WOOD AND FURNITURE TECHNOLOGY: THIRD QUARTER 2020
- 2020-10-27
The figures for July-September 2020clearly reflect what's happening in this key segment of the Italian mechanical engineering industry.In general, the orders of machinery and tools for wood and furniture are recording a decreasing trend below expectations, which indicates a partial improvement of the economic situation compared to the previous quarters, strongly impacted by the lockdown. This trend indicates that the industry's production system has identified the necessary countermeasures to carry on, within a context where the role of digital communication toolsto support business is getting stronger and stronger; the effectiveness of these tools is directly proportional to the skills available in each company and developed in recent years, as well as the investments made in this area.Webinars, online demos and "digital conversations" are helping companies keep their business relations on global marketsalive, reaffirming their competitiveness to customers around the world, traditionally sensitive to "made in Italy" quality.Digital tools are also valuable in the domestic market, where demand is clearly shrinking and - as requested by the entire Confindustria system and beyond - the effects cannot be mitigated by the incentives to companies that the whole system is calling out loud. Looking at figures, wood-furniture technology recorded a decrease of orders by 10.1 percent compared to the same quarter of 2019, in line with the trend of the entire machine tools industry.Orders on the domestic marketdecreased by 32.3 percent, as opposed to a better trend of international demand, which decreased by 1 percent only.This general trend is mitigated by the fact that orders increased by more than 40 percent compared to the terrible period of April-June 2020. The quarterly survey by the Studies Office of Acimall – the Confindustria member association that represents the industry - on a statistic sample of companies indicates that the orders bookis equal to 3.1 months (versus 2.4 in the previous quarter), with a price increase by 0.6 percent since the beginning of 2020.The decrease in revenues, compared to the same quarter of 2019, amounted to 9.5 percent, another "reassuring" figure if compared to minus 29.8 percent in the previous quarter. According to the quality survey, 47 percent of the interviewed companies indicate a positive productiontrend, 18 percent decreasing and 35 percent stable.Employmentwill be stationary according to 65 percent of the sample, while 29 percent expects a reduction and only 6 percent believes it can increase. Available stocksare stable according to 65 percent of the interviewees, increasing for 6 percent and decreasing for 29 percent.
NEW CATAS SERVICE OF “LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT”
- 2020-10-02
The term “sustainability”is becoming more and more a primary goal for every human activity and even the development of the wide world of furniture has long been measured on this issue, in all its implications.
There is no doubt that the different relationship between economic activity and the environment is an absolute priority on which governments and consumers give increasing importance, causing a need of knowledge and fundamentals that has led Catas to equip itself to support companies also in the processes of “green” analysis and design.
Unfortunately, however, very often one declares an “ecological passion” but without going into detail, without knowing how much a product "costs" for the environment not only for the production process impact, but for its entire life, as long as it will be used until disposal.
Yet the tools to give objectivity to all this are there: for years we have been talking about “LCA-Life Cycle Assessment”, a method that evaluates the impact that a car, a building but also a chair or a kitchen will have on the planet. The first point is to understand how a product will be used and for how long it will perform its function, calculating not only the resources necessary for its realization, but how its use will affect the environment and humans in terms of global warming, acidification, eutrophication, ozone depletion, human toxicity, land use, ecotoxicity… for the entire duration of its life!
It is easy to understand how this method imposes strict, precise assessment and measurement tools to be able to generate an “EPD-Environment Product Declaration”, an "environmental declaration” that can be verified by a third party and made public – through databases of program operators recognized worldwide -– because the “ecological characteristics” of a good can be known by all and therefore become – why not – a “plus” among the reasons for purchasing. Getting to define the “environmental identity card”of a product requires complex knowledge and tools, as well as having the necessary information to be able to evaluate all those aspects that are outside the direct control of the producer (electricity supply, logistics, raw materials, ...). On top of this it has to be noted that very often, unfortunately, we witness fraudulent “green washing”operations by unscrupulous companies.
Therefore seriousness, competence, rigor, commitment are essential to apply properly a method that finally allows us to really measure the impact on the environment of a product, avoiding improvisations that can also lead to sensational blunders.
From September 2020 a task force has been allocated to this topic, a team of Catas technicians who are taking part in a high-level training projectin order to support companies in this virtuous process.
By June 2021, Catas will therefore have all the necessary tools – skills, models, procedures – to offer technical assistance to the companies of the wood and furniture sector for the Life Cycle Assessment of their products.
The service that Catas will offer will be based on a technical methodalready adopted in many other sectors at an international level, with all the required ingredients of precision and objectivity on the measurements defined by the UNI 11698: 2017 standard“Estimate, declaration and use of uncertainty of the results of a Life Cycle Assessment - Requirements and guidelines”.
