Skogselmia – largest in Nordic
It is not for nothing that the swedish exhibition Skogselmia calls itself the largest forest fair in the Nordic countries. With over 300 exhibitors and just over 20,000 visitors, it is a great arena for Swedish forestry. Since the country’s forest machine manufacturers and general agents have taken a joint decision not to exhibit, the fair draws increasingly on smaller machines, forest care and technology for the self-employed foresters. Something that was noticeable in the public influx in Skogsentreprenörernas tent – which this year had a lot of focus on, among other things, membership recruitment, the new machine calculation program, the upcoming method training and a new digital education made with help from the EU project Fobia.
– We made an ambitious effort. The messages were clear and our competition went great with both satisfied participants and large audiences, says Torsten Kinnefors, fair manager at Skogsentreprenörerna.
Similar sounds were heard from Mattias Pontén, project manager for Skogselmia:
– Throughout the fair I have met positive feedback about the whole event. We are very happy with the days, and what I am very pleased about is that we have already received many exhibitor bookings for Elmia Wood 2021.
Among other things, the new price Skogselmia Innovation Award was distributed – which this year did not go to less than four companies: for example to Tracy of Sweden for its digital service to originate each tree and to Katam, for its application that makes it possible to quickly measure tree height and volume. During the fair, Alfa Skogsservice AB in Jönköping also received the newly founded award The Silviculture Award. However, the question is whether or not the Skogsentreprenörerna´s final in Skotar-SM was the largest audience runner. After a thrilling final, it was clear that Johan Larsson now can call himself the most talented forwarder driver of the year!
Future belief in Nolia!
Skogsnolia in Vännäs, outside Umeå, retain their position as one of the country’s most important forest fairs – not least for the contractors. Until this year, we moved the exhibition area from Hörnefors, so it is clear that we were extra expectant because it is such a large amount of money invested, says trade fair general Kristin Olsson.With a total of 151 stands and a total of 200 exhibitors, it is undoubtedly the largest in northern Sweden – which this year was strengthened a little extra by the Forestry Entrepreneurs choosing to let the final in Skol-SM in the forklift driving be decided at the fair. At the same time, there were a lot of international visitors, which explained that Komatsu had at the same time its Komatsu Days with 1,000 guests from near and far.
This year’s theme was gender equality, which was clearly noted in the opening speech on the forest entrepreneur’s scene in connection with the stand. Both Carina Håkansson, CEO of the Forest Industries and Center Party Parliamentary Member Kristina Yngwe stamped off on the subject and found, among other things, that equal companies are more creative and profitable. Kristina Yngwe recalled that the forest is a future industry, where no one should feel excluded.In the tent of the Forest Entrepreneurs there were also partners such as Green Employers and Trygg Hansa, as well as, like the Forest Entrepreneurs, talked about Fobia and presented our first version of our digital pilot training.
Text: Frans Johansson, SE