The next Ligna, May 27 to 31 May 2019, will put the spotlight on three themes: “Integrated Manufacturing – Customized Solutions,” “Smart Surface Technologies” and “Access to Resources and Technology.”

The Wood Industry Summit is a joint production by Ligna organizer Deutsche Messe and the German Forestry Council (KWF) and will be in its third season at Ligna 2019. Comprising a forum, lounge and exhibition space, the summit will have a strong presence right in the heart of Hall 26 at the Hannover Exhibition Center.

Among much else, the focus will be on ways of optimizing the entire forest-wood-logistics value chain, from standing trees through to final processing in the factory, as well as on protecting forests from biotic and abiotic damage, and on climate and environmentally-friendly harvesting processes and the future of the forest and wood industry.

Other key themes covered by the Wood Industry Summit include digitization in forestry, data protection and data integrity, forest firefighting, forestry infrastructure, road networks and logistics. Digital technologies now span the entire forestry value chain, from forest information and integrated harvesting systems right through to modern forest management practices. The technologies involved include drones, apps, laser scanners and all kinds of sophisticated software programs.

Sustainable forest management involves enormous volumes of data, such as forest inventory data, silviculture data, environmental and wildlife data, operational data, and data relating to feasibility studies, risk analysis, accidents, forest damage and monitoring. As in other industries, the key to getting the most out of these vast data streams is efficient data management software. That’s why digitization will be at the forefront of topics explored at next year’s Wood Industry Summit, both in the discussion forums and in the exhibition area.

The 2017 Wood Industry Summit attracted delegations from Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Germany, Finland, Canada, Columbia, Rumania, Russia, Ukraine and the USA, and resulted in contracts worth over 30 million euros.

Looking back, Ligna 2017 attracted more than 1,500 exhibitors from 50 countries and occupied some 130,000 square meters (1,399,300 sq. ft.) of net display space. It also attracted 93,000 trade visitors, 43,300 of whom came from abroad, from more than 100 different countries. See http://www.ligna.de.