"We have never seen so much automation and so many advanced systems in any other exhibition around the world!" This was a recurring statement in the aisles of Xylexpo 2018 – the biennial international exhibition of woodworking technology and furniture industry supplies – that was held at Fiera Milano-Rho in Milan, Italy, last May 8th to 12th. As always, the show did not disappoint attendant expectations: plenty of technology for secondary wood processing, from panels to solid wood; the best offer of furniture manufacturing systems; and the most advanced "Industry 4.0" solutions. Xylexpo 2018

“We have never seen so much automation and so many advanced systems in any other exhibition around the world!”. This was a recurring statement in the aisles of Xylexpo, the biennial international exhibition of technology and systems for the wood and furniture industry, held at FieraMilano-Rho last May 8 to 12. In terms of contents, the event has kept its promise: plenty of technology for secondary operation industries, from panels to solid wood; the best offer of furniture manufacturing systems; and the most advanced "Industry X.0" solutions. The exhibition has been rewarded by a substantial

Italian photovoltaics supplier Fimer has sealed €9 million in financing from Sace and Deutsche Bank for the supply of conversion centres for two solar farms in Mexico. Deutsche will issue two performance bonds worth US$4.3 million, which will be backed by Sace. The German bank will also issue a €5 million loan that will be used to finalise supply contracts. Head of Milan branch at Sace, Enrica Delgrosso says; “With this initiative, we are continuing our commitment alongside Deutsche Bank in support of the internationalisation projects of Italian companies like Fimer, which are growing in

Large-scale PV projects dominate the Mexican landscape with two auctions so far yielding very competitive bids for PV power plants in Mexico. Even though these auctions were open to a variety of power generation technologies, solar PV surprised observers by capturing about seventy percent of the auctioned capacity. Many of these plants in the first and second auction rounds will be built next year, catapulting Mexico from a sub one hundred MW market annually to a market with over 1 GW of annual installations. A third round is scheduled for this coming November and as many as eighty companies

Italy is emerging as one of the leaders in the new, partially deregulated energy market. This is thanks to a strategy that focuses on the creation of partnerships and joint ventures with local players. In particular, two Italian-based heavyweights of the energy industry seem to be growing exponentially: ENEL Green Power has been working in Mexico since 2007. Recently, ENEL won four large contracts for projects in the renewable energy sector and It is planning to invest USD 1.1 billion to expand its operations in the country. ENI has won a contract for oil explorations in the shallow waters of

Zapi Group, the Italian-based leader in motion and transmission components for batteries and hybrid-powered vehicles acquired Delta-Q, a Canadian company that designs chargers for electric vehicles, including golf cars, scissor lifts and floor cleaners. Delta-Q’s co-founder and CEO, Ken Fielding, said the deal will accelerate Delta-Q’s growth and strengthen its product and service lineup. “We are excited about where we can go next, building on the exceptional capabilities, our team, our strong core values and further leveraging the Delta-Q brand which is well recognized in our markets,”

ASSIOT is the Italian Association of Gears and Transmission Systems Manufacturers. Founded in 1971, ASSIOT’s membership is now 100 companies strong, which represent 70% of the Italian power transmissions manufacturing industry, and approximately 9,000 employees. ASSIOT became the16th Machines Italia partner associations. Now the Italian Trade Commission’s sponsored project embraces 16 key industrial technology and machinery sectors. For further information on ASSIOT and the power transmissions industry, please contact assiot [at] assiot.it (subject: Machines%20Italia%20E-newsletter%20) .

This survey of Industry 4.0 was conducted by the Italian Trade Commission (ITA) Chicago USA Office and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in November 2016 with over 325 companies based in the US taking part (2/3 of which currently use Italian machinery and technology in their production lines). The report provides insight and analysis to determine the latest trends in Smart Manufacturing to determine how manufacturers are reacting to Industry 4.0. Questions included plans to adopt the connected factory on the shop floor in regards to technology acquisitions, upgrades and migrations to