I well remember the first ZOW exhibition I attended in 1997. Almost nobody among the exhibitors spoke English and the exhibitors' literature was only available in the German language. This was not surprising - it was conceived as a show for German manufacturers to sell decorative and interior furnishing products and ideas to German buyers from the furniture and interiors sector centred around Bad Salzuflen, one hour's drive from Hanover in the north of the country. In fact the name of the exhibition is an acronym for Zuliefermesse Ost-Westfalen, with Ost Westfalen being the furniture producing region in which Bad Salzuflen is located and Zuliefermesse meaning accessories fair. How things have changed. Now it is like the United Nations. Not only visitors, but also exhibitors, come from all over the world, including China. It started in less than one hall at the Bad Salzuflen Messe (fair ground) but this year occupied most of five halls, albeit that halls 22 and 23 are rather smaller than the others and triangular in shape due to constraints of the site. It was the first time that hall 23.1 had been used by ZOW. Many exhibitors consider this expansion to be both a good and a bad thing. While they receive an international range of qualified visitors to whom they can offer their products, some of the essential character of ZOW has been compromised. It is not like any other exhibition, having more of a workshop atmosphere, and is at its best as a modest-sized show. Logistics have also become a problem with the growth of the show, with access roads becoming clogged with traffic and parking close to the show being more difficult. Talking to the owner of ZOW, Peter H Meyer, at this year's event (held from February 25 to 28) it appears that expansion of the exhibition has come to an end due to constraints of space as well as his desire to preserve the character of this unique show. He has always set his face against moving ZOW to another exhibition centre, too. This is an annual show aimed at designers and specifiers and, once it became international, was seen as a strong competitor to Interzum, the interiors exhibition held in Cologne in odd-numbered years, just before the major Ligna woodworking show in May. However, many of the exhibitors that I spoke to in Bad Salzuflen this year - and those were of course the exhibitors closely related to the panel business - said that they will in future attend Interzum in odd years and ZOW in even years, thus getting the best of both worlds. Regular readers of this magazine will know that ZOW Bad Salzuflen began in 1995, with 2,000m2 of exhibition space. It has since spawned a number of other editions around the world: Today there are annual ZOW events in Pordenone, Italy (the first ZOW to be launched after Bad Salzuflen, in 2001); Madrid, Spain (2002); Moscow, Russia (2004); Shanghai, China (2005); and Istanbul, Turkey (2008). The first event in Shenzhen in China will be held in 2009. This city is located close to Hong Kong but on the Chinese mainland and will be additional to the established ZOW in Shanghai. "China is a continent, not just a country, and I think there is room for two ZOW shows," said Mr Meyer at the Bad Salzuflen press conference. The Shanghai show is to move from its location on the east side of Shanghai to a new one on the west side in 2008 and will run concurrently with the Shanghai International Furniture Exhibition, which debuted last year. ZOW has always excluded machinery manufacturers from its line-up of exhibitors, until 2007, but only selected companies are allowed to exhibit. "We have a particular type of machinery manufacturer here to make it clear what has become possible in terms of machining [and processing] furniture parts. It is interesting to contact different customer groups, without having noisy machinery running and we offer a different approach to customers for the machinery makers," said Mr Meyer. Thus Wemhöner Surface Technologies was to be found discussing its printing/lacquering lines, short-cycle presses, membrane and membrane-less presses and its lightweight (honeycomb-cored) panel pressing lines. "We exhibited here for the first time in 2007 and got a large order as a result," said Horst Oechler, area sales manager. Similarly, Bürkle Process Technologies was present to discuss its direct printing and lacquering lines and lightweight board production. "Two lacquer suppliers in Germany now have one of our lines in their showrooms and this has led to good business for us," said Bernd Jochims, area sales manager. "Digital printing is very versatile - you can print whatever you like, in small runs if necessary." Homag was another machinery exhibitor (though without machines of course). It was also promoting lightweight board production lines, together with edging and fastening systems for them; and its direct printing lines. Hueck Engraving has exhibited at Bad Salzuflen for some years but this year was the first time as Hueck Rheinische, having amalgamated with its sister company under the Berndorf banner. Thus the company was exhibiting Hueck's press plates and Rheinische's press compensation mats together for the first time. "New for 2008 is 'Glossline'," said Oliver Espe. "It offers a particularly strong matt/gloss effect in the same panel." Hueck also promoted its plates for woodgrains with gloss in the pores and matt on the higher surfaces. Sandvik Hindrichs-Auffermann also showed its press plate designs, for the third year at the show. It offered a new matt texture