Paolo Zanibon has been sailing the stormy seas of the wood industry for many years. In his double role – the director of Acimall, the association that gathers the leading manufacturers of woodworking technology, and Xylexpo, the biennial exhibition that showcases such technology (not to mention that he is also the director of the magazine you are reading) – he is in the best position to help us understand how things have gone in the year that has just ended and what we can expect in 2010.
THE INDUSTRY
“2009 was definitely a horrible year we must forget – starts Zanibon –. I think it will be remembered in history as the “black year” of our industry. I have been living in this world for forty years and I must safe I have never seen such big suffering in all markets. The preliminary figures of our Studies Office (which will be published at the end of January, a few weeks after the distribution of this issue, editor’s note) clearly show that production has collapsed by 45 percent approximately. Basically, this means that the woodworking technology business has been cut by one half and we are facing a historical crisis.
Now let’s take a look at 2010 and what we hope will happen in the coming weeks. Personally, I am optimistic and my vision may be certainly affected by this attitude, but without going off the ground I see a plus sign at the end of 2010. Recovery will not be dazzling, we will not go back to 2007 production levels, but many of us will take a breath of relief. I would say that 2010 can be a year of transition towards an improvement which I hope will be progressive and consistent, although I don’t think we can recover more than 10, maximum 20 percent of production volumes within the next twelve months”.
As it seems, there are not many who are considering investments in new technology…
“The manufacturers of instrumental goods, which include the companies of our industry, are suffering and will still suffer in the future from low propensity to invest, as a result of different factors. In the past few years, big investments have been done, and our partners have acquired excellent solutions that help them produce more, with constant quality and at lower costs. Unfortunately, this has combined with a decrease in demand which has caused an excess of production capacity in their factories. If you consider that it will still take a few years before we go back to pre-crisis levels, obviously there are not many who are thinking about new machinery or new technology. Unless we see some sort of product revolution, the launch of new products that are so smart, useful or just beautiful to spur the final consumer and trigger a virtuous circle.
However, our member companies will be committed to comply with standards and regulations, such as the new Machinery Directive, rather than focusing on replacement strategies: in all mature markets, we still see limited investment availability for some time…”.
XYLEXPO
Let us switch now to your “second job” and talk about exhibitions. Xylexpo, of course, and the decision of some companies to quit the show.
“I think I can call this the wrong decision at the wrong time, apart from the fact that Acimall is deeply involved in this matter”, says Paolo Zanibon. “We believe that the attempt to move Xylexpo away from Milan to other exhibition centers will fail, because – in our opinion – this decision is based on a temporary situation and on the pursuit of momentary benefits, or maybe enduring benefits but just for few companies. These strategies do not consider the industry as a whole and the dynamics that will inevitable develop in the near future. There is no other event like Xylexpo to show the value of made-in-Italy technology. This exhibition has been on the industry agenda for over forty years as an important date and a strategic platform. Italy is and will remain a key actor in this industry, together with Germany, and will have to face other competitors, as we have been repeating for a long time. We are pressed between Germany and upcoming countries (China and Taiwan first), but we will keep playing a leading role. As market leaders, we have to express our leadership also in the exhibition arena, offering a reference event with an intelligent geographical location.
We consider it wrong – and untimely in a period like this – to make moves in different directions and we hope that, in the near future, there might be a change of mind and a reunification of the Italian industry of woodworking technology, so that we can win all together the battle for a leadership that is increasingly challenged”.
Mr. Zanibon, what are you expecting for Xylexpo?
“In terms of dimensions, it will certainly be affected by the economic scenario, although we still have a few months ahead that might consolidate the optimism we are seeing during the first days of the new year. Compared to the 73 thousand square meter net exhibition surface record of 2008, we think we can expect a 20 to 30 percent reduction. But I can say that this will not impact the quality of our exhibition and the logistic and organization activities. These periods of difficulty and fierce challenge can also be turned into opportunities for verification and for the deployment of new strategies to help you look at the future more optimistically. In which direction? Certainly the Italian visitor, who will always be the key audience of our event, but we will not forget the international operators who come to Xylexpo every second year; at the previous edition we achieved a record level of international visitors, who accounted for 51.5 percent of total attendance. It won’t be easy to keep such levels this year, but this is clear evidence of the export propensity of our manufacturers”.
This suggests that exhibitions are changing and maybe it’s high time we started over…
“It is the market that keeps changing, all around the world. Our biggest regret is that, right now we have realized the necessity to react and to adapt Xylexpo to new cycles and new ideas, we have to face unexpected situations. In our opinion, the times of huge stands covering thousands of square meters have gone. Each company, each organization, each group has the right to define and deploy its own strategies, but based on our forty-year experience and longstanding participation in dozens of exhibitions around the world, we can say that there are other tools to show your leadership. As organizers, we had already adopted this vision and, just a few days after the end of Xylexpo 2008, we started to think in this direction… we are working to play our role the best we can!”. (l.r.)
