The productronica 2009 spring projection was about 1,000 exhibitors. However, starting in June, organizers began to see that companies that either long delayed their decision to exhibit or cancelled altogether had reconsidered. To date, 1,150 companies have signed up to exhibit their products and innovations at the world's leading trade fair for innovative electronics production.

While the number of exhibitors is up, the total floor area is down as many exhibitors downsize their exhibits. productronica 2009 will have over 800,000 square feet of exhibits in seven halls, a reduction from productronica 2007.

All in all, though, this positive news. While many companies have less money to spend at the show, nevertheless they have "voted" in favor of continued participation.

Klaus Dittrich, CEO of Messe München: "The overwhelming majority of exhibitors have decided to take part in the trade fair in spite of the need to save money. We regard this as a clear declaration of belief in the importance of productronica for the industry."

Ludger Grevenkamp, CEO of TSK Prüfsysteme GmbH, explains: "For many years, productronica has been a permanent fixture in our sales and marketing activities. However, the economic recession caused us to hesitate for a long time before we registered for the trade fair with binding effect. Ultimately, the decisive factor was the range of new and innovative products and solutions which we want to present to our customers and the market. We are hoping that the economic recovery will pick up even more momentum in 2010 and that numerous visitors will come to productronica to obtain information for their imminent investments."

Frank van Erp, European Sales Director, Vitronics Soltec, adds: "I found that exhibitions are more and more a medium for companies to visit several suppliers in a short time to have road map discussions and to talk about future plans. In parallel to this we expect to see the first slow start of recovery where the November time frame looks to be timed well, we have had a lot of feedback from customers which indicate there will be enough traffic. Last but not least I wanted the investment to be economically justified, reason for us to be a little less dominant in our presence. We will show our high end equipment on reflow and selective with a focus on process control. productronica will also be our European introduction of our new 6746 selective machine aimed for medium/high volume/high mix environment."

Participation on a small budget

Messe München offers young enterprises with a limited budget the opportunity to participate in productronica at a reduced cost with the "Innovation Field" package. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology also offers a low cost participation program. 35 exhibitors have signed up for these programs.

Complete range of electronics production

There will be around 750 exhibitors this year in the core areas of productronica, i.e. PCBs and other circuit carrier manufacturing, technologies in cable processing, component mount technology, soldering technology and test and measurement systems. Practically every market leader from the individual segments will be present at productronica 2009.

There will also be four focus areas representing progressive, rapidly growing products and technologies:

• micronano technologies

• photovoltaics manufacturing

• electronic manufacturing services (EMS)

• hybrid component manufacturing

Each exhibition area will also include cross-segment trend technologies

• advanced packaging

• green electronics manufacturing

• automation solutions

• efficiency improving solutions

Innovative supporting program

The inaugural munich electronics summit will bring together top executives of internationally operating companies. The summit will culminate in a private fireside chat to discuss strategies, ideas, future-oriented trends and general political conditions within the electronics industry. The guest of honor and fireside chat facilitator is Ram Charan, one of the world's leading management and business consultants. The summit will be held November 10, 2009.

A CEO Roundtable including Ram Charan and other top executives will take place November 10, 2009 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM in the productronica Forum in Hall A1. The Roundtable is open to the public.

The productronica University will form part of the productronica Forum and the Innovation Forum sessions on market and technology topics in electronics production, e.g. micronano production, photovoltaic manufacturing, traceability, technology roadmapping or organic electronics. The productronica University will be staged each day. Details are available at the timetable on the productronica website.

About productronica

productronica is the leading world trade fair for innovative electronics production. It has taken place in Munich every two years since 1975 and is a core element of the electronics trade fair network of Munich International Trade Fair. This network includes the leading global trade fairs, electronica, and Productronica, held in Munich, as well as leading regional trade fairs in Brazil, Hong Kong, China, and India. With over 8,000 exhibitors and more than 280,000 visitors, the Munich International Trade Fair is one of the internationally leading trade fair organizer in this segment. Further information

productronica print@home registration

Messe München's new admission system allows visitors to conveniently print out their tickets at home or at work, thus enabling them to gain direct admission to the trade fair. Online registration allows attendees to avoid lines to enter the event and provides free access to Munich's excellent public transportation system.

If visitors want to redeem their guest ticket or purchase an admission ticket, they can produce their personalized ticket under Online ticket registration for productronica 2009. Online registration only takes a few minutes. Visitors will then obtain their print@home ticket which they can print out as their admission ticket. There is no longer any need to exchange the ticket at the trade fair cash desks.

About Messe München International

Messe München International is one of the world's leading trade-fair companies. It organises around 40 trade fairs for capital and consumer goods, and key high-tech industries. Each year over 30,000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, and over two million visitors from more than 200 countries take part in the events in Munich. In addition, Messe München International organizes trade fairs in Asia, Russia, the Middle East and South America. With six subsidiaries abroad - in Europe and in Asia - and with 66 foreign representatives serving 89 countries, the organizer has a truly global network. Environmental protection and sustainability are key priorities in all MMI´s operations, at home and abroad. Further information: http://www.messe-muenchen.com

MMI headquarters is Messegelände, 81823 München, Germany. Tel. (+49 89) 9 49-2 07 20 Fax: (+49 89) 9 49-2 07 29. Corporate website is http://www.messe-muenchen.com. Productronica 2009 website is http://www.productronica.com. Editorial contacts are Forrest Sass, Theorem, Tel +1 925-462-5280 fsass@ieee.org and Angela Praeg - Messe München International Tel +49-89-949-20670 angela.praeg@messe-muenchen.de . Reader contact is Carolin Schuetze - Munich International Trade Fairs Tel +1-212-974-1880 cschuetze@munich-tradefairs.com.

This Press Release can also be found in the Internet on the productronica press pages