Mumbai, September 2020:
Forestry Innovation Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. (FII), popularly known as Canadian Wood has been actively promoting building with sustainably sourced wood from B.C., Canada in India. Canada’s high potential as a long-term source of supply of wood to fibre deficit countries such as India is hard to match. Its supply of seasoned, graded, sized, certified and ready to use lumber makes it an ideal choice for India where the demand for wood, particularly in the solid wood furniture category is high and growing apart from the doors & door frames and structural applications.
Canadian Wood continues to actively engage in educating the Indian wood industry about its species through various initiatives including sharing of best practices, hand holding at ground level in applications of the species and connecting the industry with lumber companies in B.C., Canada. In the re-man category, it provides extensive technical support and suggests appropriate species along with their grades for a variety of applications. These include furniture (indoor & outdoor), doors & door frames and windows & window frames, interior applications such as paneling, handrails and outdoor applications like cladding, decking, pergolas, gazebos etc. in addition to structural ones.
Continuing with its effort in the pandemic era where physical engagements are restricted, Canadian Wood conducted its fourth educational seminar on topics of interest and relevance to the wood working industry followed by a Q&A session towards the end with the participants.
Reflective of the challenges in manufacturing faced by the OEMs and the contractors such as lack of essential training facilities and limited understanding about wood treatment, storage, wastage and handling of wood or finished wood products etc., the webinar focused upon ‘Best practices in manufacturing’ of solid wood furniture. It was attended by well-known manufacturers, contractors, timber merchants and wood traders.
The presenter – Peter Bradfield, Technical Advisor at Canadian Wood shared information on the various Canadian Wood species like Western Hemlock, Yellow Cedar, Western Red Cedar, Douglas-Fir and Spruce-Pine-Fir along with their unique properties, grades, and varied applications. He also elaborated upon critical aspects of the manufacturing process like lumber management, seasoning, acclimatization, grain and grade selection, machining, wood coating, storage of the finished products and more that directly impact final outcomes.
Several examples of products made with Canadian Wood species by various well-known solid wood furniture manufacturers across India were showcased during the webinar. Material support and technical assistance were provided by Canadian Wood in the making of these products. Each product showcased exemplary finish and aesthetic appeal along with adherence to best practices.
Speaking about the webinar Mr. Peter Bradfield said, “India has a rich and unique heritage of manufacturing in solid wood. Also, the skills and techniques were often passed on amongst carpenters over generations. However, today a lot of techniques inherent to the process of wood manufacturing in the region have been lost. Limited knowledge amongst craftsmen, lack of appropriate training and regular upgrading of skillsets or understanding of newer technologies and techniques are further affirming the need for educational webinars like the one we conducted.”
Mr. Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director, Canadian Wood also shared his comments and said,
“Canadian softwood species are rapidly finding acceptance in the wood working industry in India. On one hand the demand from environmentally conscious manufacturers is growing for legally harvested and certified wood and on the other hand the diminishing availability of tropical hardwoods from its traditional sources of supply has motivated the wood working professionals to look for alternate long-term sources of wood supply from sustainably managed forests.
As highlighted in our fourth webinar today of the various species promoted by Canadian Wood, we are delighted to see that Western Hemlock along with Douglas-Fir is increasingly being preferred as the species of choice by furniture manufacturers both for domestic and export markets due to their looks, easy workability and stainability. Yellow Cedar and Western Red Cedar on the other hand are rapidly finding favour with manufacturers for outdoor furniture.
Adding further he stated, “This highly focused webinar is just the beginning of a series that will soon be followed by sharing of Best practices in manufacturing of other popular applications of solid wood.
About FII-India (Canadian Wood)
FII is a crown agency of the government of British Columbia (B.C.), the western most province of Canada. Its mandate is to promote Canadian wood species in the offshore markets and to position it as a global supplier of quality wood products from sustainably managed forests. FII’s outreach program creates awareness, imparts training and education on the wood products from B.C., Canada apart from technical support and handholding. Canadian Wood brand/logo was created in 2013-14 to reach out to the audience and facilitate better understanding of its activities amongst them.
