The general assembly of Eumabois – held on Friday, October 23, 2009, in Munich, Germany, hosted by the German association Vdma and with delegates of 11 out of 13 member associations (Portugal and Austria were absent) – welcomed the Ukrainian association Uwma and its President Vasyl Masyuk. The representatives of the Ukrainian woodworking technology industry will sit at the European federation table for two years as observers. At the end of this period, Uwma will become an official member of Eumabois.
The key topic was concern for the recession phase that global economy is going through and the inevitable impact on the industry. Franz-Josef Buetfering, Eumabois president, said he hopes for an even more open and direct confrontation among companies in the near future, in order to identify common guidelines and actions, especially in the domain of exhibitions. Great attention shall also be paid – added Buetfering – to extra-European associations, keeping in constant touch with them. So, Eumabois confirmed its commitment to the definition of a more and more efficient calendar of international exhibitions “recognized” by the European federation, acting as a unique reference for all industry actors worldwide. “Among the measures to be adopted to get out of the current economic situation – added the Eumabois President – there must be a partial reorganization of the exhibition landscape; the European federation is evaluating the current scenario with accurate analysis and surveys by qualified professionals”.
The calendar of supported exhibitions is full of events in 2010, especially in spring and autumn. According to the 40-year-old scheme in even-numbered years, the whole system will revolve around the international biennial exhibition Xylexpo, to be held in Milan from 4 to 8 May 2010. New events added to the calendar are Interwood in Athens and W10 in Birmingham.
The assembly was an important event for the federation, which will be engaged in the work of TC 142 standard technical committees in the coming months, involving also tools. Then, it was decided to continue information and promotion activities aimed at fighting the worrying proliferation of “copies”; for several months now, the “Choose the original-choose success” campaign has been running in many European and international industry magazines, promoting the features and benefits of original products, namely reliability, experience, efficiency, safety, know-how, hi-tech and quality.
The next Eumabois general assembly is scheduled on 24 September 2010 in Vienna, where the representatives of woodworking technology industries will be hosted by the Austrian association Fmmi.
