EDS: Next stop, Vegas, please

Judging by recent meetings I’ve taken with electronics supply chain companies and the events planned for the conference, the economy looks to be at the forefront of this year’s EDS to be held next week in Las Vegas.

Hopefully, this means the electronics industry won’t be portraying the fairytale image of a recovering economy anymore. We on EDN’s news and business desks have been arguing that disputing that the struggling economy’s impact on the electronics supply chain is as foolish as disputing gravity. And far too many companies in their Q4 and Q1 results did just that.

As we, and others, have stated, you can’t get out from a sky that is falling.* But you can prepare yourself. Look to Arrow president Bill Mitchell to talk about this. He is set to give the Monday keynote (4pm, Paris Hotel, Vendome C) entitled “Facing the Realities of our Industry. … Where we are and what we need to do." Bill is expected to address growth areas, innovation, the global economy, quality, environmental issues, governmental regulation, and energy pressure, as well as the economy.

I also expect Robin Gray, NEDA (National Electronic Distributors Association) executive VP, to speak on the economy during the annual NEDA distributor breakfast (Tuesday, 6:45am, Paris Hotel, Vendome C). When EDN last spoke to Robin about seven weeks back (see: “Economy, counterfeiting top concerns for distributors”),  he mentioned the struggling economy as a source of anxiety for distributors. And since then, both Avnet and Arrow Electronics reported slips in their March quarter results (to be fair, the March quarter is always a down quarter). 

The ECA also reported recently that flat orders example the industry’s “wait and see” attitude as component buyers wonder what the market will bring in coming months. I’ll be popping in on ECA president Bob Willis next week to discuss this trend further. 

On the non-economy side, be sure to check out the industry seminar “Growth Opportunities in Environmental Markets,” presented by Bruce Rayner, Technology Forecasters (Wednesday, 1pm, Paris Hotel, Vendome C). He’ll be discussing making some green by going green, or as the EDS Web site puts it, “the importance of companies adopting environmental practices within their companies and across their supply chains. The financial benefits of these initiatives are significant and will also be discussed.”

Also of note is “Talent Pool in America,” an industry seminar on how the US electronics distribution industry can compete using education, training, and HR practices to compete in a global economy (Tuesday, 1pm, Paris Hotel, Vendome C).

Check out EDS site for the latest on the conference. Post any comments you have below. And I’ll see you next week.

*Borrowing a page from EDN’s Brian Dipert’s playbook, see (and listen) to Little Voices by Sara Bareilles, especially Vegas, for the blog tie in.