With such a large interest from visitors all over Europe and from oversees, the SMT has reached nearly half the figures of the last Productronica of 2001, and has proved to be stable in its standing in spite of taking place in the middle of a flat business curve. However, the biennial Productronica, being a keynote event in Europe, is remarkably larger of course, and houses three-times the exhibitors as the SMT usually does. Anyhow, the annual SMT, with its clear-cut production-oriented concept (focused mainly on board assembly and its new technologies), has its indisputable significance in being placed mid-year on the European show calendar. Productronica, with its larger presence, reaches somewhat farther into the worldwide manufacturing community, as it also covers, for example, electro-mechanical components of all kinds and many more by-play supplies and solutions.
Here, the main figures of this year’s SMT in short: 626 exhibitors from 24 countries presented a broad spectrum of solutions, services and equipment for electronics manufacturing, micro mechanics, system integration in micro electronics, etc. The complete event covered 24.750 sqm of floor space on the Nuremberg show grounds. 35% of the exhibitors came from outside Germany. Compared with 2002, the number of exhibitors grew slightly by 22 companies.
Approximately 23.000 visitors came to look and discuss, gathering information and polishing business contacts in order to optimize their manufacturing processes. With this satisfying figure, having practically reached the same high level of attraction as in past years, the event turned out almost untouched by the recent crisis. The atmosphere was very positive (especially in contrast to the overall economical climate, or to the field of equipment for semiconductor manufacturing). Most of the exhibitors were very satisfied with the number and quality of the contacts made during the event. But this in fact depends heavily on the section, on where a company is located and to which extent solutions offer added value to potential customers, be it placement, paste print, soldering, consumables or electrical test and inspection. As reported from multiple sides, there were not only talks on upcoming projects, but also in fact the first practical steps to the realization of such projects. Even if the board assembly area is picking-up slowly, the overall electronics business is still flat. These faint signs of stabilization (hardly a profound upturn) are widely regarded as encouraging. Some observers are expecting more economical impetus from the last four months of this year.
And of special note: the concurrent conference and its 24 tutorials were particularly well received. Especially the conference sessions covering the subject of board assemblies for high-temperature applications was reportedly a highlight, being a decisive factor for automotive electronics. The next edition of SMT/HYBRID/PACKAGING will be held in Nuremberg, June 15 to 17, 2004. De- spite the convenient temperatures of pre-summer Nuremberg this year, the next event will probably reaching record figures again – at least at the level of the ambient. (gbw)
