Chairman of Italian wood furniture Federation on "Milan International Furniture Exhibition"
Claudio Feltrin, chairman of the Italian Federation of wood and furniture industries (Federlegno Arredo) and President and CEO of Arper, a leading furniture company, told reporter David Plaisant about the current situation of the furniture industry.
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in October 2020, during a period of uncertainty at the front end, Claudio was appointed chairman of the Italian Federation of wood and furniture industries Feltrin. At the beginning of taking office, people had a problem with Claudio Feltrin and needed him to respond. Perhaps the harshest expression of this question is: do we still need furniture exhibitions and other exhibitions? Although more detailed problems may involve whether the existence of offline furniture exhibitions is still necessary in the increasingly digital and virtual network world. Anyway, the new Crown epidemic did cause some serious problems, but Feltrin seemed not afraid to discuss these problems at all.
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"The discussion on such issues has been going on for a long time, but the new Crown epidemic will take the discussion a step forward." Feltrin said this and implied the real value of participating in the world's largest furniture fair. It is impossible for us to forget Milan's crowded scene during the furniture fair, even a small hotel room, and the Open Exhibition Hall is as crowded as a large concert. Milan International Furniture Fair peaked in 2019 and then set a record in 2020. Then the new Crown epidemic appeared and the world came to a standstill.
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Feltrin obviously sympathizes with the completely reasonable concerns of those who spend huge sums of money to participate in the exhibition, but we should realize that there are very sufficient commercial reasons behind Milan's craziness every year: with the vivid description of Feltrin, we seem to be back to those exciting, fanatical and crowded Milan International Furniture Fair time.
"Even in just two or three days, the audience can immediately feel the General Dynamics of industry executives, understand the trends and meet with stakeholders to gain insight into the development direction of the design community, no other exhibition in the industry can match it. This is a unique global stage."
Unlike many other industries, the furniture industry is closely related to material and tactile factors. In real life, it is essential to get along with and contact with it. How to bring these designs to a wider and more global audience and market has long been one of the major challenges faced by furniture industry companies, and the new Crown epidemic will only make this problem more urgent.
"During the blockade period, we carried out relevant research, that is, to master the situation of the trade fair system and know whether offline trade fair models are still needed. People want real and on-site exhibition experience. Obviously, people want to do this safely and comply with all measures to prevent the spread of the new Crown epidemic, but they also need to pay more attention to the supporting role of digital and virtual technologies."
in fact, Milan International Furniture Fair launched the latest digital portal a few days ago. In addition to pushing the most important information in the first supersalone and the Italian furniture fair, the website will also quickly update the annual cycle content to keep the website alive throughout the year.
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another fully confirmed chain effect of the new Crown epidemic is the significant increase in household expenditure. Feltrin believes that this is the main reason for being optimistic about an industry that creates a better home environment for consumers. As a pragmatist, Feltrin also talked about why the development of domestic furniture industry may slow down after the new Crown epidemic.
"As everything returns to normal, people will have other consumption opportunities and may reduce their spending on housing. Another fact is that if the shortage of raw materials and the recent increase in raw material prices continue, it may have a negative impact on the furniture industry.
Feltrin calm analysis and observation, mixed with obvious enthusiasm for this industry dominated by design and physical characteristics, also reflects the character of this president and CEO.
Finally, Feltrin emphasizes that looking ahead, sustainability will become one of the main pillars of industry recovery. He also emphasized Italy's excellent wood recycling capacity (93 percent of particleboards produced in Italy are made of recycled wood), but also pointed out that Italy failed to effectively use and manage forests to produce local raw materials. Claudio Feltrin finally concluded: "We need less fantasy and more practicality."
(Photo Source: International Exhibition public information service platform, invasion and deletion)
(Article Source: International Exhibition public information service platform, invasion and deletion)
