ROSEWOOD4.0 Study Visit in Slovenia: discovering M Sora company

The first ROSEWOOD4.0 study visit at the South East Europe Hub took place at the Slovenian company M Sora, which was finally organised as a hybrid event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the event, 4 participants from M Sora, 2 innovation experts from Slovenia and 2 project partners from the Slovenian Forestry Institute were present in person. The online part of the study visit took place via ZOOM and was also streamed live on Facebook.

At the beginning of the study visit, a few minutes were dedicated to an overview of the ROSEWOOD4.0 project, the scope of its European network and its latest developments. Then Barbara Šubic, M Sora’s research and development manager, presented the company’s organisation, its sustainable practices, the collection and use of reclaimed wood in its production, with special emphasis on the RecAPPture application, and the development of smart windows (sensors and ICT systems). He also presented M Sora’s efforts to minimise the use of harmful materials and processes.

M Sora is a company that unites tradition and innovation. The presentation was followed by a video on digitalisation in the production of wooden windows. This was followed by a discussion about RecAPPture and the follow-up projects were presented and discussed. The participants of the study visit expressed their positive impressions of the company and its work.

In addition, the attendees raised questions about prices, the amount of wood recovered, the maintenance of sensors in the windows, regulations on wood waste management, how to deal with chemicals in wood waste, competitive markets for wood waste and the functioning of similar applications with other use cases.

One of the main conclusions reached by all participants of this first study visit after the discussion and presentations was that in order to innovate in the wood and forestry industrial sector, digitalisation is not only important in terms of the application of new technologies and tools, but also in terms of digital competences at both educational and business level.