Karen Koenig, editor-in-chief of Wood & Wood Products, made the trek to Hannover with video camera in hand to see European machinery innovations in action. During the first day, she took a look at new surface technology, such as on-demand printing and quick color change options.

Click below to see the Wemhoner Master Printer in action. The machine is designed for high quality print results, variable repeat lengths and is perfect for single and multi-color printing. According to the company, the results are an exact match.

HANNOVER, GERMANY — The Ligna Hannover Fair opened Monday to a slow but steady attendance of visitors from across Europe, Asia and North America. Of the 1,752 exhibitors — from 48 countries — on hand to display technology for the solid wood, panel processing and primary wood industries, most were cautiously optimistic regarding business projections, with many Europeans basing their hopes on an improving the U.S. economy.

Efficiency, in resources and production, was the overriding theme of the show, with many of the exhibitors, spread across 1.4 million square feet of space, displaying new technology that promoted the efficient use of wood, while yielding significant savings in time and energy.

Below is the Superfici Compact Spray, a new automatic spray machine perfect for fast color changes in a custom or high production environment. The machine will be available in the U.S. as a five, ten or 20 color changer, and will make its North American debut at AWFS.

A number of companies showed innovations in surface technology, such as on-demand printing and quick-change color options. Some examples of digital printing seen today were from Wemhoner and Anderson, with Superfici displaying its quick-change color technology.

Watch your inbox for more new technology from Ligna, including innovations for lightweight panels and solid wood machining.

The Anderson CoJet (in the two videos below) is a high-resolution, 720 dpi machine designed to print photographic images in a high-production setting. This machine can produce vivid images, even on very smooth surfaces like glass and plastic.