LIGNA in Hannover from May 26 to 30, 2025 will once again be the global meeting place for an industry that faces three major challenges, from craft businesses to industrial groups: complete digital networking, establishing the circular economy and developing intelligent products. “With its focus topics of connectivity , sustainable production and engineered wood , LIGNA 2025 will bring together international solution providers for these three central challenges,” says Stephanie Wagner, LIGNA Project Manager at Deutsche Messe AG. “The exhibiting companies will demonstrate their efforts to advance the complete digital networking of all components of the value chain, aiming to create production paths for an ethical economy that produces intelligently designed wood products. In collaboration with the VDMA Woodworking Machinery Association, we have developed a close interlinking of our focus topics to simplify the localization of our own requirements within a complex industry,” explains Wagner.

In the past few years, for instance, those who have successfully implemented the digitalization of specific process steps are now frequently confronted with the challenge of digitally integrating them into the entire value chain. The increasingly important vertical and horizontal integration of in-house services is coming up against established systems with which interfaces need to be created. The newly developed focus topic LIGNA.CONNECTIVITY aims to provide solutions for all participants in the woodworking and wood processing value chain, regardless of their level of digitalization. “The concept of connectivity refers to the process of linking together various systems within the woodworking trade and the wood industry,” explains Dr. Bernhard Dirr, Managing Director of the VDMA Woodworking Machinery Association, Frankfurt am Main. “LIGNA 2025, with its focus on LIGNA.CONNECTIVITY, aims to find solutions for seamlessly connecting different systems within a value creation network, rather than mandating all participants to use the same system,” adds Dirr.

However the solutions for end-to-end connectivity have been configured and disruptive technologies such as AI and machine learning integrated, it is clear that processes must become more sustainable in order to be fit for the future. Against this background, the new focus topic LIGNA.SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION brings together economically viable strategies for the woodworking trade and the industry that prioritize environmental protection, resource conservation, and improved working conditions for future generations. Particularly when it comes to timber construction, the industry is making the construction industry more climate-friendly with its products and machines, for example with production lines for industrial timber house construction in the factory. “The topic of sustainability is in LIGNA’s DNA due to its focus on wood as a renewable material. Our exhibitors at LIGNA are showcasing their potential for sustainable production, from improved forest management to eco-friendly construction, all within the focus topic of LIGNA.SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION,” says Stephanie Wagner.

Developments that primarily benefit the latter area, the climate-friendly construction industry, will be represented by the third focus topic at LIGNA 2025. LIGNA.ENGINEERED WOOD encompasses the full range of intelligently designed wood products, which are transformed into composite materials for a variety of uses through the binding or fixing of wood strands, particles, fibers, veneers, or panels. The focus topic of ENGINEERED WOOD ranges from CNC machines for processing wooden panels and beams to automated production lines for manufacturing cross-laminated timber (CLT) and other solid wood products, as well as robot systems for assembling wooden elements, handling technologies for finishing wood and software for the planning and production of mass-timber structures.

“As the world’s leading trade fair for woodworking and wood processing, LIGNA has a responsibility to provide a platform where the industry’s current challenges can be turned into opportunities for sustainable growth,” says Stephanie Wagner. “With our three new focus topics, we are taking on this responsibility and looking forward to welcoming the international community of woodworking professionals to Hannover in May 2025.”