Hi everyone,
This past week, Indium Corporation made a triumphant return to IPC’s first in-person APEX event since the onset of the pandemic. Overall, it was a very successful trade show and program and a great way to return to see some of the industry partners we’ve been working with and meet some new customers.
This year, IPC’s APEX was held at the San Diego Convention Center, which was a nice reprieve from the cold and snowy locale of Clinton, New York for the week we were there. For my second major trade show, it seemed decently well-attended from my perspective, although by talking to my colleagues, many of them said attendance was down significantly from prior years, with the pandemic probably to thank for that. That being said, there were plenty of booths at the show, with plenty of opportunity to meet peers in the industry.
With Indium Corporation’s return to APEX, our Live@APEX program returned as well. This program started 18 years ago, and it showcases Indium Corporation products live at trade shows by working directly with about 17 industry partners. We do this by supplying them with our materials to use with their live demos. Some of our partners who showed live demos included Apollo Seiko, Parmi, and Vermes Microdispensing. It was very serendipitous that one of our industry partners, Essemtec (who manufactures paste dispensing equipment), had a booth that was right next to ours.This made it quite convenient to send our booth visitors over to their booth to view our products in action. In addition to dispensing paste, the Live@APEX program also assisted with cored wire products and tacky rework flux for those demos as well.
Overall, it was a great experience to walk this trade show not only as an Indium Corporation employee, but as a part of the Live@APEX program. Not only does the program benefit both Indium Corporation and the associated industry partners by showcasing live, working material and machine demos on the show floor, but on a personal level, it’s great for me to make new contacts this early in my career. When our team did our “trial run” at SMTAi in November, one of the contacts I met ended up traveling with me for a customer visit that next month; having that initial meeting on the show floor made our work with the customer smooth and enjoyable. I have to give a big thanks to Milos Lazic for spending the last few years growing the program and making it what it is today; also, a shout-out to Brian Rundell for quickly jumping on to the program and helping grow the team. They’re great to work with, and I’m thankful that I can have fun while helping our industry partners.
We’ll see you at APEX next year, and hopefully at some other trade shows this year as well. Potentially, be on the lookout for Live@SMTAi or Live@IMAPS sometime in the coming years!
Evan