EUROBOIS 2024: a new edition addressing the challenges facing the timber and woodworking industry

                                                                                                                                                       ©Alexandre Moulard

Over the decades, Eurobois has established its status as the flagship event for French and international players in the timber and woodworking industry. This trade show—the only one of its kind in France—brings together the full spectrum of French and international timber industry stakeholders. The next edition is scheduled for 6th–9th February, 2024 at Eurexpo Lyon in France. The event will be the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the vitality of the timber and woodworking sector, particularly in the context of the “France Bois 2024” initiative promoting the inclusion of French timber in construction projects undertaken for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games.

It will set the stage for the whole industry to showcase its capabilities, as well as the environmental and societal benefits for clients, public authorities and the French public. Such skills and values will once again be core themes at Eurobois this year. Let's take a closer look at this trade show, which reflects the state of the art in terms of addressing the ecological transition and the challenges facing the timber and woodworking industry.

At a time when industries across the board are grappling with this transition, the timber industry can flaunt the remarkable qualities of its naturally bio-sourced, renewable and lowcarbon material! Backed by government initiatives and incentivized by new environmental regulations, timber and woodworking industry players endeavour to boost their competitiveness, in particular by digitalizing timber conversion processes, upskilling, and adapting to increasingly customized demand. Across the industry, stakeholders are structuring their projects around innovation and sustainable development.

Eurobois is the go-to gathering, where industry stakeholders can share ideas and promote their solutions and products to clients and public authorities, including highlighting their environmental and societal benefits (in terms of decarbonization of buildings, ecoconstruction, waste management, etc.).

Focussed as ever on the key issues facing the industry, the 2024 edition will highlight four major themes: employment and training, primary processing, industry 4.0, and fitting-out. These strategic areas all offer opportunities for stimulating innovation, promoting synergy between industry stakeholders, and consolidating timber’s leadership as a material of the future.

Eurobois: France's leading timber and woodworking industry event

Eurobois is the leading trade show in the timber and woodworking industry, where sawmill operators, joiners, cabinet makers, carpenters, fitters-out, decorators, furniture/bathroom/fitted kitchen manufacturers and specifiers all rub shoulders at a single venue. The event is ideal for meeting new partners, holding constructive exchanges, discovering the latest innovations and identifying new business opportunities. Eurobois covers a wide range of timber-related areas, including material processing, tools, robotics, treatments and finishes, and fitting-out. As the meeting point of these many activities, the show plays an essential role at each stage of the woodworking process. The event is also a powerful catalyst for innovation, showcasing the latest innovations in a dedicated contest and hosting exclusive presentations of world-first innovations.

Four ubiquitous themes reflecting the challenges facing the industry in 2024

Eurobois will be putting the spotlight on four major themes resolutely intertwined with the industry's big issues.

First stage timber conversion—the first link in the timber industry chain—will again feature heavily at the show this year. Numerous innovations will be on show, aimed at improving logyard management, cutting, sawing, sharpening, and veneer production. These innovations highlight improvements to equipment, as facilities are modernized for greater economic efficiency.

Fitting-out will also play a particularly important part this year, with a section entirely dedicated to this activity. Fitting-out firms, architects, decorators, cabinet makers, and fitted kitchen and bathroom manufacturers will be able to scout the latest trends and innovations in products such as boards and panels, surface treatments, hardware, integrated lighting and tools. These will be the subject of live demonstrations and conferences in the Wood Arena, with special emphasis on the COHOME FITTING-OUT LAB event, organized by the French furniture association, Equipementiers de l'Ameublement Français.

Machines and solutions for digitalizing production will be another focus of the 2024 edition. The aim is to demonstrate the ongoing commitment by industrial companies to modernizing and optimizing their facilities to enable more flexible production, simplify operations, and implement predictive maintenance. Alongside the solutions presented by exhibitors, the subject of industry 4.0 will be explored with live demonstrations and dedicated conference topics.

Lastly, employment and training, now considered an essential prerequisite for the sector’s development, will be highlighted at the 2024 edition. Trades and training to support skills development will be showcased, along with the recruitment of new talent, in particular via the Eurobois Campus. Acting as a facilitator, the show will help job seekers meet businesses looking for new talent, and put training organizations in contact with professionals looking to hone their skills and knowledge.

2024 event schedule

Cette nouvelle édition sera marquée par de nombreuses animations et temps forts qui rythmeront les 4 jours de salon :

• Eurobois Campus, a forum for meetings and dialogue devoted entirely to jobs and training in the wood industry
• Timber-framed wall panel production shop: experience each step in the manufacturing process in real time at this reconstruction of a production shop.
• The Eurobois Awards: The Eurobois Awards are back again in 2024, providing a springboard for more innovations and technological improvement and giving the wood industry a place in the spotlight!
• COHOME FITTING-OUT LAB: This section, run by the French furniture association, is devoted to fitters-out and interior architects, giving visitors an insight into the latest technical, functional and aesthetic revolutions benefiting fitting-out projects.

New in 2024!

European Young Carpenters Championship
In 2024, Eurobois will be hosting the European Young Carpenters Championship! This competition known for its high technical standards will be the stage for around thirty young participants from nine different countries! Over three days of competition, young carpenters from various European countries will be building models of sophisticated timber frames and demonstrating how businesses use timber as a construction material.

Wood Arena: a section for conferences, round-table talks, and interviews on all the sector’s news topics
Organized by Eurobois and the publisher Editions des Halles, with support from France Bois Forêt and partnerships with Wood Surfer and Atelier Bois, the Wood Arena will host conferences, round-table talks and interviews on the industry's hot topics, along with some light-hearted occasions during the event’s four days

ABOUT THE ORGANIZER

GL events Exhibitions Opérations
With 200 events organized worldwide for professionals and the general public, GL events Exhibitions Opérations has unequalled expertise in organizing exhibitions and trade shows—a business that must stay abreast of increasingly specialized marketing, communication and organizational techniques while retaining close ties with market players. The Open Energies exhibition is organized by the GreenTech+ division of GL events, which also manages seven other major gatherings: BePOSITIVE, Eurobois, Expobiogaz, Hyvolution, Paysalia, Piscine Global, Rocalia.

GreenTech+ is the newest division of the GL events group, providing a unique shop window born from the synergy of gatherings that touch on common themes of ecological innovation and sustainable development.

GL events created GreenTech+ to take up a full-time, active part in the world’s big environmental issues, with a format unique in its genre that builds bridges between the sectors of the future and maximizes their visibility. GreenTech+ is an accelerator committed to accompanying the sector’s stakeholders in their developments and in their search for the solutions of tomorrow, while instilling an ever-greater eco-awareness among our citizens