LIGNA 2023 has announced that as of February 2023, over 105,000m2 of the exhibition space is booked and more than 1,100 exhibitors have booked their stands, with reportedly 180 first-time exhibitors.
In addition to companies from Germany, firms from Italy, Austria, Turkey, Spain, China, Sweden, Slovenia, Denmark and the Netherlands account for the largest proportion of exhibitors by area.
Trends
LIGNA will continue to explore key trends in the woodworking industry. This year, the biannual woodworking trade show will present talks surrounding digitisation, bioeconomy, and prefabrication.
Under the title “Woodworking Transformation”, LIGNA 2023 will explore how digitisation is shaping the industry’s development and has become a prerequisite for production that should be as resource efficient as it should be flexible.
Exhibitors will show how far the networking of machines, tools, components and materials has achieved and will present innovations in the fields of robotics, automation and software.
The trade show will also explore how wood has become an important renewable raw material as a pillar of the circular bioeconomy.
On display will be development lines of the wood-based bioeconomy and technological innovations for the responsible use of natural resources, as well as process technologies for shaping chemically digested wood fibres.
Under the topic of “Prefab Building Processes”, LIGNA 2023 will explore wood as an increasingly important building material in the construction industry.
More specifically, the trade show will explore solutions and approaches that will spearhead the future of timber construction, as the industry needs a technology boost to produce in a contemporary and efficient manner in prefabrication and on-site construction.
Format
LIGNA 2023 will present itself in seven product segments, categorised according to their halls:
Halls 11-15 and 27 will be on tools and machinery for customised and mass production. Halls 16-17 will be on surface technology. Hall 26 will be on wood-based panel production. Hall 25 will be on sawmill technology. Halls 25-26 and an open-air site will be on wood energy. Hall 16 will be on machine components and automation technology, and P32-35 and the open-air site will feature machinery for forestry, roundwood and sawn timber production.
At Hall 12, the LIGNA.Stage will present a programme of solution- and user-oriented presentations and panel discussions along the LIGNA focus topics as well as recruiting and sustainability. These talks will be streamed online as well.
There will also be guided tours, where in groups of 25 participants, interested parties will be guided to selected exhibitors and given exclusive presentations and live demonstrations directly at their stands. The guided tours will also be available online, on-demand.
In view of the shortage of skilled workers and concerns about young talent, LIGNA also provides an overview of research, education and career opportunities in the woodworking and wood processing industry through the LIGNA.Campus.
“LIGNA offers a unique overview of the entire value chain of the woodworking and wood processing industry. It is the international showcase for innovations and the stage for world firsts. We have been receiving a wave of euphoria from the community ever since planning began. The industry is looking forward to the face-to-face experience in Hannover,” concluded Dr Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe.
