An Internet show
Steve Scheiber, Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 4/1/2008
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But what was the alternative? How could engineers and managers evaluate and compare the latest inspection system without spending the time traveling to all the vendor candidates and examining their offerings?
Enter the “teleshow.” For two days in February, PCB inspection vendors like Agilent Technologies joined their colleagues from other parts of the manufacturing-and-test process to hold a trade show over the Internet (www.virtual-pcb.com). Users could sign in at any time and enjoy approximately the level of personal service that one would expect from the onsite version.
It’s difficult to say whether this event signals a paradigm shift, but it’s hard to deny its advantages. As price erosion continues to work at cross purposes to increasing product complexity, companies have to find shortcuts that reduce costs without compromising quality. Eliminating travel expenses and drastically reducing time away from the office boosts overall productivity. Everybody wins. You just can’t “kick the tires.”
