This study is a part of a Swedish research and development project that is about heat-treated wood and is led by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Luleå University of Technology. Products that are heat-treated already exists on the market, foremost the Finnish brand ThermoWood®, bur the project group want to find out if it would be possible to start a Swedish production with somewhat different applications than what is common today.
The heat-treated wood has many attributes that have changed in the heating process. It becomes more biologically durable, it gains stability in form and dimensions and it becomes darker and looses several unwanted extractives such as resin. Disadvantages that can be mentioned are that the wood becomes fragile and the strength properties changes.
My main purpose with this study is to look into customer involvement in the early phase
of product development. I also want to find out if the customers I interview think that the product is worth working with, which means start a Swedish production. The customers I have interviewed in this study are five small and midsize companies that have been in the business for generations.
The interviews have been successful and have shown the companies broad competence and market knowledge. By their answers I can draw the conclusion that there is a big interest in the product but that the companies want to make large-scale tests to be sure they can take the risk to participate. They see a lot of opportunities and alternative areas for the product and believe in the product for the future. The customers consider heat-treated wood as an exclusive complement for today´s rather than a substitute.
As a theoretical background I have used three theories about product development. When I view the customer’s answers along with the theories it shows how much “they” are heavily involved in the project of developing heat-treated wood. Within the project group it´s needed to define a specific coordinator role that can synchronize the knowledge of he project and lead the project forward in an efficient way.
The knowledge the customer have abou...
