On October 1, Festool will launch the new CT CYCLONE, an anti-static, pre-separator for large debris and coarse dust that is designed to be used with a Festool CT Dust Extractor. By separating large particulate before it reaches the dust collector, users can increase the efficiency and cost effectiveness of their portable Festool dust collection systems by reducing the number of filter bags needed. The CT CYCLONE also reduces the overall dust load on the main dust extractor filter which results in consistently high suction power throughout the work process. When used together, the CT CYCLONE and CT Dust Extractor form a three-step filtration system for dust and debris.
 
“For craftsmen who work with large volumes of dust and debris, the CT CYCLONE pre-separator is the simplest answer for further increasing the efficiency of our CT Dust Extractors,” says Eugen Gassmann, Festool Vice President of Marketing. “CT CYCLONE minimizes costs by decreasing the number of filters and dust bags that you’ll need to keep your CT running smoothly.”
 
CT CYCLONE can be used with all Festool CT 26/36/48 dust extractors and optimum usage is achieved with tools and applications which create high levels of dust and particulate. It separates and collects coarse and fine dust before it reaches the mobile dust extractor.
 
The dust-heavy air that is drawn in, is swirled into a spiral movement in the cyclone, causing the dust particles to hit against the wall of the cyclone and, due to the gravitational force, fall into the collection container.
The CT CYCLONE product video can be seen here.
 
Features of the CT CYCLONE include:
 
• Tool-free assembly and attachment means that users can easily attach and remove depending on their application and need
• Reduce the number of regular CT dust extractor filter bags needed by handling high volumes of dust and debris with cyclone technology
• Maintains consistently high suction power by reducing the dust load on the main filter
• Highly portable – compatible with all CT Dust Extractors and Systainers, CT CYCLONE is a stackable collection container with compact dimensions and a sturdy design
 
CT CYCLONE (CT-VA-20) includes

• Cyclone Systainer
• Systainer Pan
• Collection Container
• Hose Connector - CT-VA to CT Dust Extractor
• Disposable Dust Liner

For more information, please visit Festool USA or Festool Canada.
 
About Festool
Founded in Germany in 1925, Festool is known for its innovative, precision-engineered power tool solutions.  Based in Lebanon, IN, Festool USA offers a comprehensive lineup of power tools and system accessories, designed to boost productivity through efficiency and high performance. For more information, visit www.festoolusa.com or www.festoolcanada.com.

Innovative Manufacturing Inc. is now a master distributor of a large selection of Milesi high-performance Italian wood coatings, according to a joint announcement released by the companies. The new distribution agreement marks the first time these two companies have partnered to offer a line of high-performance, Italian technology, wood finishing products to professional woodworkers, cabinetmakers, and millwork producers. Innovative Manufacturing services customers in Vancouver B.C. Canada, including the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Interior of British Columbia, offering technical support, custom colour matching, and a team of Finishing Specialists to meet all their customer’s needs. The Milesi line includes two-component (2K) polyurethanes, polyesters, water-based interior and exterior finishes, natural look finishes, high gloss wet look finishes, UV, stains, and more.

The new partnership agreement pairs two companies with long traditions of providing high-quality finishing products to the woodworking industry. Since 1948, Innovative Manufacturing has been an industry-leading provider of wood coatings, spray equipment, and other building materials to the residential and commercial building sectors. Milesi has produced wood coatings since 1947 and is the leading wood coatings manufacturer in Europe with proven innovative wood finish systems sold in more than 100 countries worldwide. Milesi utilizes cutting-edge technology not commonly found in North America.
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"Partnering ourselves to include an industry leader like Milesi reinforces our goal of providing our customers with the most innovative products and the best industry professionals,” said Dave Stewart, Manager of Innovative Manufacturing. “We are confident our customers will be impressed with the finest quality and aestetic results of products offered by Milesi.”

“We consider this agreement a monumental step in our North American wood coatings business and another milestone in rolling out the Milesi North American National Distribution Program with highly respected and quality partners such as Innovative Manufacturing” said Jeff Takac, Milesi – Managing Director – North America. “It’s not often that a company with the expertise, knowledge, service, and history of Innovative Manufacturing and a company with the unique heritage, products, research, and chemistry of Milesi join forces. This relationship has the potential to help both organizations experience solid growth and to benefit our end users with cutting-edge high-performance European wood finish technologies in one of the largest wood markets in Canada. Milesi Wood Coatings are well known world-wide and are highly respected in the North American market, and this partnership allows our end users in Western Canada to have access to Milesi Wood Coatings through a highly respected and experienced partner such as Innovative Manufacturing.”

