Electronica: Picking Up Where We Left Off

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The productronica/electronica pairing of trade shows is an experience unlike any other; anyone who has ever attended is likely to back me up on that claim. This year’s iteration of electronica, taking place at Trade Fair Center Messe München, Nov. 15-18, is no exception. I-Connect007 was onsite to gather the news and share our impressions of the show.

First, the show’s attendance was rumored to be in the 60,000+ range. This number sure seemed to be reasonable given the crowd sizes we witnessed. The two shows, productronica and electronica, alternate years at this venue.

With electronica historically the show for electronics engineering and prototyping; productronica is the show for multidisciplinary electronics production.This puts certain vendors, such as AOI equipment manufacturers in a no-man’s land in which they simultaneously fit and don’t fit in either show. That said, the opinion is that electronica is evolving into the venue for both electronic engineering and production. 

On the whole, show offerings tended to be iterative rather than disruptive. This isn’t necessarily bad news; industry players are converging on an interconnectable future.

There were, however, two disruptive offerings that caught my eye: Cybord and NanoDimension/Essemtec. It was entirely coincidental that both companies have Israeli roots. The Nano/Essemtec collaboration is making good progress on delivering a complete all-in-one fab-and-assembly solution based upon 3D printed substrates. They’ve identified a clear niche in the onsite prototype and low-volume space. Cybord’s value proposition is 100% validation of components prior to assembly. Cybord offers AI-driven component verification performed at receiving and follows up with additional verification of every part using pick-and-place images, and AOI images. Cybord completes the process by offering a post-production tagging method which provides unique tracing for the finished board. This capability promises to reduce (if not eliminate) broad product recalls by providing tracing down to the individual board by serial number. 

Over the next several weeks, watch for some of the interviews I’ve had onsite here in Germany—including Cybord and Nano/Essemtec, as appropriate.

Being at electronica with my cohort, European Technical Editor Pete Starkey, has been a pleasure. Cheers!