From the keynote through each and every presentation, the 2017 InnovationsFORUM Hungary, held on May 25th at The Hungarian Academy of Science in Budapest, reflects the changes that are occurring in Eastern European manufacturing and the desire to utilize innovation at every point in the product lifecycle.

Innovation for competitiveness has been the overarching theme of the InnovationsFORUM since EMSNow and EPP launched the event more than five years ago in Germany.  This seems even more important today as regions that were formally associated with lower cost volume manufacturing become hubs of innovation.

Following the success of the inaugural event last year, InnovationsFORUM Hungary will open with a keynote from one of the major influencers in the region’s startup world.  Tamás Péter Turcsán is President of the Startup Section at the Hungarian Economic Association; he is an international mentor, a startup consultant, a visionary, a communication and media expert, a crowdfunding specialist and a social innovator.  As the COO of The Connect East Incubator, he is one of the opinion leaders of the local startup ecosystem.  He has been helping innovative, domestic startups with education, mentoring, social capital, public relations and communication.  He will present his own take on what is driving innovation in the region and the challenges he expects to see along the way, setting the scene for a day of discussion about innovations that aim to make manufacturing in the region more competitive, more flexible and more agile.

His presentation will be followed by innovative solutions to real world manufacturing challenges provided by vendors of equipment, software, consumables and services.  Presenting this year are senior executives from Aegis Software, Christian Koenen, Ersa, Fuji Machine MFG., Indium Corporation, Koh Young, Viscom, Nordson Matrix, ASM and Vi Technology.

Hungary, like much of Eastern Europe, entered the electronics manufacturing world as a lower cost environment, where skilled engineers and operators serviced a growing outsourced manufacturing footprint, but that has changed.  Now Hungary is a hotbed of innovation and brands are in place alongside the EMS giants, competing for the skilled labor pool that is present.  All of that changes the manufacturing landscape; the need for innovation to exist not just in products, but also in processes is being felt more than ever.  This suits Hungary with its innovative and creative spirit.  After all, this is the nation that brought us the Rubik’s Cube, the Biro, Binoculars and the safety match.  More than a dozen Hungarians have won the Nobel Prize, and Joseph Pulitzer was Hungarian.  He published newspapers in the US and he also founded the famous Columbia School of Journalism that is responsible for awarding Pulitzers.

InnovationsFORUM Hungary, like its sister events in Germany and Mexico, draws its audience from those involved in the entire electronics design and manufacturing process.  Innovators, designers, engineers, process managers and executives all come together on a single day to get an intense burst of the latest innovations in the industry.  More than ever the lines between different disciplines are blurring and it becomes even more important to look at innovation from cradle to grave, from idea, along the entire supply chain and through to the final recycling and disposal of the product.

When EMSNow and EPP initially created the event, the aim was clear – to make it simple for someone involved in manufacturing to get an overview of what’s new and what’s good in manufacturing, allowing them to take that back and have a positive impact on their business.  All packed around a day that provides unique networking opportunities for delegates.

To learn more about InnovationsFORUM Hungary, or to register visit http://epp-europe.industrie.de/events-tutorials/innovationsforum-hungary/