This is the strong message from the press conference introducing Xylexpo – the biennial exhibition of woodworking technology and furniture industry supplies to be held at Fiera Milano-Rho from 13 to 17 May 2014 – to European journalists. It was an opportunity to illustrate the status of the next edition, to take a look at industry figures and to talk about some important news. Above all, for the first time, “Xie-Xylexpo Information Event” allowed top exhibitors to be the “big actors” of the press meeting, and we also introduced the first edition of “Xia-Xylexpo Innovationa Awards”. But let’s start from the beginning.

LORENZO PRIMULTINI

Acimall’s president, Lorenzo Primultini, opened the event saying thank you to Enrico Pazzali, managing director of Fiera Milano, and Paolo Fantoni, the businessman guiding the same-named industrial group, and also Assopannelli/FederlegnoArredo president. “Their valuable presence indicate our determination to work together, to look for new points of view in order to identify new opportunities, new strategies, new products”. And he added: “It is a great satisfaction for us to be here with you today, to prove the great desire to change that drives Xylexpo and Acimall, the Italian association of woodworking technology suppliers.”

Primultini also reminded the big sponsors of the exhibition – Eumabois, the Italian Ministry of Production Activities, Cfi-Comitato Fiere Industria (Confindustria) – and the proactive collaboration with Ice-Italian Foreign Trade Agency and Fiera Milano; then he went straight to the most expected topic, namely the return of major industry actors to the Milan exhibition. “Back with us, we have two Scm Group companies, Cms Group-Balestrini and Superfici-Elmag; we will also have Biesse Group, Cefla Group, and Casadei-Busellato back to Xylexpo. An industry that’s been hit hard by the economic crisis, an Italian industry that had to further strengthen its propensity to export to keep going, still needs to meet, to collaborate, to identify its association and exhibition as key references. I am confident that this is another major step towards complete reunification, encouraging us to say that, in 2016, the entire Italian industry will be back to its favorite event. This is a goal we must pursue all together, with great honesty, availability, intelligence, consistency and mutual respect.”

The Acimall president also added: “Of course, there will be many more companies in the Xylexpo halls. Good news should not divert attention from those who have believed in Xylexpo for almost fifty years, showing affection for this event and investing in it even in difficult years like these. We are honest people. We can see the truth. We know that intestine fights, but most of all a crisis that’s been and still is very tough in our country, have driven the “Xylexpo project” away from the minds of a few. We don’t want this to happen and we are willing to focus all our energy back onto our key priority, namely providing international operators with an effective, functional, well-attended platform, where they can make business, meet and understand.”

Primultini then greeted the presence of 14 top exhibitors with great satisfaction and further evidence of the value of “working together”: Salvador, Incomac, Homag Group, Fravol-Uniteam, Wittenstein, Ormamacchine, Cefla Group, Greda, Biesse, Imal-Pal, Giardina Finishing, Finiture, Wde Maspell and Vitap. “The participation of these companies to our press conference is an exciting experience. They decided to be with us, to tell about their participation in Xylexpo, their desire to meet you. This is another portion of the desire to work together, to build together, that we will experience in an increasingly rich, determined and convincing way,” he said.

Primultini closed his speech with a preview of “Xia-Xylexpo Innovation Awards”. “These are innovation awards not only for products – with a focus on “green economy” topics and the opportunities that “low-consumption” systems offer to final users – but also for “being a business”. The global crisis has driven everyone to be innovative, with an all-round approach, including communications, media relations, but most of all customers, with new advertising messages and with enhanced activities on social networks. Companies, groups, enterprises are committed to communicating not only products, prices and features, but a set of values, a different attention to the market. And you, the media, will be the jury”, Primultini added. “We will ask you to give marks, to indicate which companies among Xylexpo exhibitors you consider more innovative in products and communication skills. Results will be given on the evening of May 14, the second day of Xylexpo, when we will meet in the expo center for a welcome dinner, and on that occasion, we will proclaim the top-three winners in each category.”

DARIO CORBETTA

The Acimall director had a dual task: providing an industry overview and presenting the facts and figures of next Xylexpo. Corbetta started by presenting the Italian industry (270 companies, including 181 Acimall members, 9 thousand employees, 1.4 billion Euro in 2013 accounting for 15 percent of global production, with an export share above 80 percent, equal to 1.1 billion, with Germany, United States, France, Russia and China as “top customers”). Italy, Corbetta said, is the world’s second supplier of woodworking technology after Germany (1.77 billion Euro) and before China (705 million Euro).

Corbetta then presented information about the next exhibition, where 450 exhibitors are expected on a net exhibition area just below 30 thousand square meters. “Until today we have more than 360 registrations and 24 thousand square meters allotted – the Acimall director said – but we can say that we are at least 50 days late in our agenda, as small and medium enterprises are waiting until the very last minute to finalize their application”.

Corbetta also insisted on the “peculiarity” of this edition, which is being held in a critical economic phase for the “Italian system”, forcing many exhibitors to reduce their stand size compared to the past. “Summing up – Corbetta concluded – we can say that everyone is coming to Milan, maybe with a few square meters less, confirming the role of Xylexpo as an exhaustive showcase for everything that relates to woodworking and wood-based materials, both for modern high-automation industries and for small workshops”.

A concrete and rich exhibition made-to-measure for visitors. An “honest” exhibition, working hard to make the 2014 edition a bridge towards 2016, when a different economic scenario will enable the event to leverage the full potential of a country like Italy, still a leading actor in terms of technology offer and demand. Three halls will be used: Hall 1 and 3 will feature technology for panel processing and modern furniture industry; in Hall 2, primary operations and solid wood processing.

ENRICO PAZZALI

The speech by Enrico Pazzali, managing director of Fiera Milano, was highly appreciated, as he brought the greetings of the fair organization and reaffirmed the 50-year-long collaboration with Xylexpo. Milano is working for Expo 2015 and reaffirming its role as one of the most important expo centers worldwide, and a center of attraction of European and international business. The structure is hosting and also collaborating with Xylexpo, with joint initiatives to support and promote the exhibition.

PAOLO FANTONI

A witness of the tight link between technology and users, Paolo Fantoni of Fantoni Group presented 2013 figures of the wood-furniture industry in Italy, which last year reached 27.4 billion Euro turnover, as much as 35 percent less than in the record year 2007, with 42.5 billion Euro.

Fantoni not only ascertained the difficult situation of recent years, but indicated possible “directions for the future”: from a better exploitation of the forest resources of Italy, poplar first, to the need for technology tools that help achieve better results, in forests and in companies alike. Some sectors − such as wood constructions − can be very fertile lands for short-term growth, as well as wood recycling, which should be sent to incineration to produce heat and power only at the end of its lifecycle, for instance after being reused for the production of wood-based panels.

There are major challenges, including the increasing diffusion of lean production, a key factor to meet the demand for custom products, small batches and a shorter and shorter time-to-market, from concept to sales. This process required a reorganization of production lines, hence a partnership with technology suppliers.

And we should not forget that “Italian style” is a global reference, and there are still markets with strong growth rates, Africa first...

Source: Xylexpo