productronica China 2018: A new chapter for the “Smart Factory”

On March 16, 2018, productronica China 2018 closed after three successful days. Held along with electronica China 2018, productronica China recorded its highest figures ever in both exhibition space and exhibitor number.

• 1,374 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions with 77,765 professional visitors
• 80,000 square-meter show area together with electronica China 2018
• SMT Innovation Point and Demo Line: industry leaders showcase a complete live ‘smart factory’

On March 16, 2018, productronica China 2018 closed after three successful days. Held along with electronica China 2018, productronica China recorded its highest figures ever in both exhibition space and exhibitor number. The exhibition covers 80,000 square meters, 16 percent more than last year. A total of 1,374 exhibitors (2017: 1,230) from 23 countries and regions and 77,765 visitors (2017: 68,215) participated in the exhibition, up 12 percent and 14 percent respectively.

Mr. Falk Senger, Managing Director of Messe München, speaks highly of productronica China 2018: “It has become the leading platform for the electronics manufacturing industry. You can meet Chinese customers here and share ideas about new equipment and technologies with them. The exhibitor and visitor numbers both had a record-breaking year.”

As information technology is increasingly improved and applied, the manu-facturing industry is becoming more intelligent and connected. In response, productronica China 2018 gathered global innovations, concepts and technologies to help Chinese electronics manufacturers run “smart factories”, a transformation from traditional automatic processing to a connected and flexible system.

Global technology customizes smart factory lines for the Chinese market
In recent years, the Chinese government has approved a series of favorable policies to promote smart manufacturing aiming at upgrading traditional manufacturing technology. “Smart factory” will be the future of the manufacturing industry, while the electronics manufacturing industry has already made its first steps toward it.

Discussing “Smart Manufacturing in China”, Mr. Edwin Tan, CEO of Messe Muenchen Shanghai, said: “The new driving force behind the Chinese economy lies in the manufacturing industry, and the electronics industry is especially relying on advanced technology. At productronica China 2018, “Smart Manufacturing in China” accounts for half of the exhibits.” Many international brands have increased their production in China and are showcasing their latest technology and products at the exhibition to promote their competitiveness in China.

As a spotlight of productronica China 2018, the SMT Innovation Point and Demo Line this year not only exhibited entire SMT lines, but also offered complete smart electronics assembly solutions for the entire industry. productronica China collaborated with integrators Europlacer, Speedprint, BTU, Koh Young, and Omron China for the first time to display the entire production process chain from material storage to production lines. It also featured live demonstrations on MES and smart warehouse, smart SMT lines, intelligent logistic robots, smart workstations and its collaboration with workers. DEK and SIPLACE, two business units of ASM, collaborated with Rehm and Omron to exhibit assembly lines for smartphones and automotive electronics. Moreover, FUJI, YAMAHA, Panasonic, JUKI, Mycronic, Kurtz Ersa, YXLON and other leading SMT players exhibited their flagship machines.

Smart logistics and warehousing: a key step toward the “smart factory”
Robots, smart logistics and warehousing, along with other automation technology, are helping the electronics manufacturing industry become more automatic and smart, a necessary step toward the “smart factory”.

productronica China 2018 provided one-stop solutions for the electronics manufacturing industry and shared the “smart factory” concept with visitors from the industry. Leading robotics and automation solution providers such as FANUC, KAWASAKI, NACHI, FESTO and UNIVERSAL ROBOTS represented one of the biggest automatic electronics manufacturing zones with their latest industrial robots and motion control technology.

New products reflect innovative “smart factory” technology
Leading brands exhibited their latest products as premieres in the Chinese market at productronica China 2018. Wire harnessing giant Schleuniger showed its unique fully automatic machine for processing micro-coaxial and coaxial cables as well as single conductor wires: CoaxCenter 6000. Europlacer exhibited its Atom 3 platform for the first time in Asia. The renowned dispensing brand Nordson EFD brought its new Liquidyn® P-Jet SolderPlus® jetting system.

High-quality technical forums feature leading experts and share knowledge
A series of technical forums, competitions and live demonstrations were held along with the exhibition. Centering on “smart factory”, the China Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Forum invited leading experts and enterprises in electronics manufacturing and automation to give their ideas on solutions and technology that suit the industry and make their production more automatic and competitive. The International Adhesive Technology Innovation Forum, on the other hand, is one of the few technical conferences focusing on adhesives and dispensing equipment in China. The high-profile speakers and trend-setting topics attracted a huge audience. The International Wire Harness Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Forum focused on wire harnessing and smart inspection solutions for new energy vehicles. The Flexible & Printed Electronics Forum invited leading experts to introduce the latest findings in printed electronics. Meanwhile, the Electronics Manufacturing Competition featured several competing teams. Their solutions were evaluated on-site according to their advantages in processing, engineering, first pass rate, efficiency and production capability.

The next productronica China will take place in Shanghai on March 20-22, 2019.