Joining Forces: SMTA and the SMART Group in Europe

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Martin: There is not necessarily a separate operating division. SMTA Europe will be managed out of our headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We look forward to welcoming the current SMART Group members, as well as connecting our existing European SMTA members to the new group. We are fortunate that some of the SMART Group leadership team will be staying involved to ensure a smooth transition and to continue to host events. This exciting connection comes a few months after our first co-organized event earlier this year where our two associations co-organized a conference in Amsterdam addressing contamination, cleaning and coating. We enjoyed working together and it just seemed to make sense to combine efforts and resources to improve the benefits, offerings and reach.

We are in the middle of planning another conference and expo in Amsterdam for April of 2018 that will be branded under SMTA Europe titled, “Electronics in Harsh Environments.” We are excited to broaden the previous focus and bring in other aspects to manufacturing reliable hardware for use in power electronics and extreme/industrial environments.

Goldman: This is all good news.

Martin: Yes, we’re looking forward to continuing to assist and connect professionals in more parts of the world. As you know, I’m a big fan of collaboration. We are also working with other organizations that are addressing emerging technologies and spaces that SMTA is excited to get involved in. It’s important to be sure that we are acknowledging hot topics, innovative products and technologies and helping manufacturers create best practices and assembly methods.  We hope individuals and companies consider the SMTA as a resource for knowledge and appreciate the power of a vast, professional network.

Goldman: Keith, please tell me a little about your position and what you are up to.

Keith Bryant: I’m chairman of the SMART Group, and have been for nearly 10 years, until the end of December, when we become SMTA Europe. Then, I’ll still be working with Tanya and SMTA HQ to help lead SMTA Europe for the next year or two. I am also the Global Director of electronics sales for YXLON International.

Goldman: Okay, so tell me your impressions of SMTA and the merger here.

Bryant: We've always said that we've been very similar organizations. It's about imparting knowledge, it's about training people, and it’s about holding seminars and workshops to get knowledge out to engineers and technicians, to further the industry.

We've been doing that on one side of the pond and Tanya and SMTA have been doing it on the other side of the pond. We had a joint European conference this year in Amsterdam and I think anyone who had any doubts before then about the synergies of the organizations basically were completely convinced such that, when I put this to my steering committee, it was unanimous that it was the sensible move to make.

Goldman: Now SMTA is truly a global organization working on a local level.

Martin: Yes, we are very fortunate to have the opportunity to begin to serve Europe, in addition to our other chapters in Mexico, India, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Canada and Israel.

Goldman: Was SMART Group strictly Europe?

Bryant: Yes, in fact it was pretty much U.K. We have some members in Europe but the strongest area by far is the U.K.

Goldman: So now you're covering all of Europe.

Bryant: We are going to increase our European footprint very quickly, I'm sure. For something which sounds like quite a big thing, it's going very smoothly and we’re getting a lot of positive feedback. We've had no negative feedback on either side. As everybody says, it's the logical, sensible thing to do.

Goldman: Here in the U.S., a majority of SMTA chapters host an annual local expo and they're scheduled throughout the calendar year. I'm always impressed with that because it's open to everybody and anybody and you have speakers and it seems like a great learning environment, especially for new people. Have you been doing that kind of thing in Europe, or are you going to do it?

Bryant: We've been doing it in the U.K. with SMART Group. We have workshops, we have seminars, we have webinars, and we have at least one event every month and often two events. Depending on where the membership comes from when we get SMTA Europe up and running, we may start organizing events in different countries, but our main event, at least for the first year, is going to be the conference that we have next year in Amsterdam.

Martin: SMTA will continue to promote the launch of SMTA Europe by creating more awareness of the association by collaborating and co-locating with other established events in Europe. For example, SMTA will have a technical program at productronica next month in Munich, Germany. This is an impressive two-day program with speakers from Cisco, Fraunhofer, CEA/Leti, Heraeus, Bosch, iNEMI, etc. We hope you’ll come see us on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon at productronica in Hall A1.

Bryant: In addition to what is currently scheduled, we already have events in the diary for next year through Q1. Once we hear from more volunteers from other countries to join the organization, we’ll begin reviewing the possibilities to create programs and training in Germany, Spain, Italy, etc.

Goldman: There seems to be a lot of benefits to being a part of SMTA. You are all about education for your members.

Martin: Yes, we are an organization that emphasizes relationships, education and disseminating  knowledge to help advance the industry.

Our SMTAI keynote speaker from Microsoft, Rune Jensen, had never attended a SMTA event before today. I invited him to our Recognition Dinner the evening before his presentation and he also attended the annual meeting and awards ceremony immediately before he took the stage. As he began his presentation he mentioned how impressed he was with our organization. Rune stated, "It feels like a family," which is really an ongoing sentiment that we hear about SMTA. It was really great that a first-time visitor who spent a very short amount of time with us could feel that connection right away. He mentioned how wonderful it was to see everyone working together and helping each other.

Goldman: Some industries aren't like that.

Martin: It's a special thing to see strangers sit at a table together and begin sharing and laughing, competitors talking about their research and projects in the same session, and different segments of the supply chain working together to create real solutions that truly allows the industry to improve and move forward.

Goldman: That's wonderful. This is all good news.

Bryant: I don't think there's any bad news.

Goldman: Thanks so much to you both for your time.

Martin: Thank you.

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