WoodTech Fair, which has become the most important meeting point of the woodworking machinery industry in Eurasia, is preparing to be held for the 37th time. WoodTech Fair, organized by RX Tüyap Fuarcılık in cooperation with AIMSAD, will be held at İstanbul Tüyap Fair and Congress Center between 12-16 October 2024. We talked with RX Tüyap General Manager Berkan Öner about the innovations at the WoodTech Fair, which were promoted both at home and abroad throughout the year and are eagerly awaited by the entire industry.

WoodTech Fair, the big family gathering of the Turkish woodworking machinery industry, will be held between 12-16 October this year. WoodTech Fair, where machines and equipment equipped with the latest technologies will be exhibited, will offer both participants and visitors the opportunity to find all the innovations in the Turkish woodworking machinery industry, as every year. RX Tüyap General Manager Berkan Öner, with whom we talked about the new developments regarding the WoodTech Fair, said: “WoodTech that will create an important meeting environment for companies that need to make new investments and purchases as a global business platform where the latest technologies in the woodworking machinery industry are exhibited, will be the address where the commercial activities of the sector take place under one roof, as it does every year.”

  •  WoodTech Fair is an important specialized fair that has been organized without interruption for 37 years. First of all, can you tell us a little about this long-term adventure?

WoodTech Fair, which started in 1988 at the Tüyap İstanbul Exhibition Center in Tepebaşı, continues to serve the industry as the largest international commercial platform of the Turkish woodworking machinery industry today. In its first year, WoodTech Fair hosted nearly 100 participating companies and 5 thousand visitors in an area of 1,400 square meters. WoodTech, which continued with great success in Tüyap Tepebaşı until the mid-90s, moved to the modern fairground of Tüyap, the largest private enterprise in the fair industry of our country, in İstanbul-Büyükçekmece as of 1996. Through this fair, we closely witnessed the development of the woodworking machinery industry over the years, which came of age with the increasing importance of automation in the 90s and the widespread use of computer-aided technology. By 1999, the fair hosted a total of 12 thousand 055 local and foreign visitors on 7 thousand square meters and made a stable entrance into the 2000s. Thanks to the new investments made at Tüyap Fair and Congress Center in 2010 and the expanded fair area, we had the opportunity to host a much larger number of companies and product types at the WoodTech Fair. With the opening of the 5-star fair hotel Tüyap Palas, a first in Türkiye, during this period, we added the element of comfort to the fair experience of both our exhibitors and visitors. In 2012, with the partnership Tüyap initiated with Reed Exhibitions, now known as RX Global, one of the world leaders in the fair industry, WoodTech Fair started to be organized within Reed Tüyap Fuarcılık AŞ (RX Tüyap). As a result of this merger, it is possible to say that the international wing of the fair has developed significantly with the contributions of RX Global’s worldwide network. On this occasion, we saw that more companies from outside Türkiye participated in the fair and that there was a steady increase in the number of international visitors over the years. We can easily state that the agreement signed with the Turkish Woodworking Machinery Industrialists Association (AIMSAD) has a catalytic effect on the growth of the fair. WoodTech Fair, which gets bigger every year, directs the commercial activities of the sector and helps domestic producers reach new export markets by increasing the growth rate of manufacturers.

“WoodTech, as one of the oldest fairs in the world, embodies the concepts of experience and trust”
  • What are the worldwide position of Woodtech Fair and the advantages it offers to international participants?

WoodTech Fair is held in İstanbul, the meeting point of two continents. Therefore, the fair is at a unique point due to its geographical location. This provides a fundamental advantage in staying ahead of its competitors. In addition, as one of the world’s oldest fairs in its field, it is a platform that cumulatively embodies experience and trust. As a result, it is the largest woodworking machinery specialized fair in Eurasia and is considered among the top few fairs in the world. Our international participants can access a marketing function in İstanbul, the meeting point of continents, where they can easily reach customers in Türkiye, especially in Central Asia, the Balkans, the Black Sea and Mediterranean countries and the Middle East regions. In the surveys and evaluation studies we conduct with our foreign participants, we encounter high satisfaction figures, especially in terms of reaching new export geographies.

The address where the commercial activities of the sector take place under one roof: WoodTech
  • WoodTech Fair is a fair that both participants and visitors are very satisfied with every year. What are your expectations for this year?

