The biennial international exhibition of woodworking and furniture industry technology is back at the FieraMilano expo center in Rho from Tuesday 21 to Friday 24 May.
Xylexpo’s gates are opening again for a complicated edition, with plenty of afterthoughts about how and where exhibitions should be organized, but it will have the unquestionable benefit of being held few weeks after the definition of the new “Industry 5.0” measures.
So, most of all, it will be a valuable place to see first-hand what manufacturers are offering for digital transition and sustainability, both concepts representing the foundations of the new measures designed to support the “digital and energy transition” of industry companies.
But that’s not the only news from the Milan exhibition. There is a new time frame, replacing the traditional Wednesday-to-Saturday with a more contemporary Tuesday-to-Friday, which might cause some worries for traditional visitor flows from the nearby territory on Saturday, but certainly responds to international habits and the preference of visitors who decide to spend their weekend away from their working environment.
Then, the event is back to May, the historical calendar of the exhibition. This change did not cause much complaint, on the contrary: the companies we meet every day are all excited about this return to tradition. We remind you that Xylexpo 2022 was held in October: the “tail” of the pandemic had driven the organizers to move the event from May, when it would have probably gone unattended by exhibitors and visitors alike, to a period that everyone hoped would be more positive. And so it was, as many will remember, the edition of two years ago achieved results even beyond expectations, emerging as the only exhibition in that year to record attendance figures similar to pre-Covid events, namely 16 thousand unique visitors and more than 22 thousand visits.
This result was supported by the “reopening” after a period of solitude and isolation due to the tragic events we all remember, as well as by the concurrency with 33.Bimu, the machine tools exhibition that gave a key contribution, with a few thousand visitors (4 thousand according to estimates) getting a glimpse of the woodworking industry. So, the intention of leveraging every possible synergy to keep the exhibition’s appeal high was successful.
“Now the emergency is over and we are back with great determination and satisfaction to our traditional calendar in May in even-numbered years, as it’s always been for sixty years”, said Dario Corbetta, director of the exhibition and Acimall, the association of Italian manufacturers that organizes the event.
“And let me add that, if this restoration has caused some “mess” in the exhibition calendar, it’s not our fault, as that’s due to the decision of other exhibitions to exploit the forced change decided by Xylexpo. This is not a problem for us, although companies should be offered a calendar without overlapping or “tight” events in the same continent”.
XYLEXPO 2024
But let’s come to the edition due in few weeks. In general, there is no doubt that this time Xylexpo is hosting the state-of-the-art of technology for the wood and furniture industry. The “Industry 5.0” topic is accelerating innovation or the definition of new standards (as well as tax reductions by up to 45 percent), driving many businesses to make new investments.
The exhibitor figures are basically the same as in 2022, with just a slight decrease by few percent points: halls 1 and 3 of FieraMilano-Rho, close to the East Gate and the public transport network, will host more than 260 exhibitors, 33 percent from abroad, over a total area of 25 thousand square meters, much smaller than the previous edition.
This result reaffirms the general trend of companies that we had already seen in 2022 and in all the recent editions of industry exhibitions, i.e. a relentless reduction of booth areas.
“The modification of the marketing-communication mix caused by the pandemic has clearly redefined the approach to exhibitions”, Dario Corbetta said. “This trend is now combining with an economic period with hardly any expansion, therefore companies are very careful with all types of expenditure”.
As to visitors, preregistrations (open for a few weeks now) seem to indicate a substantial stability compared to October 2022. Looking at the countries of origin, “the reference markets are the nearest, considering that approximately 70 percent of visitors come from Italy and, out of the remaining 30 percent, another 70 percent share is from Europe,” the exhibition director said. “After all, the wood and furniture industries have many exhibitions dedicated to technology and supplies, so operators don’t need to travel long distances or necessarily visit a specific event if they have more convenient options”.
“Nevertheless, I really believe that Xylexpo ’24, despite all the changes we had to make, will remain the reference exhibition for the Italian market (that is worth more than one billion euro), but will also be a world-class event open to exhibitors from all over the world, as figures clearly show”, Corbetta continued.
