Connectivity and long battery
life is key in the Swedish forest industry

I remember helping to build a computer backpack for forest workers around 15 or 20 years ago. It had a rather enormous battery, an external screen, keyboard and mouse and weighed around 15 kilos, which of course made it difficult to carry over long periods of time. Earlier on, bringing a computer to the forest was not an option. And even though it might be hard to remember or even understand, there was a time when computers did not even exist. 

However, digital transformation has moved quickly in the last couple of decades, and few industries have benefitted as much as the forest industry. Today, the industry can do real-time measurements of e.g. the tree population as well as real-time adaptations of lengths and proportions of timber, enabling forest workers to always meet demands. It is even possible to use x-ray cameras to view if trees contain any bad materials, making it possible to discard these at an early stage. Another advantage comes from continuously being able to calculate the optimal logistics flow in the forest. 

Advantages like these have multiplied tremendously in the last couple of years because of huge improvements with connectivity in the even the deepest Swedish forest areas. Also, the days of the 15 kilo heavy computer back packs are of course gone. Now, forest workers carry small computers and tablets, enabling them to optimize every detail of their operation.