Consulting Services
- Supply Chain - Profitably managing the asset that grows wood fiber and the efficiently acquiring the right wood fiber is the key to successful supply chain management in the forest products industry. Delphi Advisors' Economic Outlook and 4Cast are building blocks in managing the process. However, there is obviously much more to effective supply chain management. Tactical harvest planning, delivery scheduling, and inventory management are other critical components in supply chain management. Straight Arrow Consulting has expertise and experience to assist in any of these areas, including multi-client supply chain initiatives, to increase value delivery from the client's supply chain.
- Timber Market Studies - Timber Market Studies set the strategic context for investment and divestment decisions as well as tactical planning and execution of product marketing (for timber sellers) or fiber procurement (for fiber buyers). Straight Arrow Consulting, in conjunction with other affiliates, has conducted over 20 timber market studies across Inland West, Lake States, and U.S. South over the past six years for foreign and domestic forest products companies, public institutions, investors and lenders, Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs), and Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (ENGOs). Study motivations varied between clients but objectives included support of strategic planning initiatives, capital reconfiguration planning, and asset acquisition support. The aggregate value of capital decisions involved in these projects exceeded $1.6 billion U.S.
- Forest Asset Planning and Management - Informed decisions drive value creation. Those decisions may hinge on whether or not to purchase a particular forested property, how to manage a property, or when and how to sell a property. Ascertaining a realistic value proposition as a consequence of a proposed decision is fundamental to making informed decisions.
Straight Arrow Consulting engages in forest asset management planning, harvest scheduling, forest projections, and critique of proposed harvest plans and cash-flow projections/land valuation to support business planning and decision-making for clients either owning or evaluating prospective investments timberlands in the Westside Pacific North West, the Inland West, and the U.S. South. The selection of the appropriate collection of analytical tools depends upon the scale of the risk/reward payoff as well as client needs and comfort.
A key to success is not only the technical application of the technique, but working within organizations to prepare them for implementation of their selected strategy. Techniques here are team problem-solving, collaborative identification of mission critical elements, training, and multi-critereon objective evaluation. Clients included public institutions, lenders, Native American tribes, ENGOs, and TIMOs with varying asset management objectives that were consistent with their individual organizations’ vision and goals. The aggregate value of capital decisions involved in these projects exceeded $2.4 billion U.S.
- National Perspective - Unlike many forestry consultants who specialize within regional geographies, Straight Arrow Consulting's experience and network provide capability to operate both regionally as well as a national scale. Examples include work with National Association of State Foresters, assisting them with their national forestry statistics survey, and the Climate Action Reserve, assisting them in development of their forest protocols encompassing the continental United States.
- Risk and Uncertainty - Implicitly value is affected by risk and uncertainty. However, addressing risk and uncertainty is commonly tacked on as an after thought. Further, while the collective experience within a client's organization can provide valuable insight into risk and uncertainty this organizational strength is frequently overlooked, or even ignored, in the application of many analytical methods. Straight Arrow Consulting encourages clients to build the consideration of risk and uncertainty into their decision frame-work. Depending on needs this can be done via various forms of scenario planning, sensitivity testing, and/or monte carlo simulation. These techniques not only allow quantification of how risk and uncertainty might affect value, they also afford outstanding opportunities for organizations to leverage internal experience and incorporate it into the decision-making process.
- The links below provide a portfolio of past work. Selected details have been withheld or adjusted to protect clients' identity and proprietary interest.
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