which gives a very smooth feel to the panel - 'Sparkling Stone' - a stone texture with glossy spots in it. Among panel makers exhibiting at the show was Belgian Spano Group. This comprises Spano particleboard at Oostrozeebeke, Spanolux MDF at Vielsalm and Dekaply melamine faced particleboard and MDF. Spanodecor is the name of its decor range. An innovation from Spano is its MDF Design, a 3-D surfaced MDF. Using press plates, the company offers a variety of 11 patterns and textures and can provide others to order. With all the talk about paper honeycomb-cored lightweight panels these days, it was interesting to see the core itself on the stand of Axxor, which supplies the honeycomb and the expanding machines to open it up for laying down in sandwich panel lay-ups. Egger of course gave centre-stage to its honeycomb-cored sandwich panel produced at its St Johann factory in Austria. "We are seeing a lot of good solutions coming together in fittings, processing, jointing, Innofix plastic strip edgebanding, adapters for sink and cooker hob fitting and so on," said Andrew Laidler of Egger (UK). Panels with as little as a 1.5mm radius edge were shown. New for 2008 is a range of 75 laminates, held in stock, cut to size for doors. Egger's stand also exhibited its wide range of textured decors in wood grains and stone, as well as smooth plain colours. Homapal of Germany launched its real wood veneer-surfaced laminate, offering 39 veneers from light ash to ebony, with a soft touch surface that maintains the real wood feel. The company has nearly 60 different cylinders to print woodgrains onto Homanit's HDF. Varioboard, also of Germany, showed its MDF/HDF panels, while sister company DTS Systemoberflächen exhibited a range of printed foils and decor papers finished with its electron beam-cured (EB) acrylic resins. "These are not melamine resins but acrylic and that makes our process unique," said plant and sales manager Ralf Michael Gerigk. "We have always been very strong in high gloss and there has been much increased demand for that in recent years. Our surface is also much more scratch-resistant than melamine." The company is investing e13m at DTS in a new hall, stocking system, coating line, office building and mixing of its resins. These resins can also be coloured to order by DTS, if you want a coloured ash for example. Elesgo is the brand name for DTS' EB-cured surfaces and it can offer the coating on decors from any printer worldwide of course. The surface is also suitable for outside use and on laboratory bench tops for example. Decospan from Belgium chose ZOW Bad Salzuflen to launch Shinnoki with a striking black theme to its stand (and the clothing of its personnel). Decospan has always specialised in veneered boards and Shinnoki is a range of 16 fully-finished, ready-to-use, lacquered 19mm MDF panels, with a melamine backing on the reverse face for stability. The ultra-matt polyurethane finish is said to enhance the natural look and preserve the veneer structure. The company uses the 'mixmatch' jointing technique where wood of different trees and various grain patterns is matched, giving continuous areas without any visible interruption. This gives a more uniform quality without losing the lively and unique aspect of wood, says Decospan, which emphasises that all its veneers are ethically sourced. It has recently invested in a 2.3m wide lacquering line from Bürkle, giving the company great flexibility in its new 70,000m2 factory. Decomat is a subsidiary of Decospan established in February 2007 in Croatia to splice veneer and supplies eight million m2 annually to the open market. Decospan also has a splicing factory in the Ukraine supplying its own needs. Panel manufacturer Unilin, also of Belgium, though owned by Mohawk of North America, launched its Unilin cabinet Concept at the show. It now offers knock-down kitchen cabinet kits, complete with fittings, for base and for wall units. The company, as Unilin Decor, continues to offer melamine faced panels in a wide range of decors, cut to shape/profile and drilled if required. A company headquartered in the UK and with a factory in China, BLP, displayed its range of cabinet doors, primarily for kitchen cabinets, in membrane pressed foil, real fleece-backed veneer and in five-piece shaker style. Moving on to the decor printers, we begin with Interprint, whose motto for 2008 is 'Go closer' to discover a new dimension in design, said Interprint's Elizabeth Zenker. Its stand was strikingly themed in black and silver with pull-out panels and large drawers displaying its decors in various harmonised colour matches. 'Iron Red' was a very striking marble effect in grey/black/red colours and a strong pattern. 