Wood industry industrial trade shows in Europe next month – Ligna 2013 in Hannover, and Interzum in Cologne – will be showcases for new technology.
U.S. wood manufacturing firms generally don’t make the trip to visit, and that’s a shame. (Canadians visit in far larger numbers, both absolute and relative).
European companies that develop much of the wood industry’s manufacturing systems (the focus of Ligna), and the functional and decorative hardware, components and supplies (the focus of Interzum) take the long view of the market – a European trait in most business sectors, in my opinion.
So despite the downturn, they have new systems in the pipeline that have been years in development. Some items will appear at Ligna as technology demonstrations, awaiting further development for the next Ligna.
Notable developments I’ve seen so far are extra-strength plasticized particleboard, materials handling robotics, high-speed hot-air edgebanding systems, and tooling for superfine wood surface preparation, to optimize performance of the newest generations of laser (and other energy source) edgebanders.
Even if you can’t make these shows, it’s worth keeping tabs on the news from them.
I’ve set a page at WoodworkingNetwork.com where I am keeping a running tab on pre-show announcements for Ligna.
http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood-blogs/bill-esler/Wood-Technology-Innovations-Point-to-Strong-Ligna-2013-198456191.html