“National statistic survey”. This is the brand new title for the analysis of the data that tell the story of the technology industry for the wood supply chain and beyond last year. This edition of the survey is a real turning point, because this time the work was carried out by the association’s Studies Office under the supervision of analysts from Mecs-Manufacturing Economic Studies, a company that belongs to FCM-Federazione Confindustria Macchine, the new “ensemble” of which Acimall is a member. A choice that has made it possible to broaden the boundaries of the study by taking into consideration a whole series of data and information that have made it possible to draw a scenario that goes beyond the sector.
METHOD
But let’s get to the heart of the matter by first talking about the methodological choices put in place: the field of investigation only involves the Italian manufacturers of machinery and accessories (no subcontractors) which are estimated to be 188, of which 30 percent participated in the survey through questionnaires or telephone interviews between April and June 2025.
It should be noted that the survey was structured on the basis of specific “customer sectors”: sawmills, panel production and finishing, construction/doors/windows, panel-based furniture production, solid wood furniture production, artisan carpentry and other sectors (plastics, composites).
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Having defined the framework, let’s start taking a look at the numbers that emerged from this important work, starting from the “macro-context” of instrumental mechanics which, as we also report in the article from page 12, in 2024 achieved a turnover of 52.4 billion euros, thanks to the work of 211 thousand employees in 5,100 companies. Acimall contributes 6.1 percent of this value, compared to 25.3 percent of Ucima (packaging machinery), 23.5 percent of Ucimu (machine tools), 12.1 percent of Amaplast (plastic and rubber technologies), 8 percent of Acimga (graphic and paper industry), 7 percent of Gimav (glass machinery), and down to all the other sectors.
THE WOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
We should not forget that, from a more “vertical” perspective, the world of wood-furniture machinery is part of another context to which perhaps not enough attention is paid, namely the wood supply chain, which in 2024 as a whole achieved a production turnover of 51.7 billion euros – slightly less than the “Federmacchine world” considered as a whole – of which 38 percent thanks to exports. This supply chain includes 64 thousand companies with about 300 thousand employees.
WOODWORKING MACHINERY
And here we are at the heart of the matter: the world that Acimall represents in the year under investigation reached a production of 2.47 billion euros, of which 74 percent took the export route, thanks to 9,795 employees of which 53 percent are blue-collar workers, 23 percent work in technical offices, 18 percent are white-collar workers and 6 percent managers.
There are 188 significant companies, mainly concentrated in few regions: 28.7 percent of the total number of companies operate in Lombardy, 17.6 percent in Emilia Romagna, 17 percent in Veneto, 12.2 percent in Marche, 6.4 percent in Friuli Venezia Gulia and 18.1 percent in the remaining regions. If we want to make a ranking of the regions by turnover, Emilia Romagna jumps to first place (36 percent of the total), surpassing Marche (20.2 percent), Veneto (13.6 percent), Lombardy (12.1 percent), Friuli (8.9 percent)).
The survey also puts due emphasis on an issue that has always been discussed, namely the size of companies in the sector. Well, 71 fall into what we can define as the “first class”, i.e. from 0 to 2.5 million in turnover, and employ an average of 11 people; 31 are in the second tier (2.5-to.5 million, with 20 employees on average), 44 in the third (5-to-10 million, 30 employees), 30 in the fourth (10-to-25 million, 63 employees) and only 12 pass the threshold of 25 million, with an average of 433 employees.
The average of the sector, speaking of employment, is 52 workers per company, each of whom – still speaking of average, of course – generates a turnover that goes from 107 in the “first class” to 301 in the 12 “big” (see chart 2).
On the customer side, we find an inevitably varied universe, consisting mainly of manufacturers of “panel-based” furniture (45 percent of the total number of customers), wooden windows/doors and construction (12.7 percent), panel production and finishing (12.2 percent), carpentry (8.5 percent), production of plastic or composite materials (8 percent), production of solid wood furniture (7 percent) and sawmills (6.4 percent).
It is also interesting to take a look at the composition of turnover by “families” of machines, a subdivision perfectly summarized by chart 3.
THE WORLD NEEDS US!
Machines for the wood and furniture industry do not fail to give excellent satisfaction thanks to quality, experience and skills that are extraordinarily appreciated abroad. We have already mentioned that more than 74 percent of production, for a value of 1.835 billion euros, crosses the border: but to end where?
The first edition of the “National statistic survey” also replies to this question, revealing that – as we could expect – 48.7 of total export is shipped to the European Union, 20.7 to North America, 9,6 percent to extra-Eu Europe and gradually down to other destinations (see chart 4); it’s a global coverage properly illustrated in chart 5, supported by companies of all dimensions: the survey also measured export propensity, equal to 54.2 percent in companies with 0-to-2.5 million revenues, 50.5 percent in companies with 2.5-to-5 million revenues, up to 62 percent in the 5-to-10 million class, 74.5 percent in the 10-to-25 million class and 79 percent in the companies with revenues above 25 million euro.
Chart 6, to which we dedicate the necessary space for accurate reading, should be evaluated with great attention, because not only does it tell the most recent “movements” of the most loyal client countries, but it also allows you to try to imagine where it might be worth concentrating your efforts, which markets to put under the magnifying glass and in which it is perhaps appropriate to play savings…
AND FINALLY…
…a million-dollar question could not be missing: what does the future hold for us? The sample of companies involved seems to have clear ideas: 48.2 percent say they expext 2025 to close with a stable trend, 26.2 percent are optimistic, and expect a growing result, while for 25.5 percent things will get bad.
The valuable work of Mecs, however, offers us one last opportunity for reflection, having developed a chart on expectations for the future that takes into account the main regions of destinations (chart 8).
(l.r)
Note: the data presented are part of a survey reserved for the companies that have contributed to it.
