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The faithful flocked back to Brighton for NEPCON 2005 in May this year. Next year they'll be queuing on the M42 to get into the NEC at Birmingham, but one hopes that the event will have been transposed from the vagaries of the Metropole to the vasmess of Hall 12 without loss of character, impetus and, dare one add, brand loyalty. Claire Jeffreys and her team did a great job of presenting the reasons behind the decision for the move, all of which seemed entirely logical. The only word that we think will not move as part of the linguistic baggage is "atmospheric" You don't use that word at the NEC, it's a non sequiter.
But the atmosphere in Brighton this year was good, and so were the attendance figures. The great and the good of the industry were back again, many of them to the same pitch that they enjoyed last year, so much so that one felt that here was a replay of 2004. Happily for those whose job it is to report on such events, 2005 was definitely a new one, and there was much to peruse. Too much to report back on for any one issue, but herewith a glimpse at random.
Briton EMS was exhibiting for the first time. They offer a broad range of manufacturing services from printed circuit assembly through to complete product build, providing surface mount as well as conventional through-hole assembly. They continue to expand their manufacturing capability, and Commercial Director Tony Abri mentioned some of their recent acquisitions. "Over the past year we have purchased a new Europlacer pick and place machine, a new automatic optical inspection machine with full character and solder inspection, a new state-of-the-art Speedprint SP200avi SMT automatic stencil printer and a lead free line including convection reflow and lead free compatible flow soldering."
Tony is also keen to promote an enhanced lead free services package. "We are offering existing and new customers the benefit of our significant experience by checking their critical components for lead free compatibility." This will help provide customers with prior knowledge of any potential problems in obtaining their key components when the change to lead free occurs from July next year.
Forthcoming environmental legislation, including the reduction...