After the much appreciated success of COMPONEX NEPCON India show in New Delhi earlier this year, Reed Exhibitions organised the first edition of COMPONEX NEPCON Chennai - India 2008 (CNCI 2008) show in the southern city of Chennai during 15-17th July 2008.

The choice of Chennai as the venue for the 2nd yearly edition of Componex Nepcon show is most appropriate because Chennai is a flourishing hub for PCs, mobile phones, consumer, engineering and automotive industry today. COMPONEX NEPCON Chennai - India 2008 (CNCI 2008) offered the much needed platform to cater to the needs and demands of the mushrooming electronic manufacturing services (EMS) industry.

The enthusiasm of the state government could be gauged from the presence of the top govt official – Shri C. Umashankar, I.A.S, Managing Director, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. (ELCOT) at the opening ceremony of the exhibition. In his keynote speech Mr. Umashankar said “COMPONEX NEPCON Chennai - India 2008 will assist in bringing the entire industry together and establish Chennai as a strong base for electronic industry. Our association with CNCI 2008 aims at providing the right platform of opportunities for the players and a favourable environment for them to grow, expand and learn. The exhibition has set new benchmarks in the field of electronic components in India since its inception and is on the way of scaling bigger heights year after year. We want to elevate Tamil Nadu as the destination of choice for IT investors across the world and hopefully CNCI 2008 international involvement would help us to achieve this target”.

The opening ceremony of the debut edition of CNCI 2008 also witnessed the presence of eminent personalities including Mr. S Swaran, CEO, Electronics Today; Mr. N K Goyal, Chairman-Emeritus, TEMA and Mr. D. Raghunathan, Head – Electronics, Pricol Ltd. amongst others.

Mr. Mandeep Singh, COO, Reed Exhibitions India, while delivering the welcome address said, “The first edition itself saw the participation of well known brands like TransTechnology Pte Ltd, Omron Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Agilent Technologies, Indium Corporation of America, Saki Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., WKK Distribution Ltd. amongst others. COMPONEX NEPCON is the only platform where buyers and sellers from the EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) industry can get together nationally and internationally to showcase their latest technology. Chennai’s contribution to the components industry has been consistent and noteworthy. It’s still the technical capital of the country and hence its contribution to the EMS industry has been quite natural. CNCI 2008 brought the world to the Chennai showcasing their products. The participants from different countries like Singapore, U.K., China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and others brought their international brands to Chennai. The show featured more than 200 participating companies of exhibitors showcasing their products to the world like Bharat Dynamics, Elcoteq, Panasonic, HCL, DRDO, Samsung, Salcomp amongst others.”

CNCI 2008 witnessed the unveiling of the latest technical know-how during its three day tenure. Leading the pack of SMT companies was MYDATA, which launched the second generation of MY500 Jet Printer can go from one production run to another in no time at all; new MY100-series placement machine platform which is pushing the limits of SMT technology and New MYDATA Agilis Stick Magazine (ASM). TransTechnology launched the new YS12 from Yamaha – the smallest footprint at best cost per point, New Mark III from Heller Industries - Lead-free-certified system - "Spike Zone" design to minimize liquidous time, Asymtek SL940 - High-speed, high-accuracy coating system delivers higher productivity & Vi-3K from ViTechnologies and ASYS Group launched the new screen printer EXPERT3-II from EKRA. Apart from the SMT companies, a host of new products were launched during the event by both national and international exhibitors like 3M India, AIM, Agilent Technologies, Asahitec, BizEsp, Indium Corporation, Omron, Saki, SLN Technologies, Takaya amongst others. The show brought different countries on one platform, including large group participation from Singapore and Taiwan.

CNCI 2008 also had a special pavilion on automotive components, since Chennai is the hub of automobiles manufacturing industry. The show also featured a Technology Forum where exhibitors presented their latest products and services on display to the visitors, and explained at length about its impact on their business. The most innovative “Industry Leadership Program” devised by Reed Exhibitions was useful in securing the attendance of the key decisions makers at the show from all over the country. Chennai has limited manufacturing base apart from the large EMS companies, so exhibitors were very happy with this timely initiative.

All major electronic industry associations namely SMTA-IC, IPCA, ELIAP, CLIK and TEMA supported the exhibition and organised delegation visits to foster sustained industrial development in the southern region.

In conclusion, the maiden edition of COMPONEX NEPCON Chennai - India 2008 concluded with a promise to grow many folds in coming years.