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14 I-CONNECT007 I REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2019 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE by John Mitchell IPC—ASSOCIATION CONNECTING ELECTRONICS INDUSTRIES From revolutionary advancements displayed to expert insights, the months of planning proved IPC APEX EXPO 2019 to be a success. IPC APEX EXPO provided educational and net- working opportunities fostered in the technical conference, buzz sessions, and professional development courses that helped 5,292 attend- ees from 56 countries prepare for the future. The 440 exhibitors welcomed a busy three days of business development and generating quali- fied sales leads on nearly 150,400 net square feet of show floor space. IPC APEX EXPO 2019 attracted 9,796 total visitors including attend- ees and exhibitor personnel. With a focus on developing important stan- dards, IPC committee members joined to dis- cuss, revise, and improve documents that will be used to create quality products. Their hard work is vital to furthering our industry. As they are volunteers, I appreciate the executive lead- ers of their organizations for allowing them to engage in standards development and partici- pate in this year's event. IPC CFX took center stage this year with two live production lines where visitors experi- enced achievements made in digital standards development over the past year. The first line featured both the HERMES standard (IPC- 9852) and IPC's Connected Factory Exchange (CFX) IoT messaging standard (IPC-2591), which worked seamlessly together to deliver SMT automation value. The second line fea- tured the wider application of IPC CFX across multiple technologies of assembly produc- tion including manual processes. Both lines featured machines from different vendors all speaking the same language, demonstrating value from machine-to-machine communica- tion, and creating a practical, smart, easily operable, and fully connected manufacturing environment. Both standards received ballot approval and are expected to be released by the end of February. Education is also an important factor in fur- thering the success of the electronics industry. IPC APEX EXPO 2019 provided the industry's largest breadth of learning opportunities from the technical conference to hot topics covered in the buzz sessions and professional develop- ment courses. In keeping with the event's theme, "Tech- nology's Future Comes Together," IPC APEX EXPO 2019 featured nearly 75 technical papers detailing original research and innovations from industry experts around the world. Our programs are grounded in and driven by real- world application happening right now. Attend- Electronics Industry Comes Together at IPC APEX EXPO 2019