Re-unification was one of the core messages at the press conference held to promote this year’s Xylexpo international woodworking technology exhibition. Held in the striking surroundings’ of Milan’s glulam “Greenhouse” UniCredit Pavilion – itself a great advert for modern timber engineering – there was a discernible feeling of optimism on the part of show organisers as they readied for the 25th anniversary of Xylexpo.

They have effectively seen off a rival show – Technodomus, and managed to attract back several key large Italian machine manufacturers to the event – the most notable being SCM Group.

Lorenzo Primultini, president of the Italian Woodworking Machinery and Tools Manufacturers’ Association (Acimall), summed it up nicely.

“The Italian Woodworking technology industry is united once again in its backing of Xylexpo,” he said.

With two of the three exhibiting halls having sold out in advance of the May 24-28 event at Fiera Milano Rho, and an additional fourth hall reserved in case expansion was required, the show has been tracking ahead of its position at the same time in 2014.

“Xylexpo 2016 should exceed the results of 2014, when we achieved 440 exhibitors, 119 of them international, with a net exhibition area just above 26,000m2,” added Mr Primultini.

By the time of the press conference in February, just over 300 exhibitors had booked, one-third from abroad, covering some 25,000m2 of floor space.

“So, we expect to get very close to the 450 exhibitors and 30,000m2 threshold. We are optimistic also for visitors: we expect better results than in 2014, when we had 44,000 visitors in five days.” Another sweetener is the decision this year to make entrance to Xylexpo free for all operators who register online at www. xylexpo.com.

ITALIAN UNITY

The fourteen companies sponsoring the press event were drawn from a wide range of the sector, encompassing woodworking, cutting, kilning, wood-based panels production technology, finishing and tooling.

They were Salvador, Emc, Giardina Group, Cefla Group, SCM Group, Homag Italia, Biesse Group, Greda, Incomac, Leuco, Costa Levigatrici, Metal World, Imal and Pal.

The return of woodworking machinery giant SCM is of course one of the big stories. After an absence of some years, it has booked 2,600m2 of display space the show.

“Now we can say that the entire woodworking community will be at Xylexpo, with no exceptions,” said Mr Primultini. He said SCM’s participation would contribute to making Xylexpo an even bigger and richer showcase and pull in more visitors.

Industry sectors

Halls 1 & 3 will feature machinery, accessories and tools for the furniture industry, in particular for panel processing and machinery for finishing surfaces and relative products, hardware and semi-finished products for the furniture industry. Hall 2 is machinery, accessories and tools for solid wood processing, hardware and semi-finished products.

Hall 4 is likely to be machinery, accessories and tools for the primary wood processing, timber and semi-finished products, technology for the wood building industry, design and engineering, materials and products for the wood building industry. A further open-air-site will feature machinery for the forest industry.

Italian crosscutting machinery specialist Salvador is one of Xylexpo’s biggest supporters and won the first XIA-Xylexpo Innovation Award in the “Communication” category at the 2014 event.

“This year we will double the surface of our stand compared to the previous editions”, said Christian Salvador, commercial manager. The company, which has a strong export focus, also said recent economic policies put in place by the government would be beneficial in terms of encouraging Italian customer investment.

“All the world’s most important competitors [in the woodworking machinery sector] will be in Milan. Everybody has been expecting this and thus Xylexpo can once again become the greatest showcase of “made in Italy”.

At Xylexpo, Salvador will showcase new features of its Superangle 600 crosscut saw, which allow the machine to drill as well as angle cut.

Meanwhile, Biesse will also have a bigger stand this year, with more than 20 machines on display.

It will demonstrate the opportunities of integrated systems offered by the Industrie 4.0 concept.

“This revolution, which we want to render accessible to everyone, aims to bring together the high output numbers seen in the assembly chain with the tailor-made value of artisan production,” said Raphaël Prati, marketing and communications director for Biesse.

“In a world where those who offer quality and a personalised touch at increasingly low prices come out on top, factories are turning digital: the machines communicate amongst themselves via automation systems and interaction software, and can ‘imagine’ the product, simulate construction and carry out tests before it has even been made,” added Mr Prati.

German woodworking machinery producer Homag will hold a world premiere of its Freestyle 5-axis technology, designed to allow easy entry into the world of 3D programming in combination with woodWOP7 software.

ITaly – machInery powerhouse Dario Corbetta, director of Acimall, illustrated just how important Italy was in the global woodworking technology sector. He said the Italian industry makes up 29% of European production of woodworking machinery and tools.

It registers a turnover of almost €1.8bn with a 75% export share and 18% share on global production.

2015, Mr Corbetta added, was a positive year, with production growing to €1.79bn, 7.2% more than in 2014.

The trend is clearly moving towards pre-financial crisis levels (in 2008 the Italian industry turnover exceeded €2bn).

The domestic market performed well, exceeding €450m, up by 8.7% from €414m in 2014.

“So, also the domestic market is showing a really positive development, further evidence of the effectiveness of government measures to support investments and a more optimistic business sentiment, encouraging new investments in the upgrade or expansion of production tools,” said Mr Corbetta.

Turnover is predicted to grow 5-10% this year, with good results in the US and Canadian markets, with some “re-shoring” of production capacity leading to increased machinery investment.

European markets were reported as stable, though shrinkage on the Russian market and a slowdown in China.

Innovation award

Lorenzo Primultini stressed that Xylexpo would be an exhibition of innovations – because that’s what the industry today asks for from reference trade fairs.

Innovations at Xylexpo will be recognised by the second edition of the XIA-XYLEXPO INNOVATION AWARDS 2016, which features three categories: primary processing and solid wood processing, panel processing and coating/finishing.

In summary, if you’re a company looking to make investments in woodworking technology, Xylexpo could be a worthwhile trip with all the main players present showing their latest technology at this year’s edition. With cheap air fares and good travel links to one of three airports around Milan – Malpensa, Linate or Bergamo, it has never been easier.