, and ENQUIRY NO. 4201