Historically, the selection of wood for manufacturing furniture and joinery has been made with great care. The basis has been the un-edged sawn and dried pieces of wood. Alternatively, selection has already been made in the forest. The trained eye and the skilful craftsmen have been crucial for the result. In today’s industrial processes, this methodology is hard to achieve with the non-homogeneous wooden material. This article explores developmental trends considering the work within the Swedish hardwood value chain. The aim of this manuscript is to discover how it is possible to utilize today’s available information technology, e.g. scanners in the industrial process, as a help to make more optimal use of the wooden raw material. Together with customers of a hardwood sawmill, a product was selected and followed backwards in the hardwood value chain. Crosscutting scanner data was collected based on wood origin with known log-quality. The length distribution of crosscut components was simulated based on different quality grading criteria. The results from the study may be used as a help in production planning, in the selling process, or as a tool in product development where raw material accessibility may be determined in relation to the product design.