“Reports of the demise of our industry are rapidly being replaced with data suggesting the turnaround has really begun,” underlines Peter J. Murphy, chairman of the IPC board of directors. ”Is our industry really improving? Is the industry’s worst recession over? IPC’s book-to-bill ratio as well as the chip orders are up for a number of months and backlogs are growing. Now what?” Seems that the improved event in the vicinity of Los Angeles will provide some valuable answers as well as insights into these pressing questions. With this combination, says IPC communications director Joe Dudek, the event will address a broad range of experts from every facet of the electronics manufacturing supply chain, including OEMs, EMS providers, machine and material suppliers, board assemblers, PCB manufacturers and PCB designers, etc.
An ambitious conference program, presenting 125 papers in 40 sessions and spanning the global reaches of the industry, will accompany the exhibits; they will cover advanced technologies and timely issues from lead-free soldering to embedded passives, quality and reliability concerns, up to the latest wrinkles in PCB assembly and fabrication. A special flip-chip session is scheduled to highlight paste, underfill and flux issues. Picking up on the controversial and obviously never-ending issue of lead-free soldering, there will be ample discussion room for the challenges from handling small components, new finishes and inspection criteria within the forthcoming solder paradigm. Three sessions each will be dedicated to the practice of design tools and fabrication processes including micro-vias, chemistry, surface treatment and registration techniques.
Plenty of U.S. industry leaders and visionaries will be on hand to talk about the industry outlook as it is emerging from a long drawn-out downturn. Michael Cannon, CEO of Solectron, was chosen as opening keynoter (February 24). Also present at a star-studded panel discussion will be Sammy Yi from Flextronics and Mark Wolfe from Phoenix International to speak for the EMS community, next to, among others, Alan Rae of Cookson Electronics.
Specialists planning to attend the 2004 Apex/Printed Circuits Expo: be sure not to miss the business outlook on the global electronics industry on Wednesday February 25, presented by the crafty and always entertaining tech analyst Walt Custer. He will provide his independent insights into the magnitude and directions of the impending recovery in the manufacturing industry – with special consideration of its various regional and off-shore implications. And on February 26, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, is out to turn the attendees on to the cool sensations of technology. The engineer and entertainer, a man with a mission, delivers a mixture of stand-up comedy and spots on the value of science.
In terms of exhibitor numbers, the newly arranged event will expand to about 450 exhibitors – still moderate compared to other comparable industry venues, but simplifying the coverage of the hitherto separate shows, this way easing the burden on travel and exhibition logistics. In terms of visitors, of course, there will be a certain overlap and consolidation. IPC VP Tony Hilvers expects the attendee numbers to be around 4000 to 6000. At least this time there appears to be no scare brewing like last year when the terrible trio of Sars, Iraq war and terrorist threat kept exhibitors and visitors alike from descending to the shores of Southern California.
Since October 2003, IPC has been on the ground in Europe as well (see EPP Europe 11/12, page 10). The IPC office, located in Maastricht and manned by Joe Warnier, is being promoting IPC, and is also set to answer questions about the organization’s events. Werner Schulz/gbw
EPP EUROPE 400
