A delegation from different African countries came to Italy to visit the San Giovanni al Natisone headquarters of the wood and furniture research center: two days of in-depth discovery, discussion and future perspectives…
“Africa represents the future of our industry, a historical cycle that has a clear priority: sharing a common language to work together starting from the same parameters and the same references”.
So Paolo Fantoni, president of Epf-European Panel Federation, introduced the initiative “Epf for Africa”, a wide-scope project that reached a climax in the past weeks in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The goal is clear: work to know each other better, to identify the huge potential of close relationships between European economies and African countries in the wood-based materials industry. To do this, it is necessary to speak the same language and to share precise standards.
Therefore, it is essential to understand and acknowledge common rules, which are not created only through the adoption of specific reference standards, but also through control and test procedures applied to raw materials and finished products. For this purpose, about thirty African delegates from Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya spent one week in Italy, invited by the European Federation. Visits, meetings, in-depth discussions to understand the habits and needs of the Italian and European industries; a journey with an important stop at the Catas laboratories at San Giovanni al Natisone (Udine).
“We met very competent people and engineers”, said Andrea Giavon, Catas director. “We had two intensive days, organizing a seminar to inform our African colleagues about the standards and the test and control activities adopted by Catas, and to have a great opportunity to discover the potential of the African market. Talking with panel manufacturers, standardization delegates, laboratory technicians and industry association representatives, we had further evidence that the time is right to build far-reaching projects together, with unexpected economic, social and cultural value”.
“Epf commitment in this respect is really far-sighted – Giavon added – and we are thankful to the Federation and President Fantoni for involving us in this opportunity and allowing us to reaffirm that Catas is an international reference for certification and tests of wood-based panels”.
During two days, Catas gave a complete overview of technical subjects, standards and testing, involving all departments in visits and ad-hoc demonstrations.
Two technical focus presentations were offered: Paolo Tirelli, mechanical department manager at Catas, illustrated the European and international standards that define requirements and test methods to evaluate the mechanical performance of panels, while Sandro Ciroi of the Formaldehyde Section informed guests about chemical safety issues related to the emission of harmful substances, such as formaldehyde, a recognized carcinogen that is arousing even more attention in the furniture industry.
Catas involvement in European and international standardization activities has allowed to provide the African delegation with major previews on revision and technical update works currently dealt with by CEN and ISO technical committees.
“The countries in North Africa are recording significant population growth and a strong expansion of urban settlements and residential units”, added Paolo Fantoni. “Italy is a favorite destination for their industries and Epf is willing to strengthen such interaction in order to develop high-quality production processes and the capacity to test products according to established European parameters and standard”.
The seminar was also presented in a press conference where managing director of Catas, Angelo Speranza, had the opportunity to introduce the research center and its activity, summing up the mission of the institute in few significant figures: Catas is currently the most important European laboratory in the wood-furniture industry by number of tests (over 41 thousand annually) for 1,850 companies in 47 countries around the world, in its 6,500-square-meter laboratories.
aolo Fantoni, president of Epf-European Panel Federation, introduced the initiative “Epf for Africa”, a wide-scope project that reached a climax in the past weeks in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The goal is clear: work to know each other better, to identify the huge potential of close relationships between European economies and African countries in the wood-based materials industry. To do this, it is necessary to speak the same language and to share precise standards.
Therefore, it is essential to understand and acknowledge common rules, which are not created only through the adoption of specific reference standards, but also through control and test procedures applied to raw materials and finished products. For this purpose, about thirty African delegates from Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya spent one week in Italy, invited by the European Federation. Visits, meetings, in-depth discussions to understand the habits and needs of the Italian and European industries; a journey with an important stop at the Catas laboratories at San Giovanni al Natisone (Udine).
“We met very competent people and engineers”, said Andrea Giavon, Catas director. “We had two intensive days, organizing a seminar to inform our African colleagues about the standards and the test and control activities adopted by Catas, and to have a great opportunity to discover the potential of the African market. Talking with panel manufacturers, standardization delegates, laboratory technicians and industry association representatives, we had further evidence that the time is right to build far-reaching projects together, with unexpected economic, social and cultural value”.
“Epf commitment in this respect is really far-sighted – Giavon added – and we are thankful to the Federation and President Fantoni for involving us in this opportunity and allowing us to reaffirm that Catas is an international reference for certification and tests of wood-based panels”.
During two days, Catas gave a complete overview of technical subjects, standards and testing, involving all departments in visits and ad-hoc demonstrations.
Two technical focus presentations were offered: Paolo Tirelli, mechanical department manager at Catas, illustrated the European and international standards that define requirements and test methods to evaluate the mechanical performance of panels, while Sandro Ciroi of the Formaldehyde Section informed guests about chemical safety issues related to the emission of harmful substances, such as formaldehyde, a recognized carcinogen that is arousing even more attention in the furniture industry.
Catas involvement in European and international standardization activities has allowed to provide the African delegation with major previews on revision and technical update works currently dealt with by CEN and ISO technical committees.
“The countries in North Africa are recording significant population growth and a strong expansion of urban settlements and residential units”, added Paolo Fantoni. “Italy is a favorite destination for their industries and Epf is willing to strengthen such interaction in order to develop high-quality production processes and the capacity to test products according to established European parameters and standard”.
The seminar was also presented in a press conference where managing director of Catas, Angelo Speranza, had the opportunity to introduce the research center and its activity, summing up the mission of the institute in few significant figures: Catas is currently the most important European laboratory in the wood-furniture industry by number of tests (over 41 thousand annually) for 1,850 companies in 47 countries around the world, in its 6,500-square-meter laboratories.
