Knowledge Database

Here you can find extension and academic articles, and tools developed by our research group. The tools and articles cover a range of different subjects to help increase the competitiveness of your business. Although the articles and tools are mostly based on wood products industry cases, they are still applicable to other industries. These tools and articles are free and you should use them on your own risk.

Financial tools and articles:

This article shows how to develop the three most important financial statements: Income, balance sheet and cash flow statements. It also calculates the most used financial ratios

Cost accounting is a critical part in business management. Understanding how raw materials, labor, and overhead are charged to functional units or production orders is fundamental knowledge every manager should have. This article covers the basic principles behind cost accounting.

Innovation tools:

The House of Quality. This tool was designed to improve the functionality of a wine barrel. The template incorporate also product innovation tools such as Voice of Customer Window, TRIZ 9 screen tool, and TILMAG. For more info please contact Henry Quesada at quesada@vt.edu

Continuous improvement:

This article introduces Lean Thinking with applications in wood products industry.

For those interested in learning more about inventory control and lean thinking this article could help you.

Statistical process control (SPC) is a critical technical skill in continuous improvement. This paper introduces the concept using easy examples applied to wood products.

Combining lean thinking with energy savings techniques is an extremely effective way to decrease manufacturing cost and impact other business dimensions such as environmental sustainability. We have developed an energy audit tool based on data from the Industry Assessment Center (IAC). To download the tool use this link.

This publication will help practitioners and academicians to understand what factors impact the sustainability of continuous improvement (CI) initiatives. There are many reasons why a CI could fail. In this research we studied employee perception of the CI process in four different industries across two different regions for a 14 months.

Supply Chain Management:

Our group recently published a book chapter on supply chain management basics. You can download the book chapter by following this link.

Marketing:

Our research group conducted a project to study opportunities for Appalachian wood products in Central America. The project was funded by the Federal State Improvement Marketing Program (FSMIP) at the  U.S. Department of Agriculture. The final report can be downloaded here.

Education, Learning, and Teaching:

This report was produced in 2017 through a USAID grant. The paper introduces several best practices for Agricultural Technical Vocational Educational and Training (ATVET) programs. 

In 2010, our research group started a course in Global Issues in Sustainability. The course has a goal to introduce students about sustainability and how it is applied in a developing country. The course includes a field trip to Costa Rica, one of the World’s most sustainable countries. After the research group’s first experience, we wrote an article to explain how the course works. You can download the paper here.

During 2010 we surveyed wood products firms to understand their perceptions about online-training education needs. The results of the survey can be found here.

Peer-reviewed articles (*denotes student for the SIM group)