Innovative Manufacturing
Innovative Manufacturing Inc. was established in 1948 as Insulmastic Building Products, to provide industrial wood coatings for the kitchen cabinet market, as well as waterproofing and corrosion protection products for the construction and industrial markets. In 2005 we changed our name to Innovative Manufacturing to reflect our competitive strategy of flexibility to the marketplace. We now distribute and manufacture a broad range of coatings for the industrial finishing market, and well as specialty cements and tape for the roofing, concrete, automotive and maritime industries. The sales of our coatings extend beyond British Columbia into markets in western Canada, the Northwestern United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
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Milesi Wood Coatings - Italian Technology meets design solutions
Milesi is a brand of the IVM Group, one of the largest and influential wood coatings manufactures in Europe and in the world. Milesi products were born in 1947 in Italy, a country that has always been a point of reference in the furniture industry. These products were developed and perfected through constant interaction with local industry experts and designers who are appreciated all over the world. With its substantial investment in North America, the IVM Group declares its intention to make Milesi products and technology accessible to the North American professional user.
For more info: http://www.milesi.us

Biesse is proud to announce that IWF 2018, held August 22-25 in Atlanta GA, was another record-setting performance for Biesse America and Biesse Canada, even exceeding our expectations, with approximately $20 million USD of duly signed orders, making this our most successful show ever in North America.

With over 27,000sqft of booth space, packed with innovative technology, Biesse welcomed more than 1,400 companies in Atlanta. With the largest booth at IWF, Biesse was able to showcase a wide range of machinery, including integrated robotics and automated solutions to meet all levels of manufacturing needs.

”Automaction was the major theme for Biesse heading into this year’s show.  The technology we presented at IWF allowed attendees to see how our machinery addressed the challenge of finding labor with today’s record level unemployement rates in North America, as well as offering solutions for increased and consistent productivity,” said Federico Broccoli, Biesse America and Biesse Canada President/CEO.  “In the 12 months prior to IWF, Biesse had an order intake exceeding $50 million USD in integrated lines and is a recognized leader and solid, experienced and reliable partner in the high technology systems market.”  
Another attention getter from IWF was Biesse’s SOPHIA IoT platform.  Attendees were able to experience first hand how this innovative technology provides a comprehensive overview of specific machine performance features with remote diagnostics, continuous updated statistics and full integration with our new PARTS Portal.  We demonstrated how the portal makes it faster and easier for customers to purchase parts, check availability and track purchases online 24/7. 
 
“Biesse strongly believes that our products should be supported by high quality services and we continuously invest in research and development,” said Broccoli. “With SOPHIA and our new PARTS Portal, we have become more predictive of our customers' needs and are able to anticipate requirements for support. It is the right vision and we are strongly committed to following the path of providing the best Industrial IoT solution and platform to our customers to give them the competitive advantage.  The feedback has been excellent, rewarding all of our efforts because SOPHIA is a real added value.”

The company’s success at IWF continued a very strong trend for Biesse in the North American market where Biesse America and Biesse Canada are registering record order entrance, with a solid backlog for 2019.

At our annual VIP/Make-A-Wish party on Thursday, August 23rd, Biesse continued its longstanding tradition of giving back to the community by presenting a check of $12,000 to Make-A-Wish during Thursday night’s VIP/Make-a-Wish party at IWF.  Honored to host over 800 people at the event, Biesse doubled the amount of its initial check from $6,000 to $12,000. This already ensures that two wishes will be granted to children with life threatening illnesses.
Other exciting news announced during this event came from Niki Kaltsounis-Kampiziones, Biesse America and Biesse Canada’s Executive Vice President, where she unveiled Biesse’s plans to invest an additional $4 million USD in the Charlotte Campus to handle the outstanding growth of sales and employees in North America. “With this investment, the second in less than 3 years when we built our new showroom, our Charlotte Campus will exceed 80,000 sqft,” said Kampiziones. “Last year, over 1,300 Customers visited our Charlotte Campus to see one of the largest and most technologically advanced showrooms of its kind in North America. The ground breaking for this new expansion is forecast to begin in January 2019.”
"It is extremely satisfying to see the North American market and our subsidiaries growing so steadily. Biesse has always been, and will remain, dedicated to America and Canada and those tangible signs demonstrate our determination to continue this commitment to North America," said Broccoli. 
BIESSE S.p.A. - Biesse Group is a global leader in technology for processing wood, glass, stone, plastic and metal. It designs, manufactures and distributes machines, integrated systems and software for manufacturers of furniture, door/window frames and components for the construction, ship-building and aerospace industries. It invests on average 14 million Euro per year in R&D, boasting over 200 registered patents. It operates through 8 industrial sites, 34 branches and 300 agents and selected dealers, exporting 90% of its production. Its customers include some of the most prestigious names in Italian and international design. Founded in Pesaro in 1969, by Giancarlo Selci, the company has been listed on the Stock Exchange (STAR segment) since June 2001. It now counts 3.450 employees throughout the world. 

