DULUTH, GA -- Wood panel product innovations and new solutions in woodworking equipment were discussed at SCM Group's Product Showcase and Seminar held Jan. 22.

Dealers gathered at the event to gain insight from product managers on the latest solutions available on woodworking equipment. Of the machines shown one that drew a great deal of attention was the in-feed material loader, which is now available as an option on a wider range of CNC machines like the Pratix S, which also comes with a multi-functional worktable and conveyor belt.

The keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Marco Fioravanti, a Wood Science and Technology associate professor at the University of Florence in Italy. Fioravanti discussed the latest innovations in wood panel products and industrial design in Europe.

There has not been a great deal of innovation in the wood based products market, Fioravanti noted. The last major innovation was Oriented Strand Board (OSB) in 1969. However, what is taking place now is the unique ways in which people are taking established products - from plywood to particleboard  - and applying new technologies to them.

"Product innovation does not always emerge from new materials or technology, it can also develop from older ideas that continue to hold their own in the current environment," he says.

A few of those innovation in wood products include: banana hardwood veneer, Tree-D Mosaics - a 3D wood tile, Valchromat - colored mdf, Eurolight Dekor - lightened particleboard, honeycomb panels, Auto Van flooring panels, Iso Flex - a plywood or bending, 3D plywood, Delignit - densified plywood, wave panels - used for its acoustic properties, modified wood, functionalized surfaces, nanoparticles, Wood2Wood - process that allows creation of a bond using mechanical friction without using glue and on the role of wood as bio-inspired material, including biological adhesives and intelligent material.

Fioravanti stressed that these innovations and technologies were developed through much research and there is a need to reduce the gap between basic governmental research and the applied research and development from corporations and factories.