Organisation of procurement in wood supply chain: Improvement of possibilities in the South Morava Forest Area

Abstract

The procurement process is of great importance for the business success of the company. The effectiveness of a business depends to a great extent on the ability to use the environment in the procurement of resources necessary for functioning. The aim of the research is to identify the main problems in forest management in the South Morava Forest Area (SMFA), in the production and sales of beech roundwood, as well as to determinate the characteristics of the companies and the organization of the raw materials procurement process. The data were collected in the period 2014- 2017, by surveying 13 representatives of small and medium enterprises and 1 large company and interviewing 5 employees of Forest Estate “Vranje” (Public enterprise „Srbijašume“). The current situation in the SMFA is characterized by an unfavourable structure of beech coppice forests, inadequate forest openness and low wood mobilization from private forests. Analyzed companies are, mostly, micro and small (79.0%), founded (64.3%) less than 10 years ago, and 50% of them are engaged in sawmill and wood processing. All companies purchase and use beech technical roundwood. Wood raw material is purchased from the public and private sectors. Transport of raw materials is carried out through intermediaries (92.9%) and on “bad” and “very bad” (71.0%) infrastructure. However, the majority (92.9%) of them are “partially satisfied” and “satisfied” with the quantity and quality of delivered raw materials. There is a significant presence (86.0%) of enterprises, which, in addition to technical roundwood, procure and use other wood products (fibreboards and other reproduction materials) from suppliers from other regions. Based on the analysis of all collected data, places for improvement of wood raw materials procurement and the weaknesses of existing supply chains have been defined, as well as the proposals for improving the organization of the procurement of wood raw materials at SMFA. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 37008-TD: Sustainable management of the total forest potential in the Republic of Serbia]