Stiles Machinery was proud to host an exclusive State of the Industry Briefing at this week’s International Woodworking Fair 2018. The event, which took place on Wednesday, August 22, gave attendees an insider’s look into current and future trends impacting the woodworking industry on a local and global scale. Featuring Pekka Paasivaara, CEO of the HOMAG Group, and Christian Vollmers, President of Stiles Machinery, the event illustrated how these industry-leading companies are influencing current market trends, embracing the digital revolution, and highlighted their vision for the future of the woodworking industry as a whole.

Mr. Vollmers began with an update on Stiles’ and HOMAG’s recent rebrand, including HOMAG’s brand new line of modern machine designs that Stiles revealed to the North American market for the first time at this year’s show.  He went on to discuss how the significant growth in demand for new technology over the past several years reflects a strong U.S. economy and thriving business for manufacturers across the country. Also on the rise, Mr. Vollmers noted, is the desire for mass customization, increased automation, and integrated solutions.

“In the past, where saw the need for a single machine solution, we now see the demand for smart production cells, and where we used to see the need for multiple machines, we now see the demand for entire production lines. With this growing trend, we have experienced a dramatic increase in the share of our Stiles Engineered Solutions from 29% in 2016, to 48% at the beginning of 2018,” said Mr. Vollmers.

Following Mr. Vollmers, Pekka Paasivaara took the stage to address the global state of the woodworking industry and HOMAG’s vision for the future. In his presentation, Mr. Paasivaara focused on the importance of innovation in the woodworking industry and HOMAG’s clear mission to drive the industry forward through innovative ideas and technology. He explained that increasing trends like smart homes, modern kitchen furniture designs, wooden housing development, and more has led to a thriving global manufacturing market. These trends have created a need for higher levels of automation, batch size one production and innovative networked production solutions.

“Customers need a partner who can provide complete, integrated production solutions, not just individual machines from different suppliers that they have to integrate themselves,” said Mr. Paasivaara. HOMAG is addressing these new trends in the marketplace through advanced batch size one equipment, innovative software and highly-automated solutions, including a completely autonomous work cell with automated guided vehicles.

In addition to innovative technology, HOMAG is also leading the industry in digital solutions with the first IoT platform designed to support the entire value chain of the woodworking industry from the palm of your hand.

“What does the manufacturer really want? They want to run their production through the cloud. So we need to have a platform for the entire industry,” said Mr. Paasivaara. “The easy solution would be to just create a cloud-based system for all HOMAG machines, but that’s not what our customers needed.”

The tapio IoT ecosystem is an open platform for the entire wood industry, making it easier than ever for manufacturers to streamline their entire production process. Since it’s release in Europe at last year’s LIGNA Fair, tapio is now available in North America, with plans to expand globally next year.

For more information about HOMAG and Stiles’ innovative solutions for the woodworking industry, visit www.stilesmachinery.com.www.stilesmachinery.com.

About Stiles Machinery
As the industry’s leading provider of advanced manufacturing solutions, Stiles has been helping manufacturers throughout North America increase their efficiency and productivity for over 50 years. With world-class machinery backed by an experienced and responsive support team, extensive parts inventory, unique upgrade capabilities and a nationally accredited education and training program, Stiles offers solutions that equip companies for success in every area of their business. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Stiles has regional offices in High Point, North Carolina; Bristol, Pennsylvania; Coppell, Texas; and Rancho Cucamonga, California. Stiles is a proud member of the HOMAG Group, a global leader in the production of industrial manufacturing machinery.

Ten wood industry associations are pleased to announce the formation of a coalition aimed primarily at perpetuating the long-term growth of the industry by sustaining an engaged workforce. Since its formative two-day brainstorming meeting in November 2017, the group has chosen to organize under the name Wood Industry Resource Collaborative (WIRC). Pronounced “Work,” the name does a great job maintaining the group’s mission and goals.
           
The collaborative group is a consortium of trade associations, all related to the woodworking or the wood products manufacturing industry. The group’s purpose is to provide a collection of tools and solutions for the wood industry to attract and retain employees, while improving the perception of the industry. This group exists to connect industry associations with one another and support and strengthen the woodworking industry and their associations’ members by sharing information and resources.
           