An assessment that will allow companies to measure the “environmental cost” of a product by taking into consideration its entire life cycle, as we have already illustrated, from the extraction of raw materials to the production cycle, up to use and “end of life”, quantifying the consumption of resources and emissions. An activity regulated by a series of ISO standards that will allow companies to give objectivity to their commitment, thus finally being able to speak about “eco-design”not only as a will or moral commitment, but as a design and production strategy with objective environmental implications, measurable, certifiable…
LUCIA CRISTINA PIU IS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF CATAS The shareholders’ meeting has appointed the new board of directors.
- 2020-05-28
Catas, the most important European laboratory for testing, certification and research in the wood and furniture sector, has a new board of directors for the three-year period 2020-2023. The shareholders’ meeting, which strictly took place by a web conference on 12th of May, appointed Lucia Cristina Piuto the presidency. Graduated in Juridical, economic and in Banking sciences, having acquired a great experience and background in several public bodies, institutes and companies, Piu is the first woman called to lead the Italian laboratory, a prestigious position in which she will be supported by Franco Buttazzoni(Blifase, Corno di Rosazzo), Federica Di Fonzo(Frag, Pradamano), Stefano Petris(Wolf, Sauris) and Paola Veronese(Otto, Udine). “I assume the important Catas presidency with full attention to the relevance of the role it has towards the entire national and international market”,commented Lucia Cristina Piu. “Thanks to the shareholders for their trust, my first thoughts go to my predecessor, Bernardino Ceccarelli, who successfully guided Catas even during a difficult period. My commitment will be to give continuity and enhance the service activity for companies inside and outside the national borders”. The following three years will surely represent an intense season for Catas, which has just celebrated the 50th anniversary of its foundation, showing a significant 12 per cent growth in the number of tests carried out in the last three years, despite the dramatic fire that completely destroyed the Furniture Laboratory, rebuilt and inaugurated last December. “I leave Catas in the excellent hands of President Piu, to the experience of Buttazzoni and Di Fonzo and to the energy that the two new members will undoubtedly know how to bring to the board”,added Bernardino Ceccarelli, who also said: “They have been years of success thanks to a strong and cohesive team, which I cannot forget to thank and with whom the future of Catas will be surely stronger especially on the internationalization side”. CATAS is a joint-stock company whose members are the Chamber of Commerce of Pordenone-Udine, FederlegnoArredo Eventi, Banca di Cividale, Confindustria Udine, Confindustria Monza and Brianza, Aial-Italian Association of wood craftsmen, Cna-National Confederation of Crafts of Como, Association of small and medium industries of Udine and Confartigianato Udine.
Eumabois Board re-elected
- 2019-11-22
The Eumabois General Assembly, hosted on the 1stof November in Brno by the Czech Association SVDSZ, elected the Board as follows: Mr. Jürgen Köppel - President (VDMA) Mr. Luigi De Vito - Vice President (ACIMALL) Mr. Samuel Hänni - Member (Swiss Association, HBT) Mr. Wolfgang Rohner - Member (Austrian Association, FMMI) Mr. Mustafa Sabri Erol - Member (Turkish Association, AIMSAD) Mr. Erich Zeller - Auditor (Swiss Association, HBT) The President and CEO of Leitz GmbH & Co. KG, Mr. Jürgen Köppel, will continue to contribute his longstanding experience in the woodworking industry to the development and work of Eumabois. Mr. Luigi De Vito, Director SCM Wood Division, will support the board with his international experience as Vice President. President and Vice President will proceed with the development of Eumabois in order to create a positive business environment for the European woodworking machinery industry. The three re-elected Board members, Mr. Mustafa Sabri Erol (from Törk Makine A.S.), Mr. Samuel Hänni (Lamello AG) and Mr. Wolfgang Rohner (Ima - Schelling Anlagenbau GmbH) complete the team with their industry background and the strong support from their associations. Mr. Erich Zeller, been re-elected as Auditor, is looking back to a long career in Lamello and in Eumabois, contributing his financial expertise and Swiss precision to the team. The board has been confirmed in its entirety and is starting its second term for the next three years. The Assembly unanimously accepted the request to confirm the current team because of the important results obtained during the past three years. The relevant change of direction of the Federation took place with the setting up and participation in projects that were and are very important for the future of the European woodworking industry. OPC UA (Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture), Marketing Intelligence Project and ETML (European Tool-Machine Language) are just some of the initiatives that will see Eumabois at the forefront in the coming years. Another focus is the increasingly important attention to issues related to machine safety standards and the international trade fair environment.
