Tens of thousands of woodworking professionals will gather in Germany in May for the industry’s two largest trade shows: interzum and LIGNA. Running back-to-back, interzum takes place May 9-12 in Cologne and LIGNA will be held May 15-19 in Hannover.

A single ticket will once again allow visitors access to both shows. Tickets can be purchased online at either shows’ website, interzum.com or ligna.de. 

Innovations at interzum
The 2023 interzum kicks off with a digital pre-show from May 2-8, including a sneak peek of some of the new products. 

Plus, on display in Cologne will be thousands of supplies for manufacturing furniture, cabinets, closets, and related products, including flexible hardware and storage solutions, connectivity enhancements, panel developments, adhesives, and new colors, textures, and finishes.

Sponsored by Koelnmesse, interzum hosts more than 1,400 exhibitors from 60 countries.

With “Neo-ecology” as its central theme and “Shaping the change” as its slogan, interzum will spotlight sustainability, climate change and resources as they relate to materials and components. The organization also has launched a magazine, available on its website, with articles on the topic. And on the northern side of the fairground, in one of its more frequented sections, will be an area titled Boulevard Sustainability, which will include a dozen booths from exhibitors showcasing products related to the topic.

This year’s interzum is the first in-person show since the pandemic, and organizers expect a strong turnout with numbers pushing close to the all-time high in 2019. Visitor quality also is trending up, says Maik Fischer, show manager. “In the last six to eight months visitor quality remains high and is increasing. That means the people with the purchasing power and the decision power, they’re coming to…Cologne.”

And what can visitors expect this year? For one, a newly built hall in the Materials & Nature Pavilion and an optimized floor layout making the fair more efficient for attendees, he adds. The market segments are grouped closer together, requiring less time to traverse a pavilion and enabling more face-to-face time with exhibitors.

Education will be a big proponent this year, from trend forums to the interzum academy. “Visitors are demanding more content, knowledge, updates, trends, insights,” Fischer says, “everything which is not a product, but about knowledge. That’s what we see visitors demanding and that is how we want to develop [as the second pillar of the show] this year, and in the future.”

Each interzum industry segment has a forum: Materials & Nature — “Sustainability Matters:” a look at new materials, some of which are in development and have not made it to the market yet, and a focus on sustainability; Textile & Machinery — “New Aspects in Mattress Recycling:” a look at how mattress recycling can be transformed into a circular economy; and Function & Components — “Furniture in Change — Shifting Boundaries:” a focus on how furniture and cabinet makers can rethink the production process.
However, beyond those forums, interzum also will introduce a Trend Stage highlighting experts across various sectors. This central knowledge platform will feature curated content with a high-level focus on innovation. The Product Stage is another part of interzum academy, along with the Trend Stage, and will provide attendees a chance to listen to exhibitors discuss company and product-focused topics. Content from the stages will be available live on site, digitally and on-demand.

North American exhibitors
Approximately 39 U.S. and two Canadian companies will be at interzum – among them are flagships like Legget & Platt as well as the US state offices of North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin, which will feature hardwood and softwood companies from their respective states in the Materials & Nature Halls. They will be located close to the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), which will bring over 20 companies in that segment. 

There will be an ISPA Pavilion in Hall 11.2 in the Textile & Machinery segment of Interzum. Following the four-day, in-person show, May 15 and 16 will be interzum @home, a digital recap of products and solutions shown in Cologne. 

Registration for the fair is currently available at interzum.com. However, new this year is the digital ticket, which can be purchased in the ticket shop on the website. This ticket will be the only way to enter the fair; the ticketing process is 100 percent digital, and no purchases can be made on site. All attendees will then need to download interzum’s official app and store the digital ticket in its wallet section. For information visit interzum.com.

LIGNA: Technology transformed
The world’s largest woodworking show, this year’s LIGNA fair will play host to more than 1,100 exhibitors from around the world — including 180 first-time exhibitors — with displays spread across roughly 1.15 million net square feet (more than 105,000 square meters) of exhibit space. 

The number of visitors to the show is projected to surpass 75,000, according to show management. The show is jointly organized by Deutsche Messe and the VDMA Woodworking Machinery Association.

“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,” said Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe AG.

“The industry is looking forward to the face-to-face experience in Hannover,” Köckler said. “At LIGNA 2023, visitors will meet exhibitors from 44 countries. This is where trends are set and discussed that shape the industry and point the way to the future.”

The theme for this year’s LIGNA show is “Woodworking Transformation,” and showcased will be state-of-the-art processing solutions including smart and/or connected factories, Industry 4.0, IoT platforms, and the Woodworking made izy standardized interface initiative, as well as other new technology and classic concepts for the primary and secondary woodworking industries. 

Other themes include “Prefab Building Processes” and “Green Material Processing,” reinforcing the role the wood-based bioeconomy has as a technology driver.

Visitors to LIGNA will see a wide range of technology and innovations across seven main display categories: Tools & Machinery for Custom & Mass Production in Halls 11–15, 27; Surface Technology in Halls 16, 17; Wood Based Panel Production in Hall 26; Sawmill Technology, Hall 25;  Energy from Wood in Halls 25, 26 and an open-air site; Machine Components and Automation Technology, Hall 16; and Machinery for Forestry, Roundwood & Sawntimber Production in the open-air site, P32–35.

Along with demonstrations throughout the show, the LIGNA.Stage in Hall 12 will offer solution- and user-oriented presentations and panel discussions along the focus topics as well as recruiting and sustainability. The programs will also be available livestream and on-demand on the LIGNA website, ligna.de. 

This year’s guided tours to select exhibits will also be hybrid, available for in-person, livestream or on-demand viewing. 

“By streaming our additional formats, we want to make LIGNA and relevant industry developments accessible to those who can’t be there on site,” said Stephanie Wagner, LIGNA project manager. “Independent of location and time, we can thus extend LIGNA’s appeal far beyond the event period.”

New this year will be research, education and industry career through LIGNA.Campus and LIGNA.Recruiting, including the opportunity for face-to-face meetings. The LIGNA.Future Square, powered by VDMA will present start-ups with lean solutions and new ideas.

This will be LIGNA’s first live show since 2019, which was attended by more than 90,000 visitors from 100-plus countries; the 2021 event was virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For more information on the LIGNA Fair, visit ligna.de.