About 50,000 visitors are expected to attend the biennial woodworking machinery exhibition Xylexpo in Milan, which gets under way on May 8.
Organiser ACIMALL (the Italian woodworking machinery and tools manufacturers’ association) said 512 exhibitors had booked stands at the event, covering 32,000m².
Pre-registrations suggest attendance will be similar to 2010, when 52,000 people visited, though exhibitor numbers and net surface exhibition area were higher (648 & 42,500m² respectively) in 2010 than this year.
“It’s a tough mission in tough times like these, after three troubled years for the global economy and goods,” said Paolo Zanibon, exhibition general manager.
“We must face performance rates quite far from the levels we have been accustomed to.
“We are working intensively at the upcoming event knowing that the wood industry is looking at Xylexpo not only to find innovation, ideas, technology and equipment, but also to gather and discuss, to better understand what happened, what is happening and what shall be done in an industry and markets that have changed radically.”
About 35% of visitors are expected to come from abroad, with Germany, China and Turkey at the forefront.
A number of “smart” technological solutions will be showcased to address significant structural and economic change in the woodworking industry. Exhibitors include Homag, Otto Martin, Kuper, Striebig, Hundegger, Holz-Her, Randek, Salvador and Weinig.
Xylexpo (May 8-12) will cover four halls of the Rho exhibition centre – panel processing machines and technology will be in halls 1 and 3, while hall 2 will focus on solid wood machining solutions and hall 4 is dedicated to timber/materials suppliers and manufacturers of primary processing equipment.
Xylexpo follows newer woodworking show Technodmus, held in Rimini on April 20-24, which SCM and Biesse are now supporting instead of the Milan exhibition.
Android and iPhone apps can be downloaded on the Xylexpo homepage click here
