WBPI held its first virtual conference on May 11 as a gathering point for the international wood-based panels industry.
The half-day event attracted over 200 global delegates and covered wood-based panels markets, a special focus on the furniture sector, an update on the Ligna show, two panel discussions with leading panels sector executives and a perspective from a company – Wood-Skin – using software and CNC machining to give new applications and possibilities for panel products.
The encouraging news from the presenters was that though the panels sector and its customer markets were initially hit hard by the onset of the pandemic, a strong V-shape recovery followed and business prospects in the key furniture and construction sectors look strong for 2021 and beyond.
The key machinery supply sectors have seen project enquiries recover, though pandemic-related logistics and travel difficulties remain.
Delegates, who were drawn from across the wood-based panels and related sectors, had the opportunity of networking together on the conference platform, including posting public forum messages, private chats and even holding one-to-one video calls with other delegates.
A big thank you to our sponsors of the event – materials handling specialist Hubtex and binder/additive manufacturer Chimar
