Hannover, Germany. The conference is specifically targeted at decision makers from the woodworking trades and the furniture, building products, interior finishing and timber construction sectors.

Integrated production, which was also the keynote theme of this year's LIGNA trade fair, has proven to be a major talking point among exhibitors, visitors and the media. "LIGNA reflects and continually adapts to the defining trends in the global market. Our focus on meeting the needs of our target groups and highlighting the key challenges facing the industry has made LIGNA the world's leading trade show for plant, machines and tools for the woodworking and wood processing industries. The Industry 4.0 theme we chose for this year's show resonated very strongly among all the stakeholders, and this encouraged us to launch this new conference for the non-LIGNA years," explained Christian Pfeiffer, the Director in charge of LIGNA at Deutsche Messe.

The two-day conference will explore the intelligent integration of production and logistics processes and the practical benefits of Industry 4.0 technologies for users of woodworking machines. It will also feature real-life case studies that illustrate the wider benefits to the timber and furniture industries of integrated production systems – the ability to manufacture customized products at competitive prices, for instance.

Digitalization not only impacts companies' production processes, it can also profoundly change their long-term strategies. That's why next year's conference will also take an in-depth look at future business models. In addition, at a range of exhibits at the conference venue, attendees will be able to discuss their individual situation with integrated manufacturing experts. Detailed information on speakers, topics and how to register will be available at the start of next year.