Since the WoodTech Fair was held alone as of last year, participants had the opportunity to expand the product portfolio they exhibited by taking part in the fair with larger square meters. This has provided visitors with the opportunity to easily find more companies and products at a single address. WoodTech, which will create an important meeting environment for companies that need to make new investments and purchases, will be the address where the commercial activities of the sector take place under one roof, as every year, as a global business platform where the latest technologies in the woodworking industry are exhibited. In order to continue this mission, we continue our work uninterruptedly to bring our participants together with the customer profiles they are looking for, thanks to our teams who are expert in the sector, especially in the Eurasian geography, through Tüyap’s international structuring and RX Global’s global representation network spread all over the world. Our participating companies will meet under the umbrella of WoodTech with industry professionals not only from Türkiye but also from new markets they can export to.

“Professionals prefer WoodTech Fair to discover the latest trends”
  • Can you give us some information about the business opportunities the fair provides for visitors and participants?

WoodTech Fair creates a triggering effect on the development of the sector by bringing together companies from the world and Türkiye. As the gateway of Turkish companies to the world, it serves as a driving force in the continuation of commercial activities worldwide, in the companies operating in the sector to improve themselves by turning to innovation and high technology, to enter new markets and to compete with their competitors in the world. WoodTech Fair, preferred by woodworking machinery industry professionals to discover the latest trends, examine the latest technologies and communicate with top suppliers, has managed to become the most important trade platform in Eurasia in this field in 36 years. We are also pleased to see a significant increase in European visitors in particular. We believe that, as a result of the digital and traditional marketing efforts carried out throughout the year by our project team and Tüyap’s foreign offices in Russia, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia, Georgia and Iran, the visits of purchasing delegations consisting of people with high purchasing potential will make a great contribution to the trade volume that will occur at the fair. As RX Tüyap, we have been very sensitive about qualified participants and have continuously worked to ensure that visitors to the fair reach real sectoral saturation. In this way, our visitors will find all kinds of solutions regarding wood processing technologies under one roof. They will be able to further develop their businesses by meeting face to face with new suppliers and solution partners and have direct access to products and equipment through this fair. We believe that we will see the reflections of all our work at our fair in 2024 and that we will contribute fully to achieving the commercial goals of the country’s woodworking machinery industry.

“Visitors will be able to meet all their needs at the WoodTech Fair”
  • Can you give information about the participating company profiles? Which product groups and technologies will visitors find at the fair?

Industry leaders and leading companies in major fields such as forest products, woodworking, surface treatment, packaging, conveyors, cutting and holding tools, ventilation and filter systems took their place as participants in our fair. They will lead the industry by exhibiting machines and equipment equipped with the latest technologies at Woodtech. At WoodTech, visitors will be able to meet all their needs in a wide range of product groups such as forest products, woodworking and cutting machines, CNC machines, electrical and mechanical hand tools and cutting tools.

“We are taking our steps with the aim of making WoodTech the largest fair in its field in the world”
  • What are the future goals of Woodtech Fair and how do you plan to contribute to advancements in the sector?

At the fair, where we aim to go beyond all expectations in the sector with a wide scope where all components of the woodworking technologies industry come together, it is among our priorities to provide an efficient fair experience to both our exhibitors and visitors. We are taking firm steps with the aim of making WoodTech, which is currently the largest woodworking machinery specialized fair in Eurasia, the largest fair in its field in the world. WoodTech makes significant contributions to the knowledge and vision of the sector with the state-of-the-art machinery and equipment exhibited. It plays an important role in the development of the woodworking machinery industry with its sector-leading position. Our ultimate goal is to make Türkiye one of the world’s leading players in the woodworking machinery industry, and to make WoodTech the industry’s undisputed largest fair in the world. We carry out all our work within the framework of this vision.

“WoodTech offers the opportunity to make the right investment”
  • Who should visit WoodTech Fair?

Furniture manufacturers, companies producing for the furniture sub-industry, decoration companies, construction companies, machine manufacturers, architects and engineers visit our fair regularly every year. Additionally, entrepreneurs who want to invest in new machinery to produce creative and innovative products in the furniture industry should definitely follow this fair. Thanks to WoodTech, our visitors should definitely visit as they have the opportunity to examine new products closely, meet directly with company officials and make the right investments.