Return to strength

5 April 2014


This year’s Xylexpo exhibition sees the return of some major names in woodworking machinery. Stephen Powney reports.

Improvement in the UK economy and incentives to invest in machinery, such as the recent boost to the annual investment allowance, could make this year's Xylexpo woodworking machinery fair an interesting proposition for UK timber companies.

The Milan event, traditionally one of the world's largest woodworking machinery events (2012 attendance: 43,480), will feature latest machine innovations from some of the leading brands including Weinig, Homag, Biesse and Cefla. Italian exhibitors will be much in evidence, including Maggi, Greda, Salvador and Casadei-Busellato.

Whether it's sawmilling, joinery production, panel processing, finishing, furniture manufacture or biomass, the Rho Fairgrounds on May 13-17 should have something for everyone. Great efforts have been made by the organiser, Acimall, to unify this year's event.

The last few editions of Xylexpo have been in competition with a newer, rival show in Rimini - Technodomus. Several key Xylexpo exhibitors - such as Biesse, SCM and Cefla - swapped allegiances, backing the Rimini event. This led to much acrimony in the sector and inevitably affected Xylexpo's visitor and exhibitor numbers.

But Biesse and Cefla are now back at Milan, along with two SCM companies - CMS Group- Balestrini and Superfici-Elmag. The loss of such major exhibitors led to Technodomus being cancelled this year, giving Xylexpo the ability to claim once more that it is the only national (and international) woodworking machinery exhibition in Italy.

"The unification we have achieved this year is a major step and from now on we will press forward," said Acimall president Lorenzo Primultini.

He was speaking at the official Xylexpo press conference in Milan attended by TTJ - an event held in the National Museum of Science and Technology to emphasise Italy's rich heritage in design and engineering.

Mr Primultini and Acimall director Dario Corbetta, sitting in front of the work of an Italian master, said the achievements of Leonardo da Vinci in engineering were an inspiration for Xylexpo, which is supporting the "Made in Italy" brand.

"We know that internal fights and, most of all, the economic crisis, has driven Xylexpo out of the minds of a few," said Mr Primultini.

"We don't want this to happen again and we are willing to focus all our energy to provide international operators with an effective, functional and well-attended platform."

Show promotion
Some 350 exhibitors were booked at the end of February, covering 24,000m², with around 450 exhibitors covering 30,000m² expected when Xylexpo opens its doors.

Great efforts have been made to promote this year's show, including mass marketing to 40,000 Italian companies and direct marketing to 15,000 selected companies, as well as advertising across mainstream and trade media.

The Italian woodworking machinery industry itself has gone through some tough years. Production was worth €1.48bn in 2013, down 5.7% on 2012, and its exports were worth €1.15bn, down 3.3% on a year ago.

Exports to the UK were down 16.6% last year to €32m, the ninth largest market for Italy.

But better figures were seen in Q4 of 2013, with total industry orders up 4.8% and foreign markets improving by 7.3%.

Surface finishing and panel processing are among the strongest sectors represented at Xylexpo 2014. Many exhibitors will focus on the trend for smaller batch production and shortening time to market from product concept to sales - often requiring a reorganisation of production lines and a partnership with technology suppliers.

Hall 2 will feature machinery and accessories and tools for working solid wood and semi-finished solid wood products, as well as primary wood processing technology and equipment for the timber construction sector.

Several companies gave previews of their product strategy for this year's show, including Wood Drying Engineering Maspell, which will promote equipment for producing "Termo Vuoto" - Thermo Vacuum wood.

Cross-cut sawing specialist Salvador will exhibit its new Classic 50 manual entry level cross-cutting saw, as well as a new "super fast" version of the Supercut 500 for production of blockboard panels and edge glued panels.

Biesse will have a special focus on highquality wooden component production and furniture, highlighting the AirForce System for producing edgebanded panels which are resistant to water and heat.

It will also launch the Rover B FT machining centre, the Winline One door and window production centre and the new version of the Opera 7 for sanding operations.

Two UK exhibitors are currently booked in for Xylexpo - sawmill machinery manufacturer Stenner and Planit Software.

A new feature this year will be the Xylexpo Innovation Awards, which will see the best technical innovations at the show voted on by the world's trade media, including TTJ.

"Our goal is to carry on a strong exhibition project capable of attracting exhibitors and visitors from all over the world," said Mr Primultini.

The Xylexpo press conference in Milan presented a “unified” Italian woodworking machinery sector.
Xylexpo is held at the Rho Fairgrounds