With an exhibition area of more than 105,000 square metres and over 1,100 exhibitors, LIGNA 2023 (15-19 May 2023) is celebrating its return as an in-person event, providing a comprehensive overview of the woodworking and processing industry. Despite the challenging global political situation, the number of bookings confirms LIGNA's status as the world's leading trade fair. International market players and well-known companies will gather from all over the world to present tools, machinery and systems, as well as smart solutions and new technologies. Alongside companies from Germany, the largest share of exhibitors by floor space comes from Italy, Austria, Turkey, Spain, China, Sweden, Slovenia, Denmark and the Netherlands.
“LIGNA offers an accurate overview of the entire value chain in the woodworking and processing industry. It is an international innovation showcase and a stage for demonstrating world-class achievements. From the very beginning of the planning process, we have been swept up in a wave of euphoria from the industry. The sector is excited about the personal experience in Hannover,” emphasised Dr Jochen Köckler (Jochen Köckler), CEO of Deutsche Messe AG, highlighting the significance of the event during the LIGNA Preview media briefing on 16 February in Hannover. “At LIGNA 2023, visitors will meet exhibitors from 44 countries. This is where the trends that shape the industry and point the way to the future are defined and discussed.”
LIGNA's key themes drive the industry forward
LIGNA 2023 continues to act as a trendsetter with its choice of key themes. Digitalisation defines the industry's development and is a prerequisite for resource-efficient and flexible production. Under the title “Woodworking Transformation”, it is also attracting significant attention at LIGNA. Exhibitors are demonstrating how far the networking of machines, tools, components and materials has progressed and are presenting innovations in robotics, automation and software. Buzzwords such as Smart or Connected Factory, Industry 4.0 and IoT platforms will also be on display at LIGNA through concrete examples.
On the path towards an economy based on renewable resources, wood, as the most important renewable raw material, forms the fundamental foundation. The wood bioeconomy is considered a driving force for innovative technologies. The framework conditions for expanding the resource-efficient use of wood are part of the European Green Deal and a pillar of the circular bioeconomy. This is a development upon which the LIGNA 2023 programme is rightly focused. The programme will showcase development trends in the wood bioeconomy and technological innovations for the responsible use of natural resources, as well as technologies for chemical cellulose wood fibre moulding processes.
Wood is also becoming increasingly important as a recyclable building material in the construction sector. Both nationally and globally, the share of timber-built buildings and hybrid wood constructions in total construction volume is growing.
LIGNA reflects this industry trend in its central theme “Prefabrication Processes in Timber Construction”: as the importance of timber construction grows, new requirements for technologies and systems arise. This is why Bernd Oswald (GROPYUS) and Professor Achim Menges (University of Stuttgart) spoke about this topic at the LIGNA Preview conference.
Conclusion: The construction industry requires a technological impetus to produce in a modern and efficient way – both in industrial production and on the building site. At LIGNA, interested parties will be able to discover suitable solutions and approaches that will determine the future of timber construction.