Successful Appearance at the IHF in Innsbruck

13.12.2022 | News | SWISS KRONO Germany

The 2022  International Wood Construction Conference, which took place again in Innsbruck, Austria in early December after being cancelled two years in a row due to the pandemic, was a resounding success for everyone involved. Attracting more than 2,600 participants and 175 exhibitors from 33 countries, this popular industry get-together set new records in terms of exhibitors and attendance.

The mood was thoroughly positive. Despite the turbulent economic situation, with many firms sailing in choppy seas, everyone was tickled pink by the opportunity to get together again after such a lengthy break. This could also be felt at the SWISS KRONO stand. We saw many familiar faces and had plenty of interesting conversations. The large construction firms are happy to have full order books again and expect that the wood construction industry will now resume growing. In this context, we repeatedly succeeded in convincing industry representatives of the advantages of our SWISS KRONO MAGNUMBOARD® OSB solid timber construction system and our SWISS KRONO LONGBOARD OSB, which comes in lengths up to 18 metres. The first specific inquiries have already been received.

A major theme at the event was the outlook for the future. It was addressed by futurologist Matthias Horx, amongst others. He recommended that we try to think less in terms of problems and focus on possible solutions instead. That is precisely what is now happening in the wood building sector in general and at the IHF in particular: here the who’s who of the industry comes together to showcase and discuss innovations in timber construction for mastering future challenges and the requirements for sequestering more carbon. Other themes include technological advances, digitalisation and multi-storey timber buildings in urban areas, as well as the bright prospect that the feared decline in construction of single-family homes may be offset by refurbishment and renovation jobs. There is an enormous need for information. SWISS KRONO has developed OSB products which constitute solutions for meeting a wide range of challenges going forwards. Amongst other things, we presented SWISS KRONO MAGNUMBOARD® OSB together with our Ludwigshafen-based licensee 3B TEC MagnumBoard. That firm’s managing director, Julien Oldengott, and Michael Weithe, responsible for sales and marketing, capably supported us in presenting products and solutions and advising visitors. They brought an exhibit with them which was very effective for explaining the properties and benefits of this solid timber construction system.

The  SWISS KRONO MAGNUMBOARD® OSB show module, measuring about ten by three metres, made a great impression parked in front of the Tyrolean State Theatre right across from the Congress Centre; it was the first eye-catcher for many attendees arriving at the IHF and a great opportunity for interested attendees to directly convince themselves of the system’s performance and flexibility, for example for direct coating and prefabrication of channels for wiring and plumbing.

“It was a great way to wrap up the year, and has made us quite optimistic about our prospects for next year,” says SWISS KRONO application technician Harald Sauer. “We want to sincerely thank everyone who helped make our presentation at the IHF such a resounding success.”