'Cimbalo' fantasy had simple swirls which had to be touched to realise it was not 3-D. In addition to more traditional woodgrains in a variety of light and dark shades, grey/brown tones predominate in the 2008 range, as well as strong, darker grains with white in the pores. Alabama Walnut showed both heart and sapwood in a particularly striking woodgrain. In a room at the rear of the stand were many more decors including the one-week-old range in 'carbon fibre-look' as a 'high-tech' material. Süddekor received an award after the Interzum show last year. Not for its decors, though it certainly could have been, but for its printed brochure and the award came from the printing industry and was won in competition with automotive companies and other 'sexy' brochure specialists. Dirk Eiynck confirmed that black and white is a trend this year, leading to such woodgrains as limed darker woods in combination with other structures and colours. "The first two months of 2008 have been very positive for us," he said. Coveright was promoting its 'Silveright' anti-bacterial surface and Dean Musfelt said it had received a very good response from the healthcare industry. The company's DWS range is also available with anti-scratch, anti-static and slip-resistant surfaces in many different colours and designs. Schattdecor's stand was a real show-stopper. It was totally white. Or that is the way it appeared. Laid out as an apartment floor plan, it had a 'kitchen' with white cooker and units, 'living' with white furniture, 'play' with white toys, 'sleeping' and 'study' areas with white fitments and everywhere, triangular cross-section panels which rotated within the walls. These revealed the latest decor suggestions on two sides and - you probably guessed it - white on the third. "We have a new research centre in Thansau for finish foil and a laboratory lacquering line so our customers can see the finished effect," said Bernd Reuss. Schattdecor brought 30 new decors to ZOW in oaks, beeches, maples and fantasies, demonstrated by Monika Ruthe of Schattdecor's design department. There were two new stones for kitchen worktops including 'Nero Marquina', a black and white marble. Grey/brown tones were a feature in the woodgrains, as well as fantasies such as 'Letra Fantasy', which was light grey on dark grey. Strong grained woodgrains were a significant feature of the display. Among all the regular exhibitors at ZOW Bad Salzuflen, many of whom have been exhibiting since the first edition, there are now Chinese companies adding to the total of more than 700 exhibitors for 2008. Has this workshop lost something of its original appeal by getting so much bigger? Yes, it undoubtedly has. On the other hand, it has gained a reputation as probably the most comprehensive, focused and user-friendly show for the sector which it serves.

Today ZOW is synonymous with a new, more efficient business meeting and is well known as a trend-setting platform for communications through its innovative 'workshop' concept. Strong demand is driving the need to provide more exhibition space at Bad Salzuflen. Hall 23.1, which is the ground floor of Hall 23, will be used for the first time this year. This means that visitors will now circulate in a closed loop inside Halls 20-23. The south entrance, which is right next to the new parking lot P2 at the B239 highway, will be modified and there will be direct access to Hall 20. Including Hall 23.1, the total space available at ZOW has now increased to 45,000m². By consolidating the Architecture Lounge, the E3S European Solid Surface Show and M Technology Award exhibition in close proximity to each other at ZOW 2008, organiser Survey GmbH has created a concentrated area specially to attract architects and trade visitors. Because E3S is focused on the commercial sector, placement of the exhibition next to the Architect's Lounge is considered ideal, because the target group for E3S exhibitors will be located right next door. In parallel, the M Technology Award exhibition will provide an overview of the top innovative products of the sector. The competition is open to exhibitors and non-exhibitors. Survey has seized the initiative to offer logistics suppliers the opportunity to also exhibit at the show. It will be their first chance to make contact with customers from the furniture industry at an established trade fair platform. The organisers will also actively support ZOW exhibitors if potential cases of product piracy are identified. In the run-up to the show, exhibitors are being notified about the European law and jurisdiction concerning intellectual property. Market researchers say that women control or influence more than 85% of all consumer purchases and that purchases by women total trillions of dollars annually. In the furniture industry, analysts indicate that 53% of adults planning to purchase furniture are women. The woman is the key in selling home furnishings. She makes the ultimate buying decision. She chooses the colour, texture, scale, comfort level and furniture finish. She also normally decides how furniture purchases will be placed in her home. With this in mind Decotec Printing SA called on four renowned women from different countries with significant expertise in design to create a collection of decors for printed decorative paper. These 12 decors form part of Decotec's Woman Power Collection and will be presented at ZOW. The designers taking part in this project are Conchine Terranegra (Jordi Vidal & Asociados, Valencia, Spain), Sung Sook Kim (BBCK Studio, Milan, Italy), Athina Peletidou (COR3 Creative Works, Thessaloniki, Greece), and Eviete Dacol (Inove Design, Curitiba, Brazil). Working on these collections resulted in an exciting inter-cultural experience, said Decotec. Wood based product manufacturer Egger will be exhibiting decors under the tag line "neutrality and vitality". Numerous new decors will be shown which are said to breath life into designs either alone or in combination with other Wood, Uni or Fantasy decors. One of the most striking things with the Uni colours is the use of mother-of-pearl, which gives a greater impression of depth and brilliance, creating a very high-quality appearance, says Egger. DTS-Systemoberflächen GmbH has been processing decor papers using the electron beam process for more than 10 years and is