40 years of productronica

Productronica has been held every two years in Munich for 40 years. A number of innovations in manufacturing had their beginnings at the world’s leading trade fair and have since had a significant influence on the ongoing development of electronics. productronica has been restructured just in time for its 40th anniversary. The fair’s 19 different segments have been integrated into a new cluster structure that gives visitors a unique overview of the entire value chain in electronics production. The five new clusters are as follows:

New concepts were also developed for the forums that accompany the fair: In the future, each cluster will have its own Speakers Corner in Halls A1, B2 and B3. As in the past, the PCB EMS Marketplace in Hall B1 will be dedicated to those two sectors.

For the first time ever, the fair will present the productronica innovation award in the five cluster categories. An independent panel of industry experts will present awards for the most innovative new products and manufacturing techniques. This is the electronics-production industry’s first independent award, and it will be presented on the first day of productronica, i.e. on November 10, 2015. All of productronica’s exhibitors are invited to compete with one or more innovations. They may submit products that are an entirely new development or a significant further technical development.

Making product innovations in the five new clusters an experience to remember: That is the motto of this special show at productronica. The world’s leading trade fair for electronics production will present the hot topic of Industry 4.0 from a new perspective: Industry 4.0 will make it possible for visitors to visually experience previously hidden procedures that machines and workpieces negotiate and that incorporate people on five select electronics manufacturing machines – with the help of augmented and virtual reality.

Industry 4.0 poses great challenges to electronics production, but it also has its advantages. The different use cases of the adaptive automation technology as well as the exact procedures on hardware and software side are often seen as too abstract by workers on the line. That is why productronica and VDMA Productronic have come up with a new special show for the 2015 fair. Augmented and virtual reality will be used to visualize various application scenarios on five different electronics manufacturing machines.

„Pimp my machine“: What does the inside of a machine look like? What exactly happens in a machine’s inaccessible areas? What instructions does the machine give the workpiece? These are interesting questions whose answers can be visualized with the help of augmented and virtual reality. The ongoing development of the human -machine interface has always been a key to success in the machinery industry. Workers don’t just want machines that are easy to operate: they should also be easy to understand,“ says Dr. Eric Maiser, Managing Director of VDMA Productronics. The applications for Industry 4.0 that can upgrade, simplify and improve electronics manufacturing machines are very diverse: „Right now we are experiencing the evolution from the built-in touch-panel display to operation using a tablet. Remote maintenance is being simplified considerably,“ explains Maiser. If you hold a tablet camera up to parts of a machine, it recognizes them and an overlay image appears on screen showing the appropriate maintenance guide or work instruction—the user manual can stay on the shelf. Virtual and augmented reality are already being used in a number of sectors. Examples include the gaming industry, virtual planning tools for designing automobiles and for architects or the „star atlas“ app for smartphones,“ explains Maiser. „This field has a great deal of potential for electronics production, and the purpose of the special show is to demonstrate some of those possibilities.“ Other special shows include the IPC Hand-soldering Competition, the Cleanroom Event Stage and a travelling exhibit on electromobility.

productronica’s opening event – the CEO Roundtable on „Cyber security: Challenges for the Manufacturin Industry“ – is on the first day of the fair at 11:00 . Leading personalities from the industrial, scientific and political sectors will discuss questions such as „How can I gain insights into our security status?“ and „How relevant is cyber security to companies that don’t think they have highly sensitive data?“ Besides focusing on office IT (attacks by viruses and malware), specific aspects of cyber security in industry (smart factory) will also be examined.

According to a recent survey about the business climate conducted by VDMA Productronic, German manufacturers of components, machines and systems for electronics production are expecting sales to increase by 2.8 percent this year and by 6.3 percent in 2016. This positive trend is also reflected by the exhibitors that are participating in this year’s productronica. There will also be national pavilions from Austria, Bulgaria, China, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Hungary Morocco, the Netherlands and the United States.

For the first time ever, IT2Industry, the trade fair and open conference for intelligent, digitally networked working environments, is being held at the same time as productronica. The industrial Internet of Things is changing the prerequisites for production and manufacturing. The products and services that are presented at IT2Industry at the same time as productronica demonstrate the link between classic manufacturing and Industry 4.0.