Hannover, Germany. LIGNA (May 15 - 19, 2023) is considered THE meeting place for the entire world of woodworking and wood processing. Local heroes such as carpenters, joiners, cabinetmakers and mobile assemblers come to Hannover, as do global machine manufacturers, to experience together the future possibilities of human-machine interaction. In addition to the comprehensive exhibition program with world premieres of new technologies, an equally informative and entertaining supporting program provides added value. Carpenters, joiners cabinetmakers and mobile assemblers in particular can look forward to informative program highlights at LIGNA.

The Woodworking Transformation

Viable and scalable solutions lead to the transformation of wood processing. LIGNA will be showcasing them along the entire value chain for all machining and processing steps - for the raw material wood, LIGNA's core theme, but also for other materials such as synthetics, glass, stone and composites. "Woodworking and wood processing will look different in a few years than it does today," predicts Stephanie Wagner, Head of LIGNA. "This change needs input of all industry participants, which is why LIGNA is taking both the craftsman and the corporate executive along on this new path."

Award-winning buildings and building components:
German Timber Construction Award 2023

On LIGNA Tuesday the German Timber Construction Award 2023 will be presented at 3:20 p.m. on the LIGNA.Stage in Hall 12. Presented by Holzbau Deutschland Holzbau Deutschland - Bund Deutscher Zimmermeister (Association of German Master Carpenters) and under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Construction, and in collaboration with other industry partners from the German timber and forestry sector as well as Holzbau Deutschland's management partners, the German Timber Construction Award honors buildings and building components constructed primarily from wood and wood-based materials as well as other renewable raw materials. The awards are given in the categories of new buildings, existing buildings and innovative planning and construction concepts. The total prize money amounts to 20,000 euros. An exhibition of the award-winning projects will be presented by Holzbau Deutschland during LIGNA in Hall 11.

From the one-handed Clamp to the Robot Turret Hero: Solutions for the skilled Trades.

Almost everything that will make work easier for carpenters, joiners, window makers, mobile assemblers and anyone who works with wood in the future can be found at LIGNA 2023. For example, compelling matters will be child's play with Bessey's new, patent-pending EZ360 one-handed clamp, in which the entire handle unit can be rotated around the rail. Craftsmen are literally also given a helping hand with the new ExoActive, with which the Swabian tool specialist Festool is presenting an active exoskeleton powered by 18-volt battery power for the first time in its almost century-long company history, which Festool says represents nothing less than a revolution for the construction trade and almost all of its trades. "Anyone who has ever worked with the support of an active exoskeleton will never want to take on a wall or ceiling again without our ExoActive," Dominic Ender, product manager for the new ExoActive exoskeleton, is certain.

Visitors to LIGNA 2023 can expect no revolution, but rather an evolution that will make them fit for the future, at the booth of GEWEMA AG, which is the exclusive distributor of the CNC wood router popular with small cabinetmakers and carpenters. "The completely new machine concept of the CNC wood router, which relies on wood materials instead of steel and uses the elasticity of the material as an advantage, has been accepted by the market - now the next step will follow at LIGNA 2023," announced Peter Eibl, CEO of GEWEMA AG. Also playing into the hands of craftsmen is the fact that Shaper Tools is bringing to LIGNA 2023 the Origin Gen2, an all-round optimized version of the hand-held CNC router that has caused a sensation in many workshops since its market launch in 2017.

BECK and KEHRATEC, a specialist in robot automation, have paired up for their next innovation: a robot-assisted system for the fully or partially automated realization of timber construction projects. At LIGNA, the new system will produce live wall elements by fastening individual board layers with LIGNOLOC wood nails shot by a robot. "Small and medium-sized timber construction companies and carpentries throughout Europe should be able to manufacture solid wood wall elements themselves in this way without the need for metal or glue," explains BECK CEO Christian Beck.

Looking over the shoulder of experts: WorldSkills training and "Die Gute Form 2023".

Traditionally, Tischler Schreiner Deutschland (TSD) is also an important contact point for craftsmen at LIGNA. With Siam GmbH and TSH System GmbH, the German Carpenters' Guild has attracted two top providers of clever guild solutions to its stand E16 in Hall 12, who will be on hand to provide guild members with helpful advice. This instruction will be supplemented by inspiration, thanks to the exhibition of the federal design competition "Die Gute Form 2023" at the TSD booth. The competition is held each year, first at the guild level, then at the state level and finally at the national level. A jury of experts selects workpieces at each level to advance one round. The highlight is the national final at LIGNA, where the journeymen's pieces of the state winners are exhibited. In addition to the three national winners, the special award winners "Hardware", "Solid Wood" and "Surface" and also a public favorite will be chosen.

Finally, the live training sessions for WorldSkills 2024 will provide plenty of action at LIGNA. Carpenters Lutz König, German Champion 2021, and Sebastian Moser, German Champion 2022, as well as wildcard winners Felix Wilhelm and Elias Kleespies, will be preparing in front of the eyes of LIGNA visitors for these world championships of the trades, in which young professionals aged up to 22 compete against each other in their occupational groups every two years. The training camp will be set up in Hall 15 at Kleiberit's booth D14, as the adhesives manufacturer is the main sponsor of the German national team in the carpentry/joinery category.