Of course, there are many open questions: like other exhibitions, Xylexpo is suffering from the decision of many exhibitors to change their approach to exhibitions substantially, combined with the increasing interest for emerging countries, if that’s how we want to keep calling them, China and turkey above all. Such trends have supported different decisions concerning the side program, suggesting a stronger “focus” on sales activities and in-depth technical initiatives.
“I am confident that Xylexpo 2024 will be an interesting event, exhibitors and visitors will not be disappointed, in a period when the current market situation (affecting all technologies and services) will be perfectly and fully reflected by the event”, concluded Dario Corbetta.
“Today more than ever, the questions are urgent, and like anyone involved in the exhibition business, we must be ready to transform, governing the changes that everyone can see, even in the most important and apparently solid events”.
“One thing is for sure: Xylexpo 2026 must be different. We have clear ideas in mind and we are working with great passion, with a vision to deploy partnerships and collaborations that have become essential to give more and more practical and functional responses to the needs of businesses. We have a few ideas, and we are working with great passion!”
by Luca Rossetti
xylexpo.com
Xylexpo Studios for “Xylexpo Digital”!
It’s a new initiative repeating. Yes, no mistake: Xylexpo 2024 is offering an intensive program on its digital platforms also during the upcoming edition, transforming the Xylexpo Arena into a new container called Xylexpo Studios. The collaboration with Xylon and Cepra Multimedia will generate rich contents that will be the focus of Xylexpo Digital, streamed live on the Xylexpo platform (click here) and on the exhibition’s YouTube channel (@xylexpowoodworkingfair).
All contents will remain online after the end of the exhibition, enabling a global audience to experience the Milan show not only in person during the exhibition days, but also on demand.
Tuesday 21.05
09.30 The exhibitors introduce themselves: solid wood processing
11.00 A conversation with Enrico Aureli (Xylexpo President)
11.30 “Solid wood: what should we pay attention to?” – (Franco Bulian, Director of Catas; Elena Conti, Microbiology laboratory, Paolo Tirelli, Mechanical tests laboratory)
12.00 Interviews
12.30 “Education in the wood industry” – (Marco Fioravanti, associate professor of Wood technology; Chair of the graduation program “Wood theme”; Dagri-University of Florence)
14.30 Xylexpo Tech-tour: “The players in the solid wood market”
Wednesday 22.05.
09.30 The exhibitors introduce themselves: wood-based panel processing
11.00 A conversation with Dario Corbetta (Director of Xylexpo)
11.30 “Wood-based panels: are they always well-made?” – (Franco Bulian, Director of Catas; Daniele Bergamasco, Chemistry laboratory; Paolo Tirelli, Mechanical tests laboratory)
12.00 Opening ceremony (REPLAY)
12.30 “Identification of wood species” – (Giacomo Goli, associate professor of Wood technology; Dagri-University of Florence)
14.30 Xylexpo Tech-tour: “The players in the wood panel market”
Thursday 23.05.
09.30 The exhibitors introduce themselves: finishing processes (sanding and varnishing)
11.00 A conversation with Luigi De Vito (President of Eumabois)
11.30 “Surface finishes: beautiful and impossible?” – (Franco Bulian, Director of Catas; Daniele Bergamasco, Chemistry laboratory, Claudio Caon, Surface treatment laboratory)
12.00 Interviews
12.30 “Humidity: love and hate between wood and water” – (Marco Togni, associate professor of Wood technology; Paola Mazzanti, researcher; Dagri-University of Florence)
14.30 Xylexpo Tech-tour: “The players in the market of surface finishing”
15.30 Conference of the Wood Quality Group (REPLAY)
Friday 24.05
09.00 The exhibitors introduce themselves: tools and equipment
11.00 A conversation with Marianna Daschini (Past president of Xylexpo)
11.30 “Tools and equipment: defects and controls on the final product) – (Franco Bulian, Director of Catas)
12.00 Interviews
12.30 “Artificial intelligence for an unprecedented productivity” – (Giorgio Crippa, co-owner of SDM Milano)
14.30 Xylexpo Tech-tour: “The players in the tools and equipment market”
