Highlights at productronica 2025

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Just a few more weeks to go before the anniversary edition of productronica. The world’s leading trade fair for the development and production of electronics celebrates its 50th anniversary this fall. From November 18 to 21, Munich will once again be the meeting place for the international electronics industry. productronica 2025 will focus on advanced packaging, power electronics and trusted microelectronics. As in previous years, SEMICON Europa will be co-located with productronica at the Messe München exhibition center. The conceptual sponsor of productronica is the industry association VDMA Productronic.

For its 50th anniversary, productronica can look forward to well-booked exhibition halls. Over 1,600 companies from more than 50 countries will present solutions and products for the future of electronics manufacturing. Alongside productronica, which will occupy seven halls and a total area of 80,000 m², SEMICON Europa, taking place at the same time, will focus on innovations and trends in the field of semiconductors, spread over an area of 25,000 m² and three halls.

Messe München CEO Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer is very satisfied shortly before the start of the trade fair: “We are delighted to see a significant increase on the exhibitor side. Compared to the previous event, the number of exhibitors has grown by 16 percent. productronica and SEMICON Europa are once again underlining Munich’s status as a top international location for electronics manufacturing.”

Special shows focusing on key productronica topics

In addition to the exhibition area with its six topics PCB& EMS, SMT, Cables, Coils & Hybrids, Semiconductor, Future Production, and Overall Production Support, the productronica’s supporting program will also focus on the three key topics.

The VDMA Productronics Special Show (Hall B2, Stand 461), together with eight exhibitors, will feature exhibits, live demonstrations on chip development, advanced packaging, and power electronics for the drive concept of electromobility and electric aviation. Among the highlights in the special area will be an electrically powered aircraft. In addition, Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences will be presenting the “skills4chips” project and the national training academy Microtec Academy, which was founded as a result. The PhoenixD Cluster of Excellence for optical technologies will also be taking part in the special area. Schweizer Electronic will be presenting the printed circuit board of the future at the special show.

Autonomous driving will also feature in the VDMA special show. The Volkswagen test vehicle ID. Buzz, part of the Fraunhofer IDMT joint project “KI4BoardNet”, will provide insights into multisensory solutions that improve the experience and safety inside the vehicle. They include voice interactions between driver and vehicle, and AI-based processes for acoustic monitoring of the vehicle status.

At the Fraunhofer IZM Future Packaging Live Production Line (Hall B2, Stand 261), 21 companies will demonstrate all the steps involved in PCB manufacturing over an area of 360 m² to visualize the current possibilities of modern technologies and processes in this area. These include aspects such as board labeling or laser versus panel milling separation. The real-world laboratory also records the actual consumption values of the production line, allowing visitors to follow the carbon footprint of assembly production live.

Other live demonstrations will be provided by the well-established supporting program elements Event Stage Cleanroom and the IPC Hand Soldering Competition. The Cleanroom Event Stage (Hall B2, Stand 358), organized by mycleanroom, will show trade visitors what the cleanroom of tomorrow will look like and how high tech, ergonomics, and flexibility will interact in controlled environments in microelectronics manufacturing in the future.

In cooperation with the Global Electronics Association, productronica will once again this year crown the world champion in hand soldering. The qualifying rounds will take place on the first two days of the trade fair in Hall A1, Stand 321. The final decision on the World Championship title will be made on Friday, November 21. All competitors will have 60 minutes to assemble a complex printed circuit board in accordance with IPC-A-610 Class 3 criteria.

Accompanying forum program discussing electronics manufacturing of the future

productronica will offer more than 70 presentations, round tables and discussion panels on current and future industry topics on its three stages: productronica Forum, Innovation Forum and PCB & EMS Marketplace. Among the many sessions are two highlights:

On Wednesday, November 19, at 13:15, the panel discussion in the Innovation Forum (Hall B2, Stand 441) will focus on the question “Microelectronics for security-relevant technologies—what measures are necessary for secure supply chains?” Using concrete examples and experiences, the participants will discuss, among other things, what secure electronics basically means and how important it is for mechanical engineering in Europe.

A day later (Thursday, November 20, 10:15), a panel of experts will also discuss the topic “What opportunities are there for mechanical engineering through innovative applications in electromobility?” in the Innovation Forum. The focus will be on different perspectives with regard to possible requirements due to new power electronics components and the successful transfer of new technologies and research results into industrial practice.

79 submissions for productronica Innovation Award 2025

The productronica Innovation Award will be presented for the sixth time at the world’s leading trade fair for electronics development and production. The award honors innovative new products and manufacturing processes in six categories: PCB & EMS, SMT, Inspection & Quality, Semiconductors, Cables, Coils & Hybrids, and Future Markets. The winners from a total of 79 submissions will receive their awards at the exhibitor evening on the first day of the trade fair.