GERMANY - The first-ever Ligna Conference will make its debut at the Hannover Exhibition Center’s Robotation Academy from May 3-4, 2016 – one year out from the next Ligna fair. 

The conference theme will be 'Integrated production in woodworking - the way towards Industry 4.0'.  The event is organized by Deutsche Messe and the German Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers' Association and will be specifically targeted at decision makers from the woodworking trades and the furniture, building products, interior finishing and timber construction sectors.

The two-day conference will explore the intelligent integration of production and logistics processes and the practical benefits of Industry 4.0 technologies for users of woodworking machines. It will also feature real-life case studies that illustrate the wider benefits to the timber and furniture industries of integrated production systems - the ability to manufacture customized products at competitive prices, for instance.

Integrated and intelligent manufacturing continues to be in the global focus. Due to an unprecedented high degree of product individualization – batch size 1 production has long become a common requirement in the woodworking industry – the need for a combination of integrated, intelligent production plants and flexible, highly efficient stand-alone machining centers is steadily increasing. A high flexibility within the production processes and automated material handling are the key factors to boost productivity and achieving higher efficiency and productivity.