electronica 2016 Impressions

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Weinhold had taken the opportunity to attend a series of presentations hosted by ZVEI, the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association, and one which had particularly caught his attention was by Dr. Wolfgang Bochtler from Nippon Mektron, who was also on the management board of Mektec Europe. Referring to new developments in the automotive industry, Dr. Bochtler’s observation was that the business typically stayed in Europe for about two years, before migrating to countries where it was needed— whether that was the USA, China or any other Asian country. He had stressed the importance of developing many new products, but commented that whereas a major multinational company like Mektron had the benefit of being able to shift production between its manufacturing facilities in different regions, most PCB fabricators could only achieve this by developing partnerships, and events like electronica helped to facilitate the development of these partnerships. 

Although Asia has long been looked upon as the low-cost option, manufacturing costs are on the increase and now the cost of materials is rising. Weinhold’s comment was that Asian laminate companies had increased their prices over the last three months by at least 20% and up to 50% in some instances, and these increases were having a major impact on the cost of printed circuit boards. “In this show, many purchasing agents came with the objective to lower their prices to get a bonus the next year, but they got the message that there's no way to lower the prices. They have to accept higher prices, and this is not the message they would like to give to their bosses!” 

Elsewhere in the show, automation was everywhere, lots of robots were in evidence and the Internet of Things was becoming an all-pervading reality. And we saw some meaningful examples of three-dimensional interconnecting substrates produced fully additively by multi-layered inkjet printing. 

Perhaps the most spectacular displays and advances in electronics technology were to be found in Hall A6, focused on automotive developments. Countless innovations in electromobility, control and power management, together with all the sensing, detection, artificial intelligence and safety systems associated with autonomous vehicles, were driving exponential growth in that sector. And wireless electric vehicle charging—high efficiency non-contact transfer of power from base unit to vehicle charging system by magnetic resonance—was convincingly demonstrated. “Park it and charge it” will likely be offered as an option on production cars within the next two years. 

Everyone we spoke to, whether exhibitor or visitor, was full of praise for the quality and value of electronica as a must-attend event in the world trade-show calendar; not just a networking event, but a real opportunity to see what’s new, to learn about what the future may hold in the electronics industry, to meet new people, and to form new trading relationships. Those who would suggest that the day of the electronics trade fair is behind us should have been there!

Slide Show from this event Part 2:

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