412 exhibitors and 3,723 attendees from 57 countries came together across 13,000m2 of exhibition space at the Anaheim Convention Center in early April, IPC has reported. Overall, the Apex Expo 2024 attracted 7,245 total visitors including attendees and exhibitor personnel, a 5.1 percent increase from 2023.
ECWC16 technical conference
This year‘s event was co-located with the 16th Electronic Circuits World Convention (ECWC16) technical conference, supported by the The World Electronic Circuits Council: a strategic partnership formed in 1998 by the major trade organizations serving member companies in the global electronic circuits industry.
In keeping with the event’s theme, “What’s Next Becomes Now,” the ECWC16 technical conference programme offered with nine topic tracks, 26 sessions and 84 papers, with peer-reviewed content from 14 countries, detailing original research and innovations from industry experts around the world. “From attendees, I received positive feedback on the quality of technical program offerings, many stating that sessions covering sustainability, next generation packaging and EV electronics were welcome additions,” said IPC President and CEO John W. Mitchell. “The paper presenters, international subject matter experts, eagerly shared their knowledge and expertise and provided attendees with quality technical content not found or presented anywhere else. We are very proud of the technical conference and set the bar high for paper submissions,” Mitchell added.
Standards development
More than 100 standards development committees and task groups made significant progress on new and revised documents covering such topics as design, materials, board fabrication, microvia reliability, assembly, cleaning, coating, advanced packaging and materials declaration. “There was a standards development activity “first” at this year’s show when the IC substrates working group welcomed leadership from China for its first international meeting of the group developing IPC-6921, Requirements and Acceptance Specification for Organic IC Substrates,” said Teresa Rowe, IPC senior director, assembly and standards technology.
Feedback
“This was my second consecutive visit to IPC Apex Expo,” Michael Allen, Textron Systems (AAI) commented. “With this year’s visit, I was able to leverage last year’s experiences into a more fruitful one. My colleague and I met and networked with many new suppliers and learned about great new technologies. We also connected with existing suppliers to further strengthen those relationships. We find that attending IPC APEX EXPO is extremely valuable in terms of career development, company process improvement and technology development.”
From survey responses, the exhibitor experience … was positive. “As an IPC member and IPC APEX EXPO exhibitor, this year’s show exceeded our expectations,” said Robert Ferguson, CEO, SSI. “The event featured a unique blend of technical conferences, professional development, standards development meetings along with a manufacturing equipment exposition that is second to none. Well done to Team IPC! We’re already looking forward to next year,” added Ferguson.
2025 event
In 2025, IPC Apex Expo will return to the Anaheim Convention Center, on 15-20 March.
