Sneak Peek At Woodworking Innovations: Ligna 2017 Preview

A sneak peek at some of the new woodworking technology and innovations on display at LIGNA 2017 was given to more than 70 journalists from 28 countries at a special event hosted by show organizer Deutsche Messe. The world’s largest woodworking event, LIGNA will be held May 22-26 in Hannover, Germany.

This year’s LIGNA fair will play host to more than 1,500 exhibitors from 45 nations, with displays spread across more than 1.313 million square feet of display space. The number of visitors to the show is projected to reach 93,000, said Dr. Andreas Gruchow, member of Deutsche Messe’s Management Board.

“LIGNA 2017 is where key solutions and applications will be showcased. It’s where business relationships and networks will be built that will benefit the entire wood industry for years to come,” Gruchow added.

The themes for this year’s event include: Integrated Manufacturing – on the Way to Industry 4.0; Processing of Plastics and Composites; and “Access to Resources and Technology” at the Wood Industry Summit.  “This year, the exhibitors are presenting a wide array of innovations for intelligent networked manufacturing systems, not to mention new ideas and strategies for the many value-creation networks at play in the wood processing and woodworking industries,” he said.

The LIGNA 2017 Preview, held Feb. 14 at the show fairgrounds, also included a presentation from Wolfgang Poschl, chairman of the VDMA Woodworking Machinery division and chairman of the management board of Michael Weinig AG. The VDMA is also an organizer of the LIGNA fair.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/events-contests/event-coverage/sneak-peek-woodworking-innovations-ligna-2017-preview?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news,canadian_new

Schweighofer Prize Awarded In Vienna

For the seventh time, the Schweighofer Prize, the Innovation Award for the European Forest-Based Sector, was awarded last month. Austrian forest-based industrial and initiator Gerald Schweighofer awarded the prizes in the presence of Austrian Federal Minister for Agriculture and Environment Andrä Rupprechter, Austrian Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Rudolf Hundstorfer, as well as Vienna’s Mayor Michael Häupl.

This year for the first time, the Schweighofer Prize established a cooperation with one of the largest integrated forest products companies in the world; the North American company Canfor which produces timber, cellulose and paper. Canfor sponsored ten students from Canada and the USA to take part in an “Innovation Workshop” on the day before the Schweighofer Prize. According to the motto “From Knowledge to Innovation”, 27 young researchers from a total of 16 countries exchanged ideas under the leadership of Schweighofer Prize jury chairman Prof. Dr. Alfred Teischinger (University of Agricultural Science) in the domed hall of the TU Vienna.

The main prize 2015 was awarded to Dr. Erich Wiesner from Altheim, Austria. He was honored with €100,000. “Dr. Wiesner has developed his company into a leading timber Construction Company in Europe. The completed projects present impressive and technically demanding constructions. In addition to his successful entrepreneurial activities, Dr. Wiesner has acted for many years as a leading representative of woodworking industries both in Austria and on a European level”, said jury chairman Univ. Prof. Dr. Alfred Teischinger.

From FORDAQ: https://www.fordaq.com/fordaq/news/Schweighofer_prize_Vienna_innovations_42620.html