As mentioned in a previous number of our journal (PRO LIGNO 5(1)-March 2009), the inquiries regarding the necessities in the wood sector in region Brasov-Covasna from Romania continued within the FP7 project, through three workshops, on the three subjects of major interest, as revealed by the fact finding analysis:
           - Education
           - Cooperation between Research and Enterprises
           - Marketing and Informational Tehnologies.

Worshop EDUCATION

           This took place on 24.02.2009, at the Faculty of Wood Industry in Brasov, in the presence of representatives from local forestry schools, some representative enterprises in the region and some of the project partners (ZENIT GmbH, INNO Consult and ASIMCOV).
           After presenting the results of the fact finding analysis, the participants were solicited to vote the most important issues in their oppinion, to be discussed within this workshop. The choice was made between the following shortcomings revealed by the fact finding analysis:
           1 - Problems in recruiting qualified staff;
           2 - Lack of information about profile schools;
           3 - Poor collaboration between vocational schools and enterprises;
           4 - Vocational training does not meet the need of the market;
           5 - Poor qualification of non-academic staff (graduates of vocational schools);
           6 - Lack of vocational orientation.
           The voting expressed by the 16 participants, resulted in 4, 5 and 3 (in decreasing order) to be the most important.
           With regard to the contents of vocational training, the discussions revealed the necessity to modify the curriculum, to re-introduce basic disciplines like technical drawing, wood anatomy and also to extend the duration of the practical stage; considering that this lies in the hand of the Education Commission in Bucharest, the participants suggested to initiate lobbying at the Commission.
           With regard to the poor qualification of non-academic staff, the following activities were suggested:
           - Organising a woodworking competition between pupils in order to increase their competitive spirit and to create new links between the vocational schools and enterprises in the local wood sector;
          - Lobbying for the old structure of the vocational system (specialised vocational schools for apprentices and team leaders);
           - Consultancy to schools in writing project proposals so as to access funding opportunities.
With a view to improving the collaboration between vocational schools and enterprises, the following activities were also proposed:
           - Organising company visits in schools to make wood industry better known, present the diversity of its professions and to inspire pupils;
           - Scholarships for pupils funded by companies.
           The matrix analysis of the feasibility of the proposed activities, allowed to finally select the most feasible three activities, to be carried out within the project, until its end in May 2010. These are:
           * Organising a woodworking competition between pupils;
           * Consultancy to schools in writing project proposals so as to access funding opportunities;
           * Organising company visits in schools.

Worshop COOPERATION BETWEEN RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISES

           This took place the same day, 24.02.2009, at the Faculty of Wood Industry in Brasov, in the presence of representatives from enterprises from both counties, representatives of research institutions (the National Institute of Wood Bucharest and UTBv) and some of the project partners (ZENIT GmbH and INNO Consult). The shortcomings revealed by the fact finding analysis related to this topic were:
           1 - Low take up of external services;
            2 - Weak cooperation between research and business;
           3 - No awareness of the advantages of research;
            4 - Difficulty in finding funds for research;
            5 - Difficulty in finding common projects/topics for the cooperation between R&D and business.
           The voting resulted in 2, 5 and 1 to be the most important.
With regard to possibilities of improving the cooperation between research and business, the following activities were proposed:
           - Research institutions have to promote their competences and services to the business sector;
           - Enact a law that forces the founder to proof his/her competence and education;
           - Enact a law that regulates all research activities;
           - Synthesise and adapt the demands of the business sector to the research priorities.
           In order to surpass the difficulty in finding common topics of interest, the following activities were suggested:
           - Disseminate by means of a website, technical information from university to business;
           - Establish thematic working groups (e.g. coating, drying, CNC processing etc.);
           - Elaborate a manual for operation safety;
           - Conduct technical audits in enterprises.
           The matrix analysis of the feasibility of the proposed activities, lead to selecting two main activities to be carried out within the project, namely:
           * Organising some workshops on thematic working groups;
           * Technical audits in enterprises.

Worshop MARKETING AND INFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES

           This took place the next day, 25.02.2009, at the Business Incubator in Sf. Gheorghe, in the presence of representatives from local enterprises, which are members in the ASIMCOV association and some of the project partners (ZENIT GmbH and INNO Consult). The shortcomings revealed by the fact finding analysis related to this topic were:
           1 - Weak peb presence of companies;
           2 - E-commerce solutions are nearly of no importance;
           3 - Lack of strategic visions of the enterprises;
           4 - Over 50% of the companies are not a member of an association;
           5 - Products with low added value;
           6 - National orientation of the companies;
           7 - Lack of qualified staff for marketing / public relation activities;
           8 - Mistrust in the use of having a web presentation.
           The voting resulted in 2, 3 and 7 to be the most important.
           With regard to e-commerce type solutions, it was proposed to organise an information seminar about the utilisation and advantages of this modern marketing&sales solution, as well as to develop a common joined web portal for the wood industry.
           Regarding the lack of strategic visions in enterprises, the following improvement measures were proposed:
           - Identification of financial sources to support the participation at international/national fairs & support to applicants;
           - Build up thematic working groups that have the objective to develop joined services and specific products for the Ko-Fa's members;
           - Market Analysis;
           - Purchase of machines/technologies that can jointly be used by all organisations within the wood cluster.
           Regarding the lack of qualified staff for marketing / public relations, the following activities were proposed:
           - Establish a marketing section within Ko-Fa (wood section within ASIMCOV);
           - Offer marketing seminars;
           - Establish a common joined sales department within Ko-Fa.
           The matrix analysis of the feasibility of the proposed activities, lead to selecting four main activities to be carried out within the wood cluster, namely:
           * Identification of financing sources for international fairs;
           * Organise seminars about e-commerce and marketing;
           * Establish a common joined marketing and sales department at Ko-Fa;
           * Purchase of machines/technologies that can be jointly used by all organisations within the wood cluster.

Details regarding the calendar of implementing the proposed activities are available on the project
website: www.prowood.ro