What’s Next Becomes Now at IPC APEX EXPO 2024

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From revolutionary advancements in artificial intelligence, augmented reality and the latest innovations in capital equipment on the show floor to a heightened learner experience through the 16th Electronic Circuits World Convention (ECWC16) technical conference, IPC APEX EXPO 2024 provided education, professional development and numerous networking opportunities, for 3,723 attendees from 57 countries.

Four hundred twelve (412) exhibitors engaged in three days of business development, generating 22,552 qualified sales leads on 138,900 net square feet of Anaheim Convention Center show floor space. IPC APEX EXPO attracted 7,245 total visitors including attendees and exhibitor personnel, a 5.1 percent increase from 2023.

In keeping with the event’s theme, “What’s Next Becomes Now,” the IPC APEX EXPO Technical Program Committee built a strong ECWC16 technical conference program 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.

Commenting on his attendee experience, Michael Allen, Textron Systems (AAI) commented, “This was my second consecutive visit to IPC APEX EXPO. 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.”

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.

From survey responses, the exhibitor experience at APEX EXPO 2024 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.

Joe Clure, Head of Application/Demo Center, Kurtz Ersa Inc. offered, “Something that we found very encouraging is that the content of the conversations from the attendees was much more focused. It was obvious that there had been a good deal of research done before they traveled to the show, so they were able to identify the key items of interest and ask much more specific questions about those topics. And as a result of their preparedness, the quality of our leads was so strong that the show was very successful for us.”

Summing up IPC APEX EXPO 2024, Mitchell added, “We at IPC are profoundly grateful to an industry that has encouraged and supported us in producing this event. We never lose sight of the fact that we could not host IPC APEX EXPO without the dedicated volunteers and industry. We’re already looking forward to and planning next year’s event, marked by IPC APEX EXPO 25th anniversary.”

In 2025, IPC APEX EXPO will return to the Anaheim Convention Center, March 15-20. For more information on IPC APEX EXPO 2025, visit www.ipcapexexpo.org.