considered one of the market leaders in the production of this material, sold under the brand name 'Elesgo'. The product, which will be shown at ZOW, is supplied in rolls and depending on the quality required can be processed on all conventional coating lines with various glue systems. Elesgo surfaces are mainly employed in laminate flooring, wall and ceiling panels, furniture surfaces, interior doors and door frames and kitchen worktops. Wilhelm Taubert, owner and managing director of DTS, has been engaged in the innovative technology of electron beam cross-linkage since the 1970s and is a recognised expert in the field of electron beam curing of acrylate resins. One special feature of the patented DTS method is that the papers used are first impregnated with acrylate and polyester resins in the company's own impregnating lines. According to Decorative Panels Ltd's design chief Julian Tatham there is a trend towards darker, richer foils - and, he says, many will be shown at ZOW. But lighter foils, he says, still remain popular in some sectors, particularly in civic, commercial and corporate environments, as well as for limited spaces like boats and caravans. But the trend towards the richer tones of traditional dark woods, like walnut and oak, in the consumer home environment looks strong for 2008. Exotic new fruit woodgrains like plum bring subtle cuts and effects to decors - Wallis Plus is one of Decorative Panels' latest foil introductions. And new technologies, such as laser engraving of printing cylinders, is taking quality and detail in printing and reproduction to another plateau, says Mr Tatham. Powder coating on metallic substrates has shown a tremendous growth in the last 40 years. On substrates which are sensitive to thermal impacts, like MDF, the technique is about 10 years old and it has only been two years since the industry seriously focused on this new innovative technology for surfacing panels. iCoat Group Holding GmbH, a young start-up company, has designed and erected a special powder coating line simply for coating MDF. The experience of 20 years of sister companies within the group was utilised in the construction. The line has been in full operation for six months and now coating is being done on various substrates (MDF, light weight boards, some solid woods) as well as in different textures (micro structure and smooth design). iCoat is offering the ready-made furniture piece, including the MDF, machining, drilling and sanding, details of which will be explained on the company's stand. "The powder coat does have some outstanding features compared to other foil or wet-lacquering systems," said Peter Hauer, managing director of iCoat. "It is mainly green, with no solvents, and up to 95% of the powder is used. BLP UK Ltd is constantly working with foil producers to develop new ideas for its cabinet doors and this year at ZOW it plans to inspire visitors, said Barry Berman, sales and marketing director for BLP. "We will demonstrate a number of door designs in new and innovative foils which show BLP's capabilities both from the UK and China factories. "With the recently opened 60,000m² door factory in Suzhou, China combined with the existing 25,000m² factory in the UK, BLP will have lots to talk about." Pennacchioni SpA produces postforming and preforming semi-finished furniture and will be exhibiting examples of its products. The company supplies a wide range of different items and finishes: worktops, panel doors, plywood or MDF, covered with HPL or melamine, and cut to size and edge-banded according to customers' drawings and models. Products are aimed at furniture manufacturers of kitchens, bathrooms, offices, bedrooms, shops and interior design. Riken will be exhibiting its specially-developed new metallic gloss finishes, as well as introducing gloss-matt printed foils which give the appearance of a surface texture synchronised to the wood grain. The company will also display its most recent updated colours within its long-established high quality gloss range, both in PVC and PVC-free materials. The gloss colours shown will centre on a strong trend of black and match-to-black. The hardware and hinge specialist Hetal-Werke GmbH will be presenting a product innovation designed to complement any kitchen design. The flap fitting KB-35-D allows wall-mounted kitchen flaps to be swivelled up out of the way of the cabinet itself, above the top of cornices, pelmets and attached lights. The fittings also afford convenient access to the storage space, as the flap swivels upwards out of the work area. Furnco AB is based in Sweden, with production facilities in China for the manufacture of electronic low voltage converters, halogen lighting, fluorescent lighting and LED lighting fixtures, aimed primarily at European manufacturers of kitchens and bathrooms. A selection from the product range will be on display. Sandvik Hindrichs-Auffermann, the producer of press plates and endless press belts for the laminating and wood based panel industries, will welcome all visitors to its booth. The company's textures are mostly developed in close cooperation with its customers and their needs. Finally we offer congratulations to Agoform GmbH, one of the main leaders in vacuum forming products. The company will be celebrating 80 years in the business and what better place to do it than at ZOW, Bad Salzuflen. Agoform is selling in more than 60 countries worldwide and is a competitive partner for the kitchen, furniture, decorative and automotive industries.