Ligna 2017 to be bigger and “different”

Dr Andreas Gruchow, board member of event organiser Deutsche Messe, told an assembly of trade journalists from across the global (including TTJ), that net exhibitor space booked for the May 22-26 show in Hanover was running above the level at the last show in 2015. Over 122,000m2 of display space is predicted, with just three months to go.

Mr Gruchow also said visitor registration levels were currently substantially above 2015 levels. He also revealed that Ligna would look “completely different” this year.

The revamped layout includes a new “Tools and Machinery for Custom and Mass Production” display in halls 11 to 15 and 27.

The layout will recognise that lines have been blurred between traditional smaller companies and large manufacturers, as many of the smaller companies now possess automated machines with customisation possibilities.

The display encompasses machinery for processing solid wood, plant and machinery for industrial-scale furniture production, and machines and hand-tools for crafting custom products from both solid wood and panel products.

It will present a comprehensive range of solutions for companies of all sizes at one convenient location and in a way that is “supremely quick and easy for visitors to navigate”, according to organisers.

“The new layout of themes reflects the fact that, in modern woodworking, the type of technology used is more about what’s needed to get the job done than about the size or scale of the user’s operation. So large and small companies will be positioned closer to each other than in the past, with side-by-side location of related areas,” said Mr Gruchow.

The show will feature more than 1,500 exhibitors from 45 nations and attract trade visitors from about 90 nations. The show will occupy 10 exhibition halls plus the venue’s extensive open-air site.

It covers tools and machinery for custom and mass production, surface technology innovations, wood-based panel production solutions, sawmill technology, wood-energy technology, machine components, automation and forestry technology.

The central focus of LIGNA 2017 is on intelligent concepts for integrated manufacturing across multiple links in the wood processing chain.