The main figures in short: 651 exhibitors (2003 626) in total, among them 34% or 217 companies from abroad. They presented a broad spectrum of the latest in products, technologies and services on a total of 25,790 sqm floor space (2003 24,750 sqm). 23,414 trade visitors (2003 22,849) came to see the show, thus exceeding the already high level of attraction realized last year amid the last recession.
The present increase within the electronics industry was clearly reflected at the show. The atmosphere was in general very positive. Some critical or hesitant voices on the long-awaited upswing and its development also could be heard of course, but they were a minority. And it is reported that the exhibitors were deeply satisfied with the number and quality of their contacts. As Jörg Hofmann says, “The level of interest in our machines and in lean manufacturing has topped our expectations. We’ve never had as many promising contacts on the first day of the SMT as we did this year. The general economic upswing manifested itself in the number of visitors. Particularly the European manufacturers and many from the US attended again and are very successful“.
In total, visitors from some 26 countries came to this remarkable event. Most of them from within the European Union (44%), the US (27%), remaining Europe (15%) and Asia with 14%. There were many more visitors from Italy, Scandinavia and Eastern-Central Europe than ever before, according to organizer Mesago. A break-down by job functions reveals that about one quarter was management executives, another 25% production specialists, people from design and development departments amounted to 20%, production planning and purchasing each about 11%, quality assurance to about 6%. A look at the main business sections is also quite interesting: 32% from electronics manufacturing/assembly, 12% from device packaging (semiconductor backend), information technolgy and electrical technologies each 10%, automotive and micro-electronics engineering each 9%, and from machinery business about 8%.
It’s worth noting that sometimes the visitor rush was so heavy that a booth staff could hardly cope with so many individuals at a time. This is mainly due to the fact that compared to last year, many visitors spent more time in Nuremberg – many of them two days instead of one, and some even the whole 3-day event. This trend can be credited to such outstanding topics in manufacturing as the move to lead-free technology, the outsourcing situation (especially to China) and the answers of the European companies or of the industry in general.
Also, the concurrent running conference and 25 tutorials were well attended, reflecting the highly topical issues with which the electronics manufacturing community is confronted. And finally – not to be forgotten – the next edition of the event will be held in Nuremberg earlier than this year: April 19 to 21, 2005. Gerhard B. Wolski
EPP EUROPE 403
