Skogstekniska Klustret (The Cluster of Forest Technology)

Skogstekniska Klustret is the stepping-stone towards the future of forestry. They develop technology for tomorrow's forestry - innovative forestry machines, fascinating jobs and collaboration with world leading researchers and companies - for a sustainable planet.

Skogstekniska Klustret is an economic association with 10 member companies that together employ over 1,100 people. The heart of Skogstekniska Klustret's work is their innovation system, where they connect their member companies with researchers, students, start-ups, forest companies and funders - and then help them run projects that develop forestry.

Through Skogstekniska Klustret's support, member companies have increased their collaboration with academic research and education. This has resulted in a number of test bed projects and several innovations have become products on the market. Other results? Sharper companies. Regional growth. And a more inclusive culture, with room for everyone.

Member Companies

The member companies are located from Malå municipality in the north to Ludvika municipality in the south. The companies together employ more than 1,100 people, of which around 15 percent are women. If we also include subcontractors, 1,400 people are employed in the cluster's operations. Thus, the companies are responsible for most of the jobs in the forestry machine industry in Sweden.

The cluster companies contribute to local business growth in their respective locations by using local subcontractors. Other industries are affected by the forest technology companies both by being subcontractors to the companies and by the cluster companies supplying products other than forest machines and machine components.

Activity

Development is a process and innovation is the result of dialogue. This has been utilized by Skogstekniska Klustret. Companies are given the opportunity to develop new systems for producing and refine forest raw materials in a context that is larger than their own company. Not least, member companies have increased their collaboration with academic research and education. The cluster companies run development projects in collaboration with researchers and students from, among others, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Luleå Technical University, Skogforsk and Umeå University.

For the members of Skogstekniska Klustret, being a part of the cluster has lead to several innovations becoming products that are now on the market. The projects are financed with funds from the EU's regional fund, The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, Vinnova, forest companies, municipalities, county boards and regions. Sveaskog has also been a significant driver in a focused effort for the development of new forest machines in collaboration with Skogstekniska Klustret.