SMT - the worlds top show?
24 May 2010
The biggest annual tradeshow is only a couple of weeks away, so should you be thinking about going to Nuremberg?
Someone will probably correct me, but I think that SMT/HYBRID/PACKAGING in Nuremberg attracts a bigger audience than any other annual electronics manufacturing event. Productronica is bigger of course, but is only biannual, and other big ‘electronics’ events, like the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, may be bigger but they are targeted at the retail end of the market and attract consumers and buyers. SMT is aimed at engineers and last year 21,253 of them went to Nuremberg for the event.
"My summary of this year’s SMT/HYBRID/PACKAGING: it was a great fillip in a time of great difficulty for the whole electronics industry for all those who took part, exhibitors as well as visitors." That was the view of Gabriela Reckewerth, Head of SIPLACE Global Marketing Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems, following on from the 2009 event.
Chris Palin, European Sales Manager HumiSeal Europe, added: “SMT is a well focused show concentrating on electronics production, related equipment and materials. It is a great place to meet existing customers and distributors and to gain new potential sales contacts. Everything we need in one focused show."
In all there were 550 exhibitors last time, more than enough to satisfy the needs for most visitors as most of the leading suppliers are represented. However, the appeal of this show, unlike so many others, is that it never seems to disappoint. Visitors always seem to come away enriched by the SMT experience, and if visitors are happy then it almost always follows that exhibitors, and exhibition organisers, are happy too. About a third of the exhibitors were from outside Germany as were a quarter of the visitors, so it does have genuinely international credentials.
There will be a number of special features including a production line entitled: ‘Future Packaging’. This will be organised by the Application Center Smart System Integration at Fraunhofer IZM. Using the live demonstration, experts from industry and research will demonstrate the technological parameters and the demands on the equipment. Another tie-in with the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration will be the opto-electronics stand under the headline ‘Optics meets Electronics’.
One of the main features of course will be the conference programme which the organisers claim is ‘the most important platform for information and networking in the field of microelectronics assembly in Europe’. Conference and Tutorials offer a wide spectrum of solution-oriented presentations on the latest technologies as well as future developments within the electronics assembly industry. The topics refer to the entire net production chain from design through to process technologies, to quality assurance. A word of caution though, the language of the conference is German with four of the main tutorials in English, so check in advance if language is a barrier.
In general I have this down as one of the most reliably good events on the global calendar. If you want more information, visit: http://www.mesago.de/en/SMT/main.htm.
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