News
ZOW 2008: international, innovative and intensive - The Top Event for the Furniture Industry in Bad Salzuflen
More than 750 exhibitors from 34 nations from
around the world are using ZOW between 25-28 February 2008 as the stage for
their product innovations for the furniture and interior design industries.
Halls 19-23 in the Bad Salzuflen Exhibition Center are fully booked and Hall
23.1 is also being used as an exhibition space for the first time. The total
floorspace for ZOW has therefore been increased to 45,000 m². Even greater
numbers of visitors are expected in 2008, as ZOW will be the only B2B platform
in Germany to provide a complete market overview for furniture industry
specialists in 2008.
This year ZOW organizer Survey is also offering German start-up companies the opportunity to exhibit in Bad Salzuflen. Within the framework of a special support program organized by the German Federal Office of Economics and Technology, they are entitled to claim back up to 80% of their trade fair costs. It has already been decided that the ZOW East Westphalia Supply Show will be included in the support program in 2009 as well. Interested exhibitors will find more information available at: www.bafa.de.
Every year ZOW offers the guarantee of the rapid transfer of innovative ideas at just the right time. The trade fair traditionally scores highly with its broad and in-depth coverage of all furniture-related product groups. Brought together in the three main categories of “Hardware: Furniture in Motion“, “Elements & Systems: Furniture with added Value” and “Materials & Surfaces: Furniture Protection & Styling“, trade visitors can look forward to a fascinating show in 2008.
Surfaces: simple background, colorful special effects
Grey, black and white are the trend colors for surfaces. Both wood and stone decors have a new, restrained look, providing the ideal background for strong, colorful special effects. Typical combinations therefore include classical, pearl-gray decor with a richly colorful woodgrain full of character like walnut, for example. Or white wood combined with dark stone looks, this season’s offering for the classical black-and-white theme. Grey also features in all sorts of varieties this year, such as pearl-grey, mouse-grey, light-grey and anthracite-grey – the elegant, purist line is very much the trend. However, the trend is also for brightly colored high-gloss tones in plain designs, as seen recently in Paris, for example, in the form of a sophisticated turquoise decor surface with tonal changes which became increasingly intensive. Très chic!
When it comes to hardware, the focus of the developers’ attention is on intelligent design solutions. Cabinet doors in the kitchen are no longer opened by hand but electrically. A new functionality offers the user simple means of use, which is also apparent when one looks at the topic of “Ergonomics in the overhead cabinet”. Hardware is now designed to enable all parts of the overhead cabinet to be accessible and usable. Kitchen manufacturers increasingly seek to stand out from the competition by offering innovative design developments. In the hardware industry the solution takes the form of different materials and colors. Glass, chrome and stainless steel are the absolute trendsetters in this respect. In living areas and bedrooms the trend is towards “invisible hardware”, which is integrated in the new types of lightweight furniture. The smooth front panel with its color and surface structure becomes the exclusive focus of attention. The use of lighting is also of increasing importance to hardware manufacturers, with integrated LEDs, e.g. in the clothes rail in the bedroom cabinet, making it easier to see and also creating an atmosphere at the same time. “Light in sight” is the motto.
Future themes for the industry
The fourteenth staging of ZOW once again proves that it offers to the companies in the furniture and interior design industries exactly what they need in order to safeguard and increase their own national and international competitiveness. Several of the organizer’s own initiatives and its enthusiastic joint projects with partners will bestow even greater diversity than ever on the 2008 ZOW. The important subject of manufacturing logistics has its own industry forum in Hall 22.2 with the title “From life in the shadows to bathing in the limelight”, featuring a fascinating range of presentations. Cooperation partner here is Prof. Dr. Nicholas Boone from the Department of Logistics and Distribution at the University of Applied Sciences in Lippe and Höxter. Equally informative are the features on the possibilities offered by modern direct printing technology or leading-edge technologies in the field of lightweight construction.
The “M Technology Award”, in cooperation with iF International Forum Design and the magazine “M”, is intended to provide recognition for cutting-edge products and services from the supply industry. This competition is also open to non-exhibitors and makes an important contribution to increasing market transparency at an international level.
The Architectural Lounge in Hall 20 offers visitors with an interest in architecture a 200 m² dedicated central platform with exhibitions, thematic guides, special presentations and a product test on selected ZOW exhibits, in which the “testers” can win a trip to Italy. In addition to the technical input, the ”a-lounge”, offering wine, jazz and snacks, ensures that relaxation is also catered for. Cooperation partners in the lounge are the BDIA [German Interior Designers’/Architects’ Union], if International Forum Design, Material Connexion Cologne, Steelcase and the technical journal DETAIL
The E3S special event in Hall 22.2 is an international specialist forum introducing new developments in solid surfaces and engineered stone. No other event in Europe offers such a wide range of these materials along with information about the latest engineering developments and potential applications.