Research Brief #4

The Certification Information System:
A Chain-of-Custody Framework for Environmentally Certified Wood Products
Louisiana Forest Products Development Center
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA

Research Objectives

An argument against wood product environmental certification is the difficulty in maintaining an audit trail of certified material through the distribution chain. At first glance, it does seem to be a daunting task to track certified wood products from a harvested log, through multiple layers of primary and secondary processing as well as through one or more levels of distribution to the fabricated consumer product. The purpose of this research report is to give an overview of wood product environmental certification and to describe the Certification Information System (CIS), a technology based solution for maintaining certified product 'chain of custody' integrity through all levels of distribution.

Synopsis of Results

• The Certification Information System is an attempt to operationalize and support those procedures which are being suggested by the certifying organizations.
• Through the use of bar code technology and electronic data linkages, in addition to any paper trail which might be generated, a system is created which ensures that proper chain-of-custody procedures are followed.

Conclusions

We propose that through development of a Certification Information System (CIS), bar coding used in conjunction with communication technology could allow wood product channel members to jointly manage environmentally certified inventories and to deliver maximum supplier-to-customer logistics system efficiency. More importantly, these technologies could create a unimpeachable electronic certification audit trail through all linked layers of distribution.

Researchers

Richard P. Vlosky, Assistant Professor, Forest Products Marketing
Louisiana Forest Products Development Center

Lucie K. Ozanne, Ph.D. Candidate
Wood Products Marketing Program
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania

Target Group

Wood products manufacturers or distributors that are considering involvement in environmental certification.

Methodology

Secondary information sources and industry interviews.