The figures for July-September 2020 clearly reflect what’s happening in this key segment of the Italian mechanical engineering industry. In general, the orders of machinery and tools for wood and furniture are recording a decreasing trend below expectations, which indicates a partial improvement of the economic situation compared to the previous quarters, strongly impacted by the lockdown.
Waiting for more details to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the industrial economy, based on the analysis of the Acimall Studies office we can illustrate the trend of wood and furniture technology in 2019. Unfortunately, those twelve months were characterized by hardly encouraging signals for the health of our industry, a suffering condition that can only get worse after the dramatic events of the first months of 2020.
Machines Italia and ACIMALL, the Italian Woodworking Technology Association, have kickstarted a media campaing to promote the next edition, the 27th, of Xylexpo, the exhibition for woodworking technology and components for the furniture industry which will take place at Fieramilano Rho, in Milano, Italy from May 26 to 29 May 2020. The campaign includes digital and printed advertisements on trade publications such as Woo
Known as the industry’s innovation marketplace, AWFS®Fair is the “go to” event for thousands of woodworking manufacturing professionals who need cutting-edge solutions to make their operations more competitive and more profitable. Addressing that quest for innovation, AWFS®Fair 2019 once again brings the entire global industry together for an in-depth review of the new developments and advances that are driving the market.
Desire for change and progress is in the air at Xylexpo: after the decision to bring the exhibition timeframe to four days (from Tuesday 26 to Friday 29 May 2020), a new logo has been launched officially, twenty years after the rebranding from Interbimall to Xylexpo and the introduction of the logo that has characterized the international exhibition until the latest edition in 2018.
The July-September period reaffirmed the current industry trend, characterized by consolidation after strong growth in 2017. After major investments in Italy and abroad in recent months, woodworking and wood-based materials companies finally have a new and updated fleet of equipment. As a result, the need to invest is now decreasing.
The biennial international exhibition has decided to squeeze its calendar from five to four days. From the next edition – scheduled from Tuesday 26 to Friday 29, May 2020, at FieraMilano-Rho – Xylexpo will last shorter: the decision was taken unanimously by the managing board of Cepra, the operating arm of exhibition owner Acimall, at the meeting held on October 10.
The climate of recent times, characterized by a consistent improvement of all indicators, could not last forever. So, here we are, packing up for the summer break, with some hints and reflections… starting from the first trend emerging in the second quarter of this year, namely the widespread slowdown of orders. The traditional quarterly survey by Acimall, the Confindustria member association, reveals a 9.9 percent decrease compared to the same period of 2017.