GERMANY – LIGNA, the focal point and meeting hub for the international wood industry, is just around the corner. 

The 2017 edition runs from 22 to 26 May at in Hannover, Germany, and will feature more than 1,500 exhibitors from 45 countries and attract trade visitors from about 90 nations. The show will occupy 10 exhibition halls plus the venue’s extensive open-air site.

LIGNA also scores highly in terms of international participation, with Italy, Austria, Spain, Turkey, Denmark, China, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands following Germany as the show’s top 10 exhibiting nations. In fact, several exhibitors from Italy, Austria and Spain have opted to increase the size of their displays for the upcoming show. All up, LIGNA 2017 will occupy more than 122,000 square meters (1,313,000 sq. ft.) of net display area and feature all the latest wood industry process and product innovations.

The show’s organizers, Deutsche Messe and the German Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers’ Association, have successfully implemented a new thematic layout in time for the 2017 season. “The new approach and, more importantly, the new physical layout have been extremely well received. The business climate in the wood industry is positive, offering a wealth of market opportunities. LIGNA captures those opportunities perfectly,” remarked Dr. Andreas Gruchow, the Deutsche Messe Managing Board member responsible for LIGNA, at the LIGNA Preview in Hannover, adding that: “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.”

This year’s action-packed, five-day showcase covers all the technologies that wood industry companies need to succeed in tomorrow’s Industry 4.0 world. The range includes tools and machinery for custom and mass production, surface technology innovations, wood-based panel production solutions, sawmill technology, wood-energy technology, machine components, and automation and forestry technology. “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,” commented Gruchow.

The central focus of LIGNA 2017 is on intelligent concepts for integrated manufacturing across multiple links in the wood processing chain. The solutions on display promise growth and efficiency. They give wood industry companies a route to business development that does not depend on being big. And they provide a rapid roadmap to the capabilities needed to meet growing market demand for custom production.