 |
| Steve DeCollibus, Managing Editor, Circuitnet
|
This has been a great show. The mood in the industry and market are up. Companies are competing for and earning business at rates we have not seen for a while and all seems well.
While the changes APEX has reflected this year are all positive they do reveal that the industry itself has changed. China now is the center of the manufacturing electronics industry, with new and renewed locations expanding in Eastern Europe, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa.
Companies are competing a lot harder for business and winning that business in new and innovative ways with strategies that are designed to help customers and streamline cost.
There was a lot of discussion about the quality problems some automotive manufacturing companies are facing and what the impact on electronics manufacturing will be, while the outcome of the investigation into these problems is still unknown, many people felt that in the end they will lead to a positive look at the impact cost reductions should and will have on finished products.
The new market is being defined by new coalitions and partnerships between companies. The picture below is an example of many that have been announced at the show this year.
In this picture we see Aegis Software and FUJI America Corporation celebrate the new OEM bundling agreement they announced here at APEX 2010. Under this partnership FUJI will now include Aegis NPI software with each license of FUJI Flexa, Fuji's line level management and optimization software.
 |
| The Aegis Fuji partnership is celebrated at APEX 2010. Photo includes Jason Spera, John Walls, Michele Gray, and Shaun Black from Aegis, along with Nick Kimura, Chip King, Hirofumi Yoshimi, and Jun Kano from FUJI America.
|
We saw many people who wew out of the industry for years coming back to start new ventures or taking leadership roles in businesses that were looking for help in developing competitive strategies and product offerings.
I was happy to meet up with my old friend Bill Yager, Para Tech Coating Inc. Sales Manager. There are group of folks like Bill that I ran into on the show floor who had been strong contributors to companies who may have been riffed or let go during the downturn and were now finding success in new companies.
 |
| The Para Tech team, Tom Walker, Regional Sales Manger, Bill Yager Sales Manager, Bill Gleason, General Manager, Gustavo Arredondo, Technical Manager
|
Today is the last day of the show, we hope to visit more people today and get ready for the flight home in the morning. Even though I am down a bit at the craps table, I am not down about the electronics industry and am looking forward to the road ahead.
