In common with other industry sectors, there aren’t a lot of positive signs evident in the wood machinery market, but there are a few areas in which levels of activity are providing encouragement for some firms.

‘The market is quite busy and the immediate future seems to be busy as well,’ commented an equipment supplier to the timber industry. ‘We are very busy with enquiries, although it has only picked up for us in the last couple of weeks. It was very, very flat through the summer months – I mean really bad.’

‘We are certainly moving forward,’ said another contact, ‘particularly on the service side. We are running at about 25% ahead of our original business plan, so we are very positive.’

However, while most people stop short of describing the prevailing wood machinery market as quiet, there is quite widespread expectation that it may be heading that way in the next few weeks. Some contacts say the market is unusually difficult to read, a situation exacerbated by added economic ‘interference’ in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11.

Apprehension

‘There has been a distinct slowing down in the market,’ said a contact. ‘People in the industry are very apprehensive because they don’t know what to expect.’

Industry representatives attending the Woodworking Ireland exhibition, which took place from September 13-15, just days after the attacks, report that there was a surreal atmosphere at the show. The atrocities had initially caused the show’s organisers to consider cancellation, particularly in light of Ireland’s special affinity with the US, but they went ahead after receiving ‘overwhelming’ support from industry delegates.

A service held in the middle of Friday afternoon is reported to have brought the show to a standstill for 15 minutes, as exhibitors and visitors remembered the victims: ‘It was a strange thing because, as everywhere else, Friday [September 15] was a day of mourning but in Ireland it was also declared a holiday,’ said one contact. ‘As a result of that there were a lot more people at the show on the Friday than we would normally have expected. The service was very well done.’

Another contact said the extra visitors had swelled the number of machinery orders taken at the show and that many exhibitors had left happy. However, a few weeks on, it seems the enthusiasm of the visitors has not translated into actual purchases in many cases, he observed: ‘There were orders being placed at Woodworking Ireland that gave everyone concerned good reason to be pleased but the machinery makers are obviously more nervous now. They are not addressing the situation as it is. Instead they are thinking about how it might be in future.’

The terrorist attacks – and the reaction of the world’s stock markets – are continuing to have repercussions for the industry, with one equipment supplier reporting that some of his customers have been severely affected by a sudden loss of business. ‘We’ve had both ends of the spectrum,’ he said. ‘One customer came to see an installation in mid-September and thought it was fantastic, said it was just what he wanted. We followed it up a week later and were told that this guy’s market – high quality furniture for banks – had collapsed overnight as a direct result of disruption to the stock exchange after New York. Yet other customers tell us it won’t make a bit of difference to them, that they are steaming ahead and have never been busier.’

Receivers have finally completed the sale of Wadkin North America, to an established US-based machinery parts distributor, which is apparently uninterested in selling new or second-hand machinery. The rejuvenated firm in the UK is said to have already ‘tied-up’ a deal to supply the new owner with Wadkin parts and tooling, with which to service the large number of machines in use in the US. The company is also reported to be seeking distributors for grinding machinery in the US, which is regarded as a potentially huge market.

Interest among machinery buyers in factory re-build programmes, in which manufacturers take back a machine, strip it down and re-build it from the chassis upwards, effectively returning a new machine at reduced cost, is apparently growing.

This alternative to on-site refurbishment, or costly state-of-the-art equipment, is being recognised by buyers as a welcome advantage, said a spokesperson for one firm with such a programme in place. ‘It might be, say, eight-year-old technology but they are getting a brand new machine,’ he said. ‘It allows people who are not sure about the economic future but who have to replace their machine, to keep their existing machine going for another eight years at probably half the cost of a modern equivalent.’

The pound has remained steady in relation to the Italian and German currencies over recent months, which, although not particularly favourable to domestic manufacturers, has provided a modicum of stability in which to operate. However, some fear the jittery financial markets increase the likelihood of recession in the UK and elsewhere, which was already being mooted in some quarters before the attacks took place.

Confidence dented

The confidence of consumers – the ‘engine’ of the economy – may also have been dented, which concerns some contacts. However, one contributor said he was not aware of any negative effect on consumer demand for furniture products: ‘We all depend upon Joe Public spending money, whether its food, clothes, furniture or replacement windows,’ he said. ‘Traditionally, the British public spends a lot on furniture and other things to do with the house, to get it ready for Christmas. The signs are that sales of that kind of domestic product are holding up well.’

This point of view is reinforced by reports that the home-furnishings side of retail giant Marks & Spencer, which has been hit very hard by customer apathy, is currently its strongest performer. Suppliers to the company are said to be working as hard as they possibly can to fulfill orders. ‘All that is happening is still far enough away from home not to worry people – but that might change tomorrow if they decide to blow-up Harrods,’ said one contributor.

European timber organisation Eumabois, which sponsors the convenors and chairpeople of various working groups carrying out work on CEN standards for the wood machinery industry, convened in Portugal at the beginning of October. Industry insiders say the organisation has improved immeasurably since ACIMALL took charge of the secretariat a couple of years ago. ‘It is important work and the remaining UK manufacturers have always been keen to ensure that standards were prepared for Annex 4 machines as soon as possible because it saves them money having to have them type-tested,’ said a contact.

Standards complete

Most of the standards are now complete, apart from those for more obscure machinery, although there is a lot of revision work to be done by CEN Technical Committee (TC) 142, which deals with the safety of woodworking machinery, in relation to tooling, surface planers, combined surfacing and thicknessing machines, circular saws and tenoning machines the contact reports. ‘Since the first standard came out in 1997 there have been, for want of a better expression, some template changes to the standards, so everything needs to be brought into step,’ he said.

The involvement of the British Standards Institution in CEN TC 142 is also helping to instill confidence in the UK industry that this vital work is being carried out in the interests of all European companies.