The charter members of the collaborative group agreed to the following goals and identified those influencers who can effectively drive interest in the wood industry as a career path (e.g. parents, teachers, social media, and financial resources):

• Attract Employees: Increase student awareness of wood industry careers; increase parent awareness of wood industry careers; increase student engagement; and increase High School counselor awareness of wood industry careers.
• Retain Employees: Increase association memberships; improve association member engagement and satisfaction; and improve work culture at member companies.
• Improve the Perception of the Industry: Develop and communicate the stories of the industry; increase positive media coverage; increase engagement with legislative and educator communities; and involve more associations in WIRC initiatives.

           
The primary target for the group’s efforts will be Generation Z―people born between 1995 and 2014 who are the most diverse and multicultural of any generation in the U.S. Fifty-five percent are Caucasian, 24% are Hispanic, 14% are African-American and 4% are Asian.  In addition to the youngest generation, the group will also target Millennials and possibly Gen Xers (parents).
           
If a trade association would like to participate in the group, they are represented by their executive-level staff. Among the benefits of membership in the collaborative group are: inclusion in the ongoing conversation about industry-wide topics, such as workforce development; and access to resources and information developed or shared by the group.
           
​The collaborative group meets monthly via phone and semiannually in person to explore and prioritize the goals and tactics for achieving them. “The group is working to identify what each association brings to the table, and what each needs for their members to change corporate culture and attract and retain good employees,” said group organizer Adria Torrez, Education Director of AWFS®.  For more information about WIRC, visit www.woodindustryed.org/wirc.

Charter Member Organizations
Forum organizers and charter members include executive level representatives from the following associations: AWFS® (Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers); AWI (Architectural Woodwork Institute); CMA (Cabinet Makers Association); HMA (Hardwood Manufacturers Association); NWFA (National Wood Flooring Association); WCMA (Wood Component Manufacturers Association); WMIA (Woodworking Machinery Industry Association); WMMA (Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America); WPMA (Wood Product Manufacturers Association); and WMMPA (Moulding & Millwork Producers Association).

This year’s trade show in Atlanta was amazing, to say the least. Attendance was the best it's been in 10 years, and you could tell: the aisles and booths were quite crowded.

We began the week with shop tours of local CMA shops on Tuesday. The tour sold out and the bus was full! The day
concluded with a BBQ at Dark Horse Woodworks – an amazing example of Southern hospitality and a great way to connect with other members before the show began.

In addition to welcoming CMA members who visited our booth when the show opened on Wednesday, we also began hosting our seminars – there were 12 throughout the show, and they were well-attended and well-received.

Wednesday evening we continued our tradition of hosting a “What’s Your Problem?” roundtable discussion. We filled the room, and the conversations were lively and lengthy. Many members’ takeaway was their relief that other cabinetmakers have the same if not similar problems.

On Thursday, we held the Wood Diamond Awards ceremony and recognized members and the superb quality of their work. 

That evening, we gathered for our Annual Membership Appreciation Banquet at Gordon Biersch Brewery in Buckhead. Throughout the evening, we offered tours of the nearby SubZero showroom. It was another great opportunity to network with like-minded professionals and also see the amazing craftsmanship of Exclusive Woodworking in the SubZero showroom.

All in all, it was a great show. Connecting with other members and learning from each other is what we are all about, and participating in trade shows like IWF is one of the ways we fulfill the mission of the CMA.

​Festool recently announced that the headquarters for Festool USA and Festool Canada, located in Lebanon, Ind., will expand by 80,000 square feet. This is the second, large-scale expansion within the past three years. Company executives cite increased demand and robust sales behind $9.3 million expansion, as the Festool brand continues to grow among professional tool users, residential contractors, painters, remodelers, and woodworkers. Construction is scheduled to begin in November 2018 and will be completed by December 2019.
 
 “We’re excited to once again expand our facilities,” says Brian Goldthorpe, Festool Chief Financial Officer. “The combination of increased demand for our products and favorable business conditions here in Lebanon, make this expansion a win for us as a company and for the community as a whole.”
 
Festool moved its North American headquarters to Lebanon, Ind. in 2006. In 2015, Festool doubled its facility size. In 2017 Festool began manufacturing its FS Guide Rails, using U.S.-sourced material, at the Lebanon facility and has plans to further expand its Indiana manufacturing operations. Festool projects that 65 new jobs will be created by the facility expansion.
 
About Festool
Founded in Germany in 1925, Festool is known for its innovative, precision-engineered power tool solutions.  Based in Lebanon, IN, Festool USA offers a comprehensive lineup of power tools and system accessories, designed to boost productivity through efficiency and high performance. For more information, visit www.festoolusa.com or www.festoolcanada.com.