  1. Quesada, H.J.; Smith R; Kakkar G*. 2019. Assessment of U.S. manufactured system built wooden homes as an affordable housing alternative for low income households in developing countries. BioProducts Business.
  2. Quesada H.J.; Bond B; Adhikari S.*; Grushecky S. 2019. Analysis of Hardwood Lumber Grade Yields Using Monte Carlo Simulation. BioResources 14(1):2029-2050.
  3. *Liang, L., and Quesada, H. J. 2018. Green Design of a Cellulosic Butanol Supply Chain Network: A Case Study of Sorghum Stem Bio-butanol in Missouri. BioResources. 13(3):5617-5642
  4. Quesada, H. J., Smith, R., and Berger, G. 2018. Drivers and Barriers of Cross-laminated Timber (CLT) Production and Commercialization: A Case Study in the Western Europe’s CLT industry. BioProducts Business. 3(3): 29-38.
  5. *Fallas, P. Quesada, H. and Madrigal-Sanchez, J. 2018. Lean thinking Principles Implementation in Logistic Activities: A case Study in the Wood Industry. Tecnologia en Marcha. 31(3): 52-65.
  6.  *Brenes-Bastos, M., Madrigal, J. and Quesada-Pineda, H. J. 2017. The Influence of Demographics on Continuous Improvement Strategic Planning. Tecnologia en Marcha. 30(3):12-23.
  7.  *Withers, J. Quesada-Pineda, H. J., and Smith, R. 2017. Bioeconomy Survey Results Regarding Barriers to the United States Advanced Biofuel Industry. Bioresources. 12(2): 2846-2863.
  8.  Quesada-Pineda, H. J., *Brenes, M. and Smith. R. 2017. Assessing Geographic Information Systems Use In Marketing Applications For The Wood Products Industry. BioProducts Business. 2(2):15-22.
  9.  Quesada-Pineda, H. J., *Erdogan, S. and Bond, B. 2016. An Empirical Tool to Measure the Effectiveness of Kaizen Events: A Case of Study in the Wood Products Industries. Forest Products Journal. 67(3/4): 164-178.
  10.  Quesada-Pineda, H. J., Wiedenbeck, J. and Bond, B. 2016. Analysis of Electricity Consumption: A study in the Wood Products Industry. Energy Efficiency Journal. 9(5):1193-1206.
  11. *Brenes-Angulo, O., Bond, B., Kline, E., and Quesada-Pineda, H. J. 2015. The impact of vacuum-drying on efficiency of hardwood products manufacturing. BioResources. 10(3): 4588-4598.
  12. *Withers, J., Quesada-Pineda, H. J., and Smith, R. 2015. Internal and External Barriers Impacting Non-Food Cellulosic Biofuel Projects in the United States. BioResources. 10(3):3874-3889.
  13. Edwards-Schachter, M., Garcia-Navarro, A., Sanchez-Barrioluengo, Quesada-Pineda, H., and Amara, N. 2015. Disentangling Competences: Interrelationships on creativity, Innovation and entrepreneurship. Thinking Skills and Creativity. 16(1): 27-39.
  14.  Quesada-Pineda, H. J., and Haviarova, E. 2014. Incorporating Experiential Learning and Education for Sustainable Development into Study Abroad Programs. Natural Sciences Education. 43(1):127-136.
  15. Moya, R., Bond, B., and Quesada-Pineda, H. J. 2014. A review of heartwood properties of Tectona grandis trees from fast-growth plantations. Wood Science and Technology. 48(2):411-433.
  16. *Lyon, S., Quesada-Pineda, H. J., and *Crawford, S. 2014. Reducing Electrical Consumption in the Forest Products Industry Using Lean Thinking. BioResources. 9(1): 1373-1386.
  17. Quesada-Pineda, H. J., *Lyon, S., and Smith. R. 2013. Marketing Factors Impacting Imported Wood Products in Central America. International Wood Products Journal. 5(2): 108-120.
  18. Quesada-Pineda, H. J., *Madrigal, J. 2013. Sustaining Continuous Improvement: A Longitudinal and Regional Analysis. International Journal of Engineering Business Management. Online Journal. Vol. 5, article 43.
  19. *Lyon, S*., Quesada-Pineda, H. J., and Smith, R. 2014. Identifying Market Opportunities for Appalachian Forest Products Companies in Central America. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry. 37(4):202-207.
  20. Espinoza, O., Smith, R., Lyon, S. Quesada-Pineda, H. J., and Bond, B. 2013. Educational Needs of the Forest Products Industry in Minnesota and Virginia in 2012. Forest Products Journal. 62(7/8): 613-622.
  21. Moya, R., Tenorio, C., Carranza, M., Camacho, D., and Quesada-Pineda, H. J.  2013.  Structural Performance of I-beam Fabricated of Gmelina Arborea from Fast Growing Trees. Journal of Tropical Forest Science. 25(2): 151-156.
  22. *Madrigal, J., and Quesada-Pineda, H. J. 2012. Innovation Management Best Practices: a Case Study among Wood, Energy, and Medical Firms. Business Process Management Journal. 18(6). 898-918.
  23. *Wang, C., Quesada-Pineda, H. J. 2012. Lean Evaluation of the Engineering Process: A Case Study in the Furniture Industry. Journal of Forest Products Business Research. Volume 9, article 1: 12 pages. Online Journal.
  24. Tenorio, C., Moya, R., Quesada-Pineda, H. J. 2012. Kiln drying of Acacia mangium wood: colour, shrinkage, warp, split and check in lumber before and after drying. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 24(1): 125-139.
  25. *Lyon, S., Quesada-Pineda, H. J., and Smith, R. 2012. A Case Study to Determine Drivers and Barriers of Appalachian Forest Products in Central America. Revista Forestal Mesoamerica Kuru. 9(22): 40-50.
  26.  Quesada-Pineda, H. J., *Sanchez-Gomez, S., and Araman, P. 2012. A Quantitative Study of the U.S. Wood Pallet Industry Based on Supply Chain Management Practices. Journal of Applied Packaging Research. 6 (1): 1-26.
  27. Quesada-Pineda, H. J., and *Sanchez-Gomez, S. 2011.  Analysis of Factors Impacting Supply Chain Management in the Wood Pallet Industry. Journal of Forest Products Business Research. Vol. 8, article 3, 13 pages. Online Journal.
  28. *Wang, C., Quesada-Pineda, H. J., Kline, D. E., and Buehlmann, U. 2011. Using Value Stream Mapping to Analyze an Upholstery Furniture Engineering Process. Forest Products Journal. 61(5): 411-421.
  29.  Quesada-Pineda, H. J., and Meneses-Guzman, M. 2011. Business Model Development to Support Small and Medium Enterprises based on Success Cases. Tec Empresarial 5(2): 27-37.
  30. Quesada-Pineda, H. J., *Adams, E., and Hammett, A. L. (Tom).  2011.  Incorporating Experiential Teaching Methods in Sustainable Natural Resources Curriculum: A Case Study. Journal of Natural Resources & Life Sciences Education. 40 (2011). Online Journal.
  31.  Quesada-Pineda, H. J., Kenealy, D., and Vlosky, R. 2011. Transitioning Ideation to Commercialization: A Comprehensive Product Development Strategy with an Application in the Wood Products Industry. Forest Products Journal. 60(7/8): 694-699.
  32.  Quesada-Pineda, H. J., Conn, S., and *Sanchez-Gomez, S. 2011. A Survey of Educational Needs and Online Training Perceptions in the Wood Products Industry. Journal of Extension. 49(1): Online Journal.
  33. Quesada-Pineda, H. J., Meneses-Guzman, M., and Monge-Fernandez, G. 2010. Evaluation of the Costa Rican Excellence Award for High Quality and Performance. Tec Empresarial 4(2): 39-48.
  34.  Quesada-Pineda, H. J. 2010. Innovation Activities in the Primary Wood Products Sector: A Case Study. Wood and Fiber Science. 42(4): 511-522.
  35. Quesada-Pineda, H. J., Haviarova, E., and *Slaven, I. 2009. A Value Stream Mapping Analysis of Selected Wood Products Companies in Central America. Journal of Forest Products Business Research. Vol 6, article 4. Online Journal.
  36. Quesada-Pineda, H. J., Meneses-Guzman, M., and Gamboa-Calderon, O. 2008. Supply Chain Management and its Relationship with Foreign Direct Investment. Tec Empresarial. 2(3): 37-45.