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"Thoughts on Printed Electronics USA 2016"

Exhibitors agreed that Printed Electronics USA 2016 was a success, as the concurrent sessions brought in new people interested in how they can use the technology. Mike O'Reilly, director, Aerosol Jet product management at Optomec, Inc., noted that the show has changed from people just looking around to now having real applications.

"Some years ago, people would come by and ask what printed electronics are," O'Reilly said. "Today they come by with real problem and we try to help them solve their problems. We try to fit in with the technology they have."

Thin Film Electronics (Thinfilm) exhibited many of its latest successes, including recent collaborations with iOlive on authenticating olive oil, Hopsy on engaging craft beer customers, and Sarine to create digital identities for diamonds and gemstones.

"The show has been great, with a lot of steady interest," said Marge Ang, Thinfilm's senior director, marketing communications. "We cover a lot of diverse markets, and we are seeing increased interest in fast moving consumer goods brands. The market is growing, and we are scaling up very quickly."

XENON Corporation showed a series of new developments, including its X-1100 high intensity pulsed light system, its new low-cost benchtop R&D system. Lou Panico, XENON's CEO, said that attendee interest shows that the X-1100 fits a need in the market.

"We are getting huge interest in the X-1100, which offers a low cost entry into the flexible electronics market," said Panico. "It is ideal for R&D and the lab, and customers can upgrade very easily. It is compact, easy to use and is cost efficient."

Panico said that this year's PE USA was the strongest yet.

"This is the best one yet," Panico said. "The level of attendee interest is definitely up."

Panico observed that there is movement among equipment manufacturers to develop partnerships and integrate machinery.

"This is the time I believe that the machine makers are ready to develop partnerships with equipment manufacturers," Panico noted. "People who are making machines want readily available modules that are low cost with a small footprint to plug into their systems, and that is our forte."

Elise Alkhafaji, marketing specialist for NovaCentrix, said that PE USA 2016 was a success for NovaCentrix.

"We are meeting companies that are focused on where our tools fit in for their end products," Alkhafaji noted. "We are working on meeting with designers so they can integrate our capabilities. We are also now focusing on our stretchable inks, such as our Metalon HPS-FG32 silver screen ink, as well as our roll-to-roll tools designed for inkjet and for flexo."

Frank Schaefer, sales director at KROENERT GmbH & Co KG, said PE USA 2016 was better than 2015.

"We are having more contact with various industries," Schaefer observed. "The show is so diversified, which is ideal for us. I am also quite surprised by the high number of international customers. We've had good traffic throughout, people ranging from companies like Apple, Microsoft and Google to start-ups and a lot in the middle,"

Jaye Tyler, president and CEO of Si-Cal Technologies Inc. - A Nissha Company, said.

"I feel like foot traffic and high quality contacts are up significantly," said Dr. Brad Larson, SonoPlot's co-founder and CEO.

Tim Luong, national sales manager, Ceradrop MGI Group, said that there is increased interest in the technology.

"The diversity of the attendees is increasing with all new topics such as traditional printing, 3D printing wearables and sensors," Luong added.

Roy Bjorlin, commercial and strategic initiatives director, printed electronics for Sun Chemical's Advanced Materials Group, said the show was really successful. He added that the company is currently integrating its recent acquisition of the Gwent Electronics Materials company.

"Things are going very well," Bjorlin said. "We are working on the Gwent integration. Their team and their portfolio are fantastic."

Dr. Allen Reid, commercial director, NANOGAP, said that NANOGAP is promoting novel charge transfer complexes for anti-counterfeit applications.

"The show has had more traffic than last year and a broader range of applications."

Thomas Kolbusch, VP, Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH, said he saw a lot more attendees on the exhibition floor.

"Day 1 was excellent compared to last year, as we had 30% more traffic and Day 2 has been good. We are seeing a lot of new faces."

Mark Duarte, director of business development at Eastprint Incorporated, said that the show was very good, and is ideal for Eastprint's expertise in functional printing.

"Functional printing is one of our core competencies," Duarte added. "The first day was crazy. I've been attending since its inception and it is always growing."

John Palazzolo, director, marketing and sales at Adphos North America, Inc., said that Adphos had its best PE USA conference to date this year.

"This is our fourth year at PE USA, and this is by far the best we have seen," Palazzolo said. "Traffic is way up. We have received many projects to start on, and are advancing some of our present projects further. There are more consumer good companies working internally on their own projects."

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Reprinted by permission Printed Electronics Now www.PrintedElectronicsNow.com