Time for Technology

The biggest names in woodworking machinery are gathering at Birmingham NEC on October 2-5 for what organisers say is the largest W series exhibition yet.

W16 promises to cover a display space of more than 11,000m2, a 15% rise on W14 two years ago and representing more than 200 exhibitors.

Visitor numbers are expected to reach more than 8,000 and will include joinery and furniture manufacturers, merchants, wood based panels processors and other manufacturers of timber products.

Exhibitors include the likes of Homag UK, Biesse UK, SCM UK, RW Machines, Daltons Wadkin, JJ Smith and Hundegger.

A new components show called Elements will run alongside the main event and will display hardware, décors, edging and materials from companies including David Clouting, Finesse Designs and Symphony Coatings.

Seminars and three interactive zones – a Competition Zone, a Best Practice Zone and an Innovation Zone will help visitors get “up close” with latest products and technologies and meet manufacturers and industry experts.

And even before visitors arrive at the show, a new online resource will guide them though the machinery demonstrations taking place at the four-day exhibition, offering the opportunity to manage the show visit and maximise time in one easy step.

The online reference point – http://www.wexhibition.co.uk/visit/demonstrations highlights the company name, product and stand number of each machinery demonstration.

MACHINE FEATURES

On the exhibition floor, German timber construction technology specialist Hundegger is promising to get into “turbo-drive” at W16 by showing visitors its new Turbo Drive component cutting saw.

Hundegger UK’s Chris Osborne says the company has installed a significant number of machines in the UK. The space-saving units feature five-axis cutting capability, links to the office, optimisation of timber and processes and are designed for fast cutting of frame and truss components.

“Having the Turbo Drive machine on working display at W16, provides a great opportunity for all UK truss and frame processors to see the machine in action,” said Mr Osborne.

With an interactive exhibition space of over 7,000ft2, SCM Group will be demonstrating over 20 of its machines, including a UK debut of the Cyflex HP CNC drilling centre – a compact solution for batch-one production.

SCM will hold live demonstrations of the new Startch CN CNC universal drilling centre, a new Universal NB boring and CNC working centre, while CAD/CAM software packages for edgebanding, automated processes, panel sizing, housing, beams and walls will be showcased.

Daltons Wadkin has ambitious plans for W16, showing technology on two central stands spanning cross-cutting, edgebanding, vertical panel saws, CNC machines, planer/moulders and sliding table panel saws.

Taking centre stage will be one of its biggest sales successes – Italian-made Salvador saws. Working demonstrations will be held of an S200 programmable optimising model with rotation ejection outfeed system and the Super Angle 600.

Following Daltons Wadkin’s recent appointment as UK distributor of Cehisa edgebanders, Cehisa machines will have a powerful presence, three different models being shown and demonstrated including the all-new laser edge Compact PCS. Elcon vertical panel saws, Kimla heavy duty industrial CNC routers, Altendorf sliding table panel saws, Kuper planer/moulders and a Stenner ST100R bandsaw will also be displayed.

Biesse has two stands with a theme of SMART (Smart, Measurably, Achievable, Realistic, Timed) working – basic principles to establish a lean manufacturing process.

Making its UK debut will be Biesse’s W4 PRS (panel return system) with Stream A edgebander designed to increase output by up to 25%.

“We are all too aware of the challenges our customers face, including the future revisions to the minimum working wage, the cost and availability of floor space, not to mention the rising cost of materials,” said Robbie O’Neill, commercial manager at Biesse Group UK.

As a result, Biesse will be showcasing innovation as a tool to combat this evolution of the manufacturing landscape.

Planer/moulder specialist Leadermac UK Ltd will exhibit its heavy-duty high speed moulder model 631 Speedmac with feed speeds of 6-60m/min.

The show machine has 15 and 22 kilowatt uprated Siemens IE3 energy saving motors with inverter braking, the larger and heavier duty infeed system suitable for difficult timbers, increased spindle speeds to 9,000rpm and automatic straight knife jointing.

TM Machinery will be demonstrating models from the Striebig range of vertical panel saws and the Viet range of artisan wide belt sanders.

Striebig machines on display include an entry-level Compact 4164; a Standard TRK2 4216; and a fully automatic Control 5224.

For more information, or to register your attendance, please visit http://www.wexhibition.co.uk or follow @W_Exhibition and @Elements_Expo on Twitter.