Steve DeCollibus, Managing Editor, Circuitnet

We were confident the industry show could succeed with a dedicated event focused on technical sessions and competitively priced floor space for exhibitors. Many recalled the incredible changes that have occurred in the electronics industry in this brief decade.

ribbon CUTTING OPENS apex 2010

The companies exhibiting at APEX today all deserve a big pat on the back. These companies are survivors who persevered through the downturn and developed new products or services to respond to market shifts.

Tom Forsyth, Vice President at Kyzen, a world leading provider of environmentally responsible precision cleaning products for electronics and high-technology manufacturing made the point that while many companies outside of electronics have faired poorly during the recession, the electronics manufacturers, equipment suppliers and materials suppliers were able to survive because of the investments that were made in ERP systems prior to the downturn.

Tom Forsythe, presents to a group of editors at the Kyzen Booth

Tom said, "The fact that many ERP systems came on line prior to the downturn allowed companies to make adjustments in what the were doing and respond quickly to market conditions."

The Kyzen team were also celebrating Kyzens 20th year in the industry and served a delicious piece of cake to their guests at the Kyzen booth.

Parito Lee at Cyberoptics gave a brief introduction to the award winning SE500™100 percent 3-D solder paste inspection system. This machine the can inspect pad sizes down to 01005 and component size (150 x 150 ìm) while keeping up with the industries move to increasing line speeds.

Parito Lee presents the SE500 at the Cyberoptics booth.

We had 50 customer meetings today as exhibitors showed off their latest technology and all were excited about the markets opportunities for the remainder of 2010. The North American market has begun to grow while business in Asia is very strong.

Most equipment exhibitors confirmed the expanding lead-times as the supply chain has been unable to adapt quickly enough to the surge in business. These are good problems compared to last year. Optimism was felt throughout the exhibit floor.

From an editors point of view, a presentation is always better when they let their customers do the talking and that is what Valor did at their booth presentation today. Charlie Scott ,CEO of Computrol along with John Hanson, Computrol's Sales and Marketing Manager talked to the press about the successful install and continuing relationship they have developed with Valor since installing the Valor DFM tools.

Computrol, Inc. gives success story testimony on Valor solutions, from left to right,Dan Weitzman, President of Valor, Inc. – Americas, John Hanson, sales and marketing manager Computrol, Inc,Charlie Scott, CEO Computrol, Inc.

In the interesting new products category Seika showed up with something new and intriguing. As more companies look to "go green" the need for solder paste recovery is increasing. Seika demonstrated their new Solder Paste Recycling Unit that enables approximately 90 percent of waste solder paste to be recovered as solder bar. The system provides a major decrease in disposal costs for factory waste, a reduction in CO2 emissions, and reduced costs for solder bar as a result of recycling waste.

Michelle Ogihara, Sales and marketing manager and Tim Cappoen, Branch Manager, Seika Machinery Inc., introduce their new solder recycling machine to the press.