Summary
• W10 takes place at the NEC from October 3-6.
• It is expecting more than the 10,000 visitors who attended W8.
• Technology on show will go from “just after sawmilling to finishing equipment”.
• Visitors want more timber com-panies to exhibit.
One thing potential visitors don’t want from the W10 Working with Wood technology and components show is gimmicks. That wasn’t precisely what they said in response to a survey from the organisers, but it was the general thrust.
“They don’t want frills and embellishments – what they said they wanted was to meet as many suppliers as possible and see as wide a variety of technology and materials as they can in a day,” said director John Smith-Bodden. “The wood working and furniture industries are highly competitive in any event and the economic climate means businesses are even more hard-pressed to spare time away from the factory or workshop. We have to be in tune with that and ensure that it’s a serious, business-like show, worth the time and money visitors and exhibitors alike invest in attending.”
Early evidence that this approach also strikes a chord with exhibitors is that stand space at W10, which takes place at the NEC, Birmingham, from October 3-6, is already 60% booked and climbing.
“We may not cover as big a total exhibition area as W8 two years ago, but people are doing more with less space in shows today and we’re confident of getting at least as many exhibitors,” said Mr Smith-Bodden.
Besides the choice of a compact stand area, to make the exhibitor’s life easier W10 is providing ‘walk on’ shell packages, including lighting, furniture and wireless.
“We’re also offering marketing support so they can tie in promotion with ours,” said Mr Smith-Bodden. “This will include an open day on June 10 at Uttoxeter racecourse where we can discuss how they can make the most of the event, and talk to exhibition contractors .”
The range of machinery at W10 will range “from just beyond sawmilling, through to finishing equipment”.
“We’re also seeing a broadening this year to include more fastenings technology suppliers and a strengthening of the furniture components presence,” said Mr Smith- Bodden. “I think this is evidence of a new vitality in the UK furniture sector. All the talk has been about the migration of the big producers off shore. But we’re also seeing a new energy in small- to medium-sized manufacturing; companies that offer different products and response times overseas suppliers just cannot match.”
The key thrust of technology on show, he predicted, will continue the trend of recent years in making higher tech automation more accessible in smaller packages.
“Smaller wood processing businesses and manufacturers today are as focused on efficiency and labour saving as bigger companies, and they’re more technically proficient,” said Mr Smith-Bodden. “They may have had to lay people off, or not want to take more on as the market picks up, so they’re looking to more productive, automated machinery and manufacturers are responding with equipment to suit their needs.”
W10 can’t pretend it will have the number of global wood technology firsts boasted by the giant German and Italian shows, Ligna and Xylexpo, but it will have its share of products making their UK debut.
“That means they will be new to visitors,” said Mr Smith-Bodden. “According to our survey, only 10% ever get to the overseas exhibitions.”
To make the new products easy to find, W10 has an innovations promotional area on its website where visitors can pick out what they’re interested in.
Early interest indicates that the range of businesses represented by visitors will be as wide, if not wider than ever, predominantly furniture and joinery producers, but also shop fitters, boat builders, timber frame manufacturers, coffin makers and a variety of other wood-based manufacturing sectors and crafts.
Mr Smith-Bodden is also confident overall attendance will exceed W8 levels.
“Then we had 17,000 pre-registrations and 10,000 visitors,” said Mr Smith Bodden. “But that was just as recession started to bite, so we anticipate a bigger turnout.”
Between now and October, W10’s aim will be to steadily build visitor interest through direct promotion and the website, where pre-registration opens soon. The questionnaires sent out from the latter have already generated a strong response, said Mr Smith-Bodden, with another interesting request being for a stronger presence from timber and wood products suppliers at the show.
“It makes sense, as 70% of visitors are companies’ key buyers, responsible for purchasing raw materials as well as equipment,” he said. “We’re contacting timber companies and are keen to talk to any interested in exhibiting.”
He added that the recent acquisition of the show from the Wood Machinery Suppliers Association by his company, event organiser Huddlestone, would help further broaden its exhibitor base.
And an extra attraction for the event for both exhibitors and visitors will be that, if they don’t get everything wrapped up at the show, they can continue their discussions and evaluations via the W10 website, which will provide it with a “market afterburn” of several months. This, said Mr Smith-Bodden, will be a practical, commercial communication channel that will “prolong the show community”. Again, no gimmicks.
