The 2024 trade event the entire industry is looking forward to

Looking ahead to varied and in-depth scholarship program

On August 22, it was gathering at the Bijloke in Ghent. The imposing site was the meeting place for the Prowood 2024 press conference. Both fair organizer Claever Associates and the advisory board of the triennial event explained the mission, vision and agenda of the upcoming edition. This year, the organization is already recording record numbers of exhibitors and is once again highlighting a number of innovations. Prowood 2024 thus offers a rich and varied program for the entire wood sector.

Finally the time has come again. After three years, Prowood, the trade event for the Belgian wood and interior construction sector, will take place for the eighth time from October 20 to 24. After the difficult corona year in 2021, the organizers had to wait and see how the sector would react to the new edition. Enthusiastic, that much is clear. "Our fair is officially coming of age," project manager at Claever Associates Lieve Vermeulen summed up the press conference. "We started in 2003, now 21 years ago, with 167 exhibitors and that number rose time and again. Until the last edition. Covid chopped it firmly because in 2021 our exhibitor count dropped and the fair found itself in choppy waters. Fortunately, we successfully navigated through that difficult adolescence, because now we are back. Even stronger, with a whopping 230 exhibitors. A record number. Moreover, we know from experience that that number can still rise in the final weeks before the fair. So we quietly dare to hope for an attendance of 250 exhibitors."

Clearly, the appetite for Prowood as we know it is strong. That, according to the organizers, is because the fair's mission remains central at all times: to create an inspiring experience fair by and for the entire timber sector. The advisory board and the organizers always keep this goal in mind but do not shy away from tinkering with their concept.

Lieve: "Every year we do a survey of both exhibitors and visitors after the fair. The response to this is really enormous. It shows the commitment of all attendees to the fair. This survey provides us with valuable input to optimize our concept. Think of the new opening hours or an expansion of the offer.

Initially during Prowood we focused only on interior construction, the last edition added parquet, and this year we are going even wider. Thus wood construction and bio-based building will have a prominent place on the exhibition floor."

In addition to the organizers, members of the advisory board were also given the floor during the press conference. These are motivated individuals who represent every segment of the wood sector and selflessly devote themselves to the fair. One of them is chairman of the advisory board Philippe Rogiers, director of machinery specialist Rogiers from Waregem. Philippe: "A lot is involved in the organization of Prowood, especially since we always respond to trends in the sector and in the world of trade fairs. Digitalization and sustainability are hot topics, but how do we integrate them ourselves? Hybrid concepts are catching on worldwide, are we also opting for this? We deliberately address these issues. The result is a powerful, physical trade fair where exhibitors and visitors feel involved and return home inspired to improve themselves - and by extension our entire sector - even further. You don't experience the unique experience at Prowood through a screen, you really want to be part of it."

That Prowood is there for the entire sector also emphasizes vice president Jeroen Doom, director of knowledge and training center Woodwize. "As an industry organization, we think it is very important that every wood professional is inspired at Prowood. That is both about the different branches in the wood industry, from flooring to facades and from custom furniture to machinery software, but also about each profile. That's why this year we are opening doors to the future generation: our students. We want to continue to guard that link with education. It is the ideal opportunity for young people to be inspired by a technical profession, in addition, they may meet their future employer here. In times of personnel scarcity, these are opportunities that we should definitely take advantage of."

Bern De Lille, director of Ardis and member of the advisory group, also refers to the labor shortage. He sees Prowood as part of the solution to this problem. Bern: "Prowood is focusing heavily on digitization, innovation and software this year. I recommend everyone to not only focus on the numerous impressive machines, but definitely to explore the complete software range during the fair. There will be about fifteen suppliers of software systems that simplify entire production processes, think of machine control, design programs, ERP systems ... By investing smartly in these, manufacturers make their machines and their workforce thirty to forty percent more efficient. In these times of increasing aging and a significantly low influx of qualified personnel, opting for automation is the only logical choice."

One of the main innovations at the Prowood trade fair is the addition of a complete offering for the timber construction industry. CRAS-CCO Thierry Geers is extremely pleased about this: "Prowood is the high mass for the wood sector. The fact that wood construction may now also play a prominent role there offers very nice opportunities: we join forces even more and strive together for circularity, aesthetics and sustainability. Moreover, this way we reach a brand new target group for the fair, because there is also a lot of knowledge and inspiration for architects to gather. From CRAS we fulfill different roles at the fair. On the one hand we are there as distributor, on the other hand as innovator and informator. During our Craspop festival, for example, you will learn everything about the renewed fire regulation in a playful way. Relevant material for every wood professional."

In addition to visiting the booths of more than 230 exhibitors, there is plenty to experience during the trade show. "We traditionally kick off with an information session by Bouwunie on October 20. This year it's about future-proof construction and optimizing digital processes," explains sales manager at Claever Associates Anja Stuerbout. "That day, we are also tackling spectacular dance shows by dance group The Spot, promoting comfortable, safe workwear from various brands. Then, on October 23, there will be the day of wood construction with WOOD.BE's 'Inspired by Wood' conference. Here, through testimonials and keynote speakers, we bridge the gap between vision and practice in the field of circular construction. Finally, every day we focus on an interactive experience with daily different demos, a wood café for extensive networking and an impressive machine park in Hall 1. In short: we are very much looking forward to once again welcoming around 16,000 visitors to Flanders Expo Ghent."