During this eventful year 2019, the Luxembourg wood sector presented its first mapping. Tis document was produced in collaboration with the “Market Intelligence” department of Luxinnovation and which gives, for the first time, a real overview of the entire value chain.
“We are talking about more than 1,200 companies, mainly SMEs, which are linked to this value chain in Luxembourg. This represents an important economic factor”, explains Philippe Genot, manager of the Luxembourg Wood Cluster. “It allows us to adapt our communications and to better target the cluster’s actions, in line with the category and profile of the company”.
The needs of players in the sector are not so far removed from those in other industries. The success of the cross-sectoral conference “Smart Manufacturing”, jointly organised in November by Luxembourg Wood Cluster with other clusters, only highlighted the importance of the development of Industry 4.0 in the wood industry.
Support for all the value chain
Throughout the year, the cluster pursued the mission it has been carrying out for the past three years: to support the development of the wood sector and its players, from the extraction of wood at source – the forests – to the production and marketing of finished products. This action has been translated into numerous concrete actions.
One of them is the ongoing evaluation of the potential for setting up a common platform for selling wood digitally and/or physically, a kind of “Holzhaff”. “In 2020, we are going to carry out a more in-depth study on the digital platform,” says Philippe Genot. “At the same time, the Ministry of the Environment is working on the potential of setting up a ‘Holz vun hei’ type label to enhance the value of regional wood.
The year 2020 will follow in the footsteps of the previous year, and the Luxembourg Wood Cluster will have its work cut out. In the spring, the third edition of the Wood Cluster Forum will take place, which will once again present the latest news and trends in the sector through testimonials and typical case studies. “This Forum has positioned itself as the essential meeting point for all the main players in the wood sector in Luxembourg”, explained Mr Genot proudly..
Cross-sector innovations
This event will be preceded, as a sort of appetiser, by the “Mir paken Holz un” tour at the end of February: an afternoon organised to discover innovative wood projects. In addition, this in the field, with the aim of getting to know wood in concrete terms! By this means, it will be possible to see, in real life, a large number of innovative projects to which the wood sector makes a significant contribution.
“Innovation takes place within companies and the challenges are very ‘cross-sectoral’,” observes Philippe Genot. “Thereby, companies in the timber sector will be confronted with innovations in relation to many other aspects”. The Digital Innovation Hub is an essential link in this process. “The Industry 4.0 strand makes it possible to envisage an optimisation of production flows, but above all to guarantee a scale up, which is absolutely necessary in view of the development of the timber construction market”, explains the manager of the Luxembourg Wood Cluster. Philippe Genot does not forget to point out that in terms of sustainable development and circular economy, wood obviously plays a crucial role.