LAS VEGAS -- IPC Apex Expo came to a close Thursday, completing its annual three-day run at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The trade show, the electronics assembly industry's largest in the US, appeared to most observers to have attracted slightly more attendees than last year's event in San Diego.

There were few significant developments rolled out this year: Most equipment and materials demonstrated were also shown at Productronica in Munich last November. And what was truly new to Apex were in many cases solutions to the age-old through-hole technology.

That said, among the more interesting new platforms includes the Speedline Electra, a full-tunnel, fully inert wave soldering line. It features a new heater and handles boards up to 24". Electra also leverages some of the best elements of the company's convection reflow ovens, including IsoThermal heating chamber design that enhances air circulation, the flux control, and much of the control boards. A pullout step coupled with an articulating arm that allows users to enter setup parameters while viewing the live process. Finally, the machine has an electronic actuator hood in the rear that makes everything accessible. If you're looking for high-volume wave soldering, this is a serious contender.

Universal had an addition to its Fusion line: an odd-form placement version that can handle everything from bare die to radial leaded devices to pin-in-paste parts.

Panasonic and Samsung had new printers, the former's SPG line puts the solder paste jar right in the machine, and both have laser sensors to measure the bead height, in theory to keep the optimum volume of paste on the board. (Panasonic's model also automatically dispenses the solder bead.) This reporter would be curious to know whether in practice automating the paste application process serves to increase or decrease the amount of wasted paste.

The most interesting machine shown wasn't actually at the show: Parmi played a video showing an SPI with an on-board dispense head. The idea here is that once the SPI identifies a solder insufficient, the dispense head can then add the proper volume of additional paste to the board. While some 60 units have been sold in Asia, the machine isn't expected to reach the US for a few more weeks.

Europlacer and Aegis are about to complete an agreement to offer a new interface for offline programming on the iineo placement platform starting in the June timeframe. Europlacer is also working on integrating the software company's FactoryLogix manufacturing tools.

Many vendors spoke of the difficulty in developing common platforms or materials, indicating that customers more than ever want custom solutions. And most were upbeat about 2014, perhaps surprisingly so given the relatively slow 2013 and the lack of clear economic tailwinds.

Apex is a big show and this summary should be considered just a snapshot, not a panorama of the event. More updates to come.