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SMT007-Oct2018

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12 SMT007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2018 Dave Bergman: CFX is a messaging format that provides the foundation for smart factory. At its base level, several IPC standards commit - tees IPC have created a messaging concept in which each individual machine or part of the manufacturing line can be broken down into its smallest steps; those steps, while they probably have an internal machine code, include a goal to have that machine code or software communi - cate out in a common language. If I'm trying to speak English and you're trying to speak Span- ish, and there's no interpreter, we're going to struggle. The objective of CFX is to provide the interface in the machine-to-machine communi - cation. It's a standardized messaging format for electronic manufacturing and beyond. The aim of CFX is to make it easier for companies to create smart factories, and smart factories refers to anything from manufactur- ing software running a plant and being able to communicate with the line, but also the machines talking to one another. There has been for some time a vision of manufacturing lines being self-correcting. Self-correction can only take place if your machines can speak to each other, and CFX is intended to help that. Feature Interview by Stephen Las Marias I-CONNECT007 Starting at productronica 2017, and then on to IPC APEX EXPO 2018, SMT Hybrid Pack- aging 2018