Summary
• JJ Smith announced an association with pallet machinery manufacturer Storti.
• Production line demonstrations were important at the show, alongside stand-alone machines.
• The entire woodworking supply chain will be evident at the 2010 edition.

The 2008 edition of Xylexpo was the first of a new era for the Milan-based woodworking machinery show, after Sasmil moved to a different period of the year.

This provided organiser Centro Promozionale ACIMALL (CEPRA) with the opportunity to add semi-finished materials and supplies to the list of target audiences, giving birth to Xylexpo NEW and an exhibition for the entire woodworking supply chain.

CEPRA admits the decision to add new markets to Xylexpo came at a late stage, with space preventing it from fully promoting the show to the new markets, but said the 2010 edition would be the litmus test for the consolidated event. It has already booked Hall 18 at FieraMilano, taking the available exhibition space to more than 100,000m² compared to just over 75,000m2 this year.

But this year’s exhibition was not without innovation and new developments.

Deal sealed

Chief among these was UK-based machinery supplier JJ Smith, which told TTJ that it has sealed a deal to handle equipment for Italian pallet machinery manufacturer Storti.

“We will be officially launching our association later in the year,” said Martin Smith, managing director of JJ Smith. “They’re a very reputable company, long-established with a very good name in the pallet machinery industry and we’re pleased to be associated with them.”

Homag Group displayed a number of new machines across the company’s brands, ranging from Bargstedt’s pitless feed system to Brandt’s KDX 400 edgebander range and Bütfering’s SCO wide-belt sander series.

Each of these has been designed to enhance the production process at every stage, according to Homag, such as a heat lamp in the infeed area of the KDX 400 series to provide “an optimum glue bond quality” and mechanical infeed barrier to optimise sequencing in the production line.

Holzma presented its HPP 350 single saw’s new features at the show, including an increase in the carriage speed to 150m/min and the program fence speed to 90m/min. “Holzma has been able to reduce cycle times by up to 20% in comparison to the previous models,” the company said.

“Our aim here is not only to be the industry trend-setter, but also to be in a position to continuously improve the solutions we offer our customers,” said Dr Joachim Brenk, spokesman for the Homag Group’s board. “As a system supplier, the Homag Group has a specifically tailored and optimised solution to offer to each and every one of its customers.”

New artwork

Homag City also showcased artwork designed by Dr Joan Sofron, with a multi-coloured Venture 2.5M CNC processing centre the heart of the display and showing the ability to provide “something new” with established quality.

Dr Sofron’s work also featured 12 symbols to represent “the characteristics of the Homag and Weeke CNC machines”, with an archer representing precision; a dolphin, dynamics; a chameleon, adaptability; a horse, power; and eight others covering reliability, flexibility, speed, uniqueness, ecology, strength, success and German manufacturing.

Weinig used Xylexpo to drive home the message about its window manufacturing equipment, particularly the Conturex range, which outgoing chairman of the board Rainer Hundsdörfer described as a “sophisticated window production” system.

The company also showcased its Millvision software, which connects and controls a number of machines to integrate and optimise just in time material flow.

“It is a very sophisticated system that’s helping our customers to do their business more efficiently,” said Mr Hundsdörfer. “We have started these systems in America and have installed around 150. We are in the process of pushing this on to the European market now.”

He added that the company would be launching Conturex 2, a modular combination of two machining centres, at its next open house event. It is designed to be more flexible and productive, with Mr Hundsdörfer saying it can manufacture products of all sizes.

“Extremely small windows are no problem, but at the same time you can easily produce rails up to 6m on this machine,” he said. “It is a modular concept of two machining centres which allows not only a spindle with two changers on each side of the entry, but also a base for all kinds of special equipment; everything you need to get productivity in to window and rail production.”

Saw range

Swiss saw manufacturer Striebig displayed its new Compact range of vertical panel saws, including manual and automatic forward feed versions.

The Compact AV, featuring the automatic feed system, removes the need for “laborious physical work” according to Striebig, and ensures accurate automatic sawing. And the standard Compact saw is equipped with a self-supporting, rigid saw frame that supports a 1/10mm accuracy range.

Finishing specialist Giardina’s latest UV drying technology was also on show, offering enhanced environmental and cost savings. The UV Plus technology offers an energy saving of 20,000KW over 1,600 working hours compared to the UV Classic model, equating to a CO2 reduction of 12,000kg.

Italian wood coatings manufacturer ICA Group also launched two products to visitors at Xylexpo, with the Superfeel and Supercare internal coatings designed to provide a finish resilient to wear and tear.

Superfeel is a bi-component water-based polyurethane matt top coat that can be sprayed when diluted, and provides a smooth base for the paste-based ICA Colour tintometric system.

Supercare is a similar transparent coating that offers non-yellowing and non-scratch properties. This makes it ideal for furnishings and other indoor applications that undergo lots of wear, according to ICA.

Both Superfeel and Supercare also offer reduced solvent emissions due to their water-based properties.

Production lines

SCM Group’s 7,000m² Metropolis stand further showcased the latest product developments, but was mainly used as a demonstration of complete production lines alongside stand-alone machines. This provided a showcase for machinery from each of the group’s 15 companies, including Mahros, Morbidelli, and SCM itself, and covered a variety of applications for the machines.

An Order by Order line, featuring 10 stages of machinery including Mahros, Morbidelli, Stefani and Gabbiani equipment, demonstrated the ability to produce panels in batches of up to seven for flexible industrial applications. This lets one operator produce three office units in 30 minutes.

The Parquet line featured 19 stages, including longitudinal squaring, quality control and packaging, with SCM, SAG, Sergiani, DMC, Elmag, Celaschi and CPC machines processing 8m²/minute through the press and allowing 10-12 packs/minute to be packaged.

The Easy Cabinet Nesting Cell was also on show, with Morbidelli’s Universal 3618 NB CNC centre, IDM’s Level HD single-sided edgebander and Mahros RPVT-DX 66/75 panel return conveyor producing single jobs tailored to the end user’s specification.

“This year we have a lot of processes instead of machines,” said Renato Benelli, from SCM. “We have lines, we have cells, we have nesting cells, we have five-axis machines, we have nesting cells from the high level that are completely automatic, we have nesting processes for moulding machines.”

This display method provided customers, including those from the UK, the opportunity to see machinery in situ and as part of the production process, fully showcasing the benefits.

“UK customers are coming because they want to look at something specific,” said Mr Smith. “We can see the new products [being launched] and understand the products that are there in the market. We’re always looking for the latest developments.”

Xylexpo 2010 will take place in Milan on May 25-29.