Predictive Forestry; Data Fusion and Analytics; Smart Timber Processing
TOPIC 3 – Timber and Innovative Wood-Based Products
Gascogne’s interest in cooperating in this project is to strengthen its capacity to better characterize and valorize the maritime pine resource through innovative approaches combining forestry data, sawmill data, and artificial intelligence.
The project would provide an opportunity to collaborate with research organizations and industrial partners to develop advanced methods for predicting wood properties, optimizing processing operations, and improving resource efficiency throughout the forest-wood value chain.
In addition, Gascogne is particularly interested in enhancing knowledge of the mechanical properties of maritime pine to support the development of higher value-added wood products and increase the competitiveness and sustainability of the sector. The project outcomes could be directly implemented in the Group's forestry and industrial activities, contributing to innovation and the digital transformation of the wood industry.
The Gascogne Group is a major player in the forest-wood-paper value chain within the Landes de Gascogne forest region in France, which covers approximately 800,000 hectares of maritime pine forests. Each year, the Group procures around 800,000 tonnes of maritime pine, representing nearly 15% of the annual harvest volume in the region. This includes sawlogs for its two sawmills, industrial wood for its paper mill, and biomass fuel for its three biomass boilers.
The Group operates across several stages of the value chain. Forest management activities are carried out by Gascogne Forêt Services, while wood processing is handled by Gascogne Bois, which operates two industrial sawmills (each with a capacity of 80,000 m³) and a manufacturing facility producing engineered bonded wood products for the joinery industry.
The activities of the Gascogne Bois R&D laboratory focus in particular on :
- Leveraging data collected from sawmills and forest operations to improve understanding of the wood resource and optimize processing operations through artificial intelligence;
- Enhancing knowledge of the mechanical properties of maritime pine in order to develop higher value-added wood products.
