XYLEXPO 2016: International Success for the HOMAG Group

HOMAG Group ServiceBoard: the bestseller in Milan

Today, service is a decisive success factor for companies of all sizes. Everyone is talking about it, including at XYLEXPO. The HOMAG Group has adopted rapid and efficient service as a key issue worldwide. In addition to the latest machines and system technology, this grabbed the interest of visitors in Milan more than ever, with 14 orders placed for ServiceBoard alone at the trade fair.
 
In May, the eyes of the world were on Italy. The XYLEXPO trade fair welcomed more than 17,000 visitors from around the world — 14.2% more than last year. For the HOMAG Group, XYLEXPO is one of the most important trade fairs in the industry worldwide. This was confirmed not only by the increasing visitor numbers but also by the results of the trade fair. The HOMAG Group was very satisfied with both the level of incoming orders and the number of qualified trade fair contacts.
 
The number of Italian visitors to the HOMAG Group stand also increased in comparison with 2014 – which is having a positive effect on business for the HOMAG Italia sales company and for the pleasing, continued development of the Italian market. International visitors from 40 countries were present, including those from Romania, Portugal, France, Argentina, Brazil, USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China.
HOMAG Italia Managing Director Walter Crescenzi was also very upbeat:
"Once again, we were represented at XYLEXPO with a very innovative stand. With the latest machine technology and innovations, we were able to offer interesting solutions along the entire process chain here in Italy. The videos and simulations provided by the HOMAG Systems experts were also very helpful, allowing us to show everything that plant technology can offer. In Milan, we presented solutions for all requirements: for the industry, as well as for medium-sized and small businesses. This gave us the opportunity to impress customers from around the world with detailed demonstrations of our skills and new features – an opportunity we took full advantage of."
 
High-tech solutions presented in a simple way
At XYLEXPO, the HOMAG Group demonstrated individual solutions for companies of all sizes — from small to large. It showcased innovative individual machines and the design of networked systems, and took a look into the future at a completely digitized world of wood processing. Technically impressive individual machines from the saw-storage combination, edge processing, horizontal and vertical CNC technology, and even packaging in batch size 1 were all demonstrated live.

​New: The woodFlex cell control system
Visitors enjoyed multimedia presentations of interlinked systems and skills in the networking of machines. The main focus was the new video about the Battistella Company in Pieve di Soligo, Treviso. Starting immediately, Battistella is using the latest four-sided formatting and edge banding machine in Italy.

The plant is also the first in Italy with the new woodFlex cell control system. woodFlex controls and visualizes flexible production cells and their parts flow. Users who invest in woodFlex in the future will have numerous advantages:
 

• Absolute transparency in the entire system, in all cells and sections, such as the transport unit, the edge cell, etc.
• Simple analysis and optimization of the production sequence
• A significant increase in productivity thanks to optimal calculation of the minimum parts distance or faster elimination of malfunctions
• Constant backup of the system status — allowing much faster troubleshooting (e.g. in the event of a power failure)
• A real-time visualization of the parts flow for absolute transparency (allowing malfunctions to be eliminated much more quickly and easily)
• Continuous feedback of workpiece production — enabling immediate recognition of how far orders have been processed and whether further workpieces need to be completed

 
woodFlex has a modular design and is standardized for all HOMAG Group systems. This means that it is open for future requirements, changes or extensions, in particular with regard to production with complex and completely networked systems. woodFlex gives the user security, creates transparency in the sequences and reduces the error quota. This control system is not planning software; instead, it optimizes sequences, ensures a certain standard is maintained (even when different cells are used), and significantly increases efficiency. With woodFlex, users are taking another step towards the future with "Industry 4.0".

​Service: Support for networked systems
The experts in service and software were in great demand. The HOMAG Group ServiceBoard enjoyed a great deal of attention; 14 orders were placed for this item alone at the trade fair and it is already being used by many customers around the world.
The benefit of ServiceBoard is that users can transmit their current service incident to the HOMAG Group Service Center live via video diagnostics from an iPad. This allows the Service employee to provide information immediately via a mobile device — such as instructions, videos, images or drawings, and the user can often use this information to resolve the error immediately. The ServiceBoard also allows direct access to the eParts replacement parts shop as well as allowing customers to create an online service request that they can track.
Furniture manufacturers with networked and interlinked systems were particularly interested in the new "Service Monitoring" function. This provides the customer with overviews of the productivity of their machine and shows any pending maintenance for the entire machine pool — including the documentation.