November - December 2002

A Serious Show
Attendees were More than Pleased with Product Offerings at IWF 2002
By Samantha Carpenter

The International Woodworking Machinery and Furniture Supply Fair (IWF) 2002, held in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center August 22-25, was the largest event in its 36-year history. Preliminary indications are that, while overall attendance was down 9.2 percent to 42,755, the buyers that attended were serious about improving their business, investing in new technology and exploring new production methods to improve efficiency, said show organizers.

Exhibitor and Attendee Response
Exhibitor space at IWF 2002 grew by more than 18 percent.

“We attended the fair and found it an excellent source of information. We will be purchasing a CNC router we saw there,” said Dennis West of Pac-West, based in Anchorage, Alaska.

Buyers had more to see at IWF than ever before. With the completion of the phase IV expansion of the Georgia World Congress Center, exhibit space at IWF grew by more than 18 percent to total 834,272 net square feet, occupied by 1,333 exhibiting companies, 320 of which were new to IWF. This marks an increase from 1,291 companies in 706,007 net square feet in 2000, said show organizers.

“Everyone that came into our booth was very, very interested,” said John Murphy, president of KCDw Software, based in South Dennis, Mass. “We introduced a few new products and sold a great deal of software there; in fact, we sold a mountain of software.”

Russ McBroom, president of Mereen-Johnson Machine Co. of Minneapolis said, “IWF 2002 was very good for us; it was much better than expected. The show produced many more follow-up leads than we did in 2000. Right now, we’re very optimistic and business has improved tremendously in the past year.”

According to show organizers, IWF 2002 was truly an international event. Preliminary analysis of the attendance indicates that buyers from 93 countries traveled to attend the show from such locations as Australia, China, Bulgaria, Egypt, Ghana, Mongolia, Peru, South Africa and Vietnam.

In addition to seeing more exhibitors, buyers at the show had their only chance this year to see all the major machinery manufacturers at one show. IWF also offered buyers a more comprehensive display of U.S. and international woodworking machinery, supplies and services than any other trade show in the industry and in the world, according to show organizers.

Events at IWF 2002 included a technical conference program, the Challengers Distinguished Achie-vement Awards, The Design Emphasis 2002 Awards and the New Products Showcase. 

Machinery
At the show, attendees could peruse many, many aisles, filled with machinery products.

Carter Products Co. Carter Products Co. of Grand Rapids, Mich., showed attendees its Z-DZ-Laser Pattern Projection System. The machine enables the operator to reproduce a size-for-size transfer of complete component drawings from a CAD system to the CNC-machining table with an accuracy of 1 millimeter per meter of projection distance, said the company. According to Carter, since an accurately projected image indicates the precise positioning of part-holding fixtures or part blanks, it eliminates the tedious task of manual measurement.

LRH Enterprises LRH Enterprises Inc. of Chatsworth, Calif., showcased its Magic Molder, which converts a table saw into a moulder. The Magic Molder is a patent-pending product and is the only carbide tipped moulder head for saws which allows the moulding of composite materials, such as multi-density fiberboard, according to the company.

WISE Corp. WISE Corp. of Largo, Fla., showcased its newest product—the 8800 LXR. The system machines an entire pre-hung door unit, is a fast and accurate servo-driven system, has a pre-programmable deadbolt function, has automatic backset shift and predrill, and has variable hinge patterns, said the company. The 8800 LXR’s functions are also savable to memory.

Brandt Brandt introduced its KD-56 CP with program control and contour trimming unit from Altendorf America of Grand Rapids, Mich., a division of Stiles Machinery Inc. Designed for entry to moderate levels of production, the KD-56 CP is best suited to custom edge-banding requirements where quick changeover is required and thick PVC may be used, said the company. According to the company, standard features on the KD-56 CP include electronic line control, central top pressure and unit height adjustment, precision end-trim, fine trim unit, contour trimming, scraping and buffing.

Adhesives
If attendees were interested in finding adhesives to help in their window or door manufacturing needs, many companies were on-hand to display these products.

National Adhesives National Adhesives of Bridgewater, N.J., introduced an innovative waterborne adhesive system for manufacturers who flat laminate decorative overlays for residential and commercial applications, such as for doors. Applied to conventional coating equipment, this turn-key system includes aerating equipment designed specifically to foam a range of AERO-LOK® adhesives providing competitive trouble-free processing to meet all product end-use requirements, said the company.

Product Variety
Not all the products had to do with machinery or adhesives. There were several other exhibitors’ products that DWM/BCM readers might find interesting.

Marley Mouldings Marley Mouldings of Marion, Va., once again had assistance from a celebrity, just like at the Builders’ Show in Atlanta. Big Tom from the hit show “Survivor” was on-hand to sign autographs, while fans perused the company’s variety of products, including Proframe™ entrance and patio doors.

IWF 2004 will take place August 26-29, 2004, in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center. 

Samantha Carpenter is an editor of DWM/BCM.

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