Munich’s optimism outshines economic woes
21 November 2008
Electronica, Munich’s big event, has come and gone. I went with the intention of reporting back all that is now and happening in the world of electronics, but it would take a hefty dose of superpower supplements to be able to even take a representative sample of what was on offer – and the laws that govern probability would make it certain that the biggest stories would still be missed.
However, I gave it my best shot but could only scratch the surface of what was on offer at was a hugely impressive event. The close-of-play report from organiser Messe Munchen International (MMI) shows that 72,000 visitors (58% from outside Germany) took their pick of 2800 exhibitors.
My point of reference would be Productronica, where the PCB assembly machines are paraded every alternate year, and there is no doubt that Electronica is far busier. The latter attracts about 30,000 more visitors than the former, and at times you feel like you have been jostled by just about every one of them. This was unquestionably a good thing. With economic fears hanging over our heads there was a danger that a poor Electronica might have signalled dire times ahead. Instead the opposite was true, with optimism clearly the dominant mood throughout the cavernous halls. Klaus Dittrich, Managing Director of Messe München International, was extremely satisfied with the outcome of the show: “We are proud that electronica showed its stability in the face of the economic crisis. This result is a very clear indication of the importance of the trade fair as a worldwide meeting-point for the industry.”
As for trends in technology: the focus as far as I could see, from my limited sample, was on the traditional themes of reducing power requirements and so allowing products to be smaller and run longer on more efficient batteries. Not that this or any other trends in componentry necessarily make too much difference to the board assembly side of the business.
Test related products and strategies, along with a very strong showing from the EMS sector, was the relevant technologies on display for the EMTWorldWide market. Many of the individual products in question were covered in the weeks running up to the event in this newsletter, but a few more that I saw and found interesting are covered briefly below with a link to follow if you want more detailed information.
JTAG Technologies has introduced the new compact JT 2149/MPV Digital I/O Scan (DIOS) module, which allows digital I/O test access to PCBs requiring external I/O stimulus and response monitoring. The DIOS module features JTAG’s all new ‘SCIL’ (Scan Configurable Interface Logic) technology to allow custom functions such as pattern generators, counters and bus simulators to be factory-formatted for more advanced functional and pattern oriented testing.
3M introduced several new products for the manufacturing sector at Electronica. These include a flux remover, degreaser, engineering fluids and an aerosol contact cleaner that have all been added to 3M’s Novec range. Even just on the stand there seemed to be a product to do just about everything.
click here GOEPEL introduced an innovative Bus Access Cable named 9305-BAC/Bluetooth as new member of the Boundary Scan hardware platform SCANFLEX. In connection with the SCANFLEX I/O module SFX-9305, the new family member of Bus Access Cables enables the test of Bluetooth interfaces, combined with additional JTAG/Boundary Scan operations based on a unique platform, for the first time.
The new EMC Minis from Votsch are a new range of EMC test chambers that allow a temperature test. The aim of a temperature test in a shielded system is the proof of the resistance of a test specimen to an electromagnetically shielded environment at various reproducible temperatures.
Finally, I also got a chance to talk through the new TestWay modules with Aster Technologies . This is an interesting programme to help manufacturers determine how much coverage they are getting from their test techniques (LinkCode).
And to completely change the subject, next week marks the deadline for registering for REACH. Martin Tarr has written an excellent article for us explaining what this means to us and what action we need to take now. Click here for his full article.
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