CleanRooms China a big success
10/01/2002
By Mark A. DeSorbo
SHANGHAI—EXPLODING CHIP AND MICROELECTRONic markets have seemingly fueled the success of the first CleanRooms China conference and exhibition, which wrapped up the summer show season for The CleanRooms Group.
"It was a big success," says James Enos, Pennwell Corp. vice president and CleanRooms group publishing director. "We had more than 300 people attend the conferences, and the exhibitors seem very satisfied with the level of attendance. We even had some government officials here, who said they loved the event, and that they will support us next year."
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The show was held August 5-6 at the Pudong Shangri La in Shanghai, with the help of the U.S. Commerce Department. The two-day event was designed to help cleanroom suppliers break into China, the largest potential market in the world, as well as educate end-users on the issues facing the contamination control industry.
"Venturing into China was the next logical step The CleanRooms Group could take to help customers expand their businesses," Enos says, adding that the exploding semiconductor and microelectronics markets in China as well as obvious concerns about clean manufacturing there made it a desirable area for both exhibitors and attendees.
"CleanRooms [Group] had a winner. There were qualified attendees and people were eager for information," says W. Scott Fine, vice president of marketing for Fab-Tech Inc., a Colchester, VT-based maker of stainless steel fume and fluid systems.
The show also caught the eye of the American Consulate General of the U.S. Commercial Service.
Paul Swenson, a commercial representative with the American Consulate who specializes in numerous industries, including pharmaceutical, biomedical, food processing and plastics, met with 12 U.S. attendees to discuss doing business in China, how to break into the booming market as well as programs and meetings in which entrepreneurs can participate.
"All customers felt the personalized meetings were a great idea and very beneficial to them and their companies," says Andrea Rollins, CleanRooms show manager. "They were pleased with Paul's level of knowledge of programs and ideals to pursue future trips and sales calls.
Along with Swenson, Xu Xiaotian, chief of the department of Electronics and Information Product Administration for the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), attended the show. Xiaotian is also secretary general of the China Semiconductor Industry Association.
Also in attendance were:
- Li Gang, standing senior vice president of the China Electronic Alliance Corp. and deputy director of the National Household Electronic Product Maintenance Administration Center of the MII.
- Tan Yihua, chairman of the Shanghai Electronic Engineering Design Institute and chief of the Cleanroom Technology Committee for the Shanghai Society of Electronics.
While the chip and electronics industries made up 21 percent of the total demographic of attendees, the greatest representation, 34 percent, came from the cleanroom component supplier sector.
Design and construction firms accounted for 12 percent, while the various design institutes represented 10 percent. Rounding out the attendees were installation companies at 9 percent, pharmaceutical firms at 6 percent and others, including media and consulting firms, at 8 percent.
While the conference program was steered toward basics, surveys stated attendees were looking for more advanced education and training, recommending such topics as current conditions of cleanroom technology in China; cleanroom design for the liquid crystal display industry; testing, adjustment and balancing knowledge for HVAC systems; biological containment design; and cleanroom layout and planning versus management and design.
 More than 300 people attended the two-day CleanRooms China 2002 Conference and Exhibition. All papers were presented in English with simultaneous translation. |
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