TWIG | The Wood Innovation Group
TWIG | The Wood Innovation Group

The Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) is Canada’s national centre for education, training and technical assistance for the wood products manufacturing industry.

CAWP offers a wide range of training courses, professional e-learning programs, in-plant training, product development, and manufacturing improvement services. We also conduct and coordinate applied research and development and support the award-winning B.Sc. in Wood Products Processing and its cooperative education program.

More Info +

 

Product Development

Wood products manufacturers and industrial designers can access competitively-priced product development services from CAWP, which can include design, engineering, CAD drafting assistance, production process optimisation, prototype manufacturing, technology selection, costing studies, and market feasibility studies. These services are available to wood products companies of all kinds and in all locations. British Columbia-based manufacturers can receive support for these projects through the Wood First program.

More Info +

If you are a manufacturer or designer who is thinking about developing and launching a new wood-based product or modifying an existing one, CAWP can help you to access the right kinds of support services. We start by sitting down with you and discussing your needs. We then suggest a course of action. Some services can be provided directly by CAWP staff, while our partners can deliver others.

The kinds of services you need at the product development stage could include any of the following:

  • Having a market opportunity analysis conducted to determine whether there is a potential market for your idea
  • Obtaining assistance from an industrial designer to refine a new product idea
  • Getting help from an engineer to determine the performance requirements of a new product or design
  • Having 2D or 3D computer-aided design (CAD) drawings made, and/or converting CAD files into computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) files that can be read by a CNC machine centre
  • Getting a prototype manufactured
  • Having a cost analysis performed to determine manufacturing costs using specific kinds of machines, tools or other equipment

If after an initial consultation you decide that you would like to go ahead with the process, CAWP will assign a member of our staff to act as project liaison. The project liaison will be your main contact throughout the process, and will coordinate the various services that you require to develop your new wood product.

Once the product development process is complete, you might require any of the following forms of assistance to preparing for manufacturing and commercialise your product:

  • Production consulting services (in which a technical specialist visits your factory and provides advice on how to make changes to your equipment and processes to accommodate a new product)
  • Training services – customized in-house training on new machinery or production methods
  • Business planning – determining marketing strategy, financial requirements and other aspects of the new product launch
  • Trade shows and trade missions– help with getting the attention of buyers in key markets