UPWOOD
Connecting small and medium-sized businesses in the wood and furniture industry.

New applications

InnoWood prepares the ground for cross-border success

As a multi-country Interreg project, InnoWood facilitates the networking of small and medium-sized enterprises from the timber and furniture industry along the border between Austria and Hungary. It aims to boost their ability to compete and encourage the focused exchange of knowledge, which contributes to the development of innovations revolving around design and interiors.

With specific measures, e.g. organising a study trip to the Milan furniture show, InnoWood significantly helps to strengthen the innovative force of Styria.

Initial situation

The timber and furniture industry plays a key role in the western trans-Danube region, the south of Burgenland and Eastern Styria.

The SMEs in this sector are however reluctant to make use of new technology and innovations, and their willingness to cooperate with other companies and organisations tends be low.

The problem

The reluctance to innovate is due to a lack of management strategies, the change between generations and ignorance of market-specific facts. At the same time new expectations on the part of customers call for the launch of new products in international market places.

Objectives

To explore the potential of cross-border cooperation
To transfer knowledge
To develop innovative niche products
To develop a digital networking platform
To provide the technical environment for the networking platform

Activities to date:

Study trip to Hungary and attendance at study day in Sopron
Organisation of a study trip to Milan
Organisation of a study trip to Upper Austria
Organisation of furniture / timber construction Innovation Camp
Attendance of Klagenfurt wood fair
Cluster matching: PANFA & Holzcluster Steiermark
Continuous further development of holznetzwerk.eu platform
Guest appearance by Stora Enso and Graz University of Technology at Sopron Innovationscamp
Global and regional megatrends and their impact on the wood and furniture industry (analysis, workshops, design competitions)
Requirement assessments and prototypical implementation of a digital networking platform