Hannover - In addition to its centerpiece - the exhibition of woodworking and wood processing machinery and equipment - LIGNA.23 also offers its visitors an extensive supporting program. This year the LIGNA.Stage will celebrate its premiere in Hall 12, Stand A16. On all five days of the show, around 100 speakers will present a program of application- and solution-oriented presentations. Thematically, the program takes up the focus topics of LIGNA "Woodworking Transformation", "Prefab Building Processes" and "Green Material Processing" as well as the special interest topics "Recruiting & Careers" and "Sustainability & Circular Economy".

Knowledge transfer live and on demand
The LIGNA.Stage presentations will be held in German or English and simultaneously translated into the other language. Those who cannot be present on site or have to deal with scheduling conflicts are in luck: The lectures will all be streamed live via the LIGNA website and will still be available on demand afterwards.

The LIGNA.Stage program is now available online.

Highlight speaker on the LIGNA.Stage
Artificial intelligence is on everyone's lips and a true buzzword of digitalization. But what actual possibilities does the technology bring to woodworking and wood processing? Patrick Freeman, Group Chief Technology Officer at MiCROTEC, has many years of experience with deep learning and machine learning. In his presentation, he will use examples to provide an overview of how the development of Deep Learning began in the wood industry and the opportunities that artificial intelligence holds for the industry's development. (Thursday, May 18, at 2:20 p.m.)

Matthias Schneider from the University of Stuttgart presents the "SmartLab for Wood". The "SmartLab" allows practical experience to be gained with "connectivity" technologies and shows the potential and advantages offered by the networking of plants and machines of different years of construction and manufacturers. This includes, for example, the development of apps for the collection and visualization of process, machine and production data as well as the implementation of handheld devices (tablet computers, smartphones) or AR glasses in industrial production. (Monday, May 15, at 10:40 a.m.)

The presentation by Dr. Stefan Bockel, Head of Product Management, WEINMANN Holzbausystemtechnik GmbH, describes the changing situation of timber construction. Based on the master thesis he supervised at HBC Biberach entitled: "Development of multi-storey buildings in timber construction and its influence on timber construction companies in Germany", he will present how the constant further development in prefabrication and automation supports industrial companies and also medium-sized craft companies towards efficient production. (Tuesday, May 16, 2:30 p.m.)

Niki Karatza and Prof. Andreas Heinzmann from holzbau.tech GmbH demonstrate sensible applications of robotics in timber construction. They will demonstrate in which areas of timber construction prefabrication robotics can be used in a process-safe manner and which challenges have to be considered. (Wednesday, May 17, at 13:40).

An overview of the potential of process technologies for the bioeconomy will be provided by Prof. Dr. Matthias Zscheile and Dr. Veronika Auer from Rosenheim Technical University. They will explain the basics on which the sustainability assessment of wood-based products, such as building materials, works and how consistent monitoring identifies process steps that need improvement. (Thursday, May 18, at 10 a.m.)

Jan Kurth, German Furniture Industry Association, talks about the consequences of the European Green Deal for the furniture industry. Derived from the European requirements, he presents necessary changes and adjustments: From product development and the production process to the repair and reprocessing of used products, different fields of action arise. (Wednesday, May 17, at 10 a.m.)

LIGNA | The World of Woodworking
The world's leading trade fair with a global range of tools, machinery and equipment for woodworking and wood processing will be held in Hanover from May 15 to 19, 2023.