Quality assurance for value-added wood producers in British Columbia

Third-party quality assurance has long been embraced by many industrial sectors as an effective means of improving a company's quality, production, and ultimately, profitability. From a marketing point of view, quality assurance labels are an effective means of promoting high-quality products and, thus, building global demand. However, the value-added wood products industry in British Columbia has not been quick to adopt such systems, despite an urgent need to develop worldwide markets. A paper describes the process of quality assurance and provides examples of systems that currently operate in other sectors of the economy. Results from a 1998 survey of British Columbia's value-added wood products industry indicate that this sector has not yet embraced the notion of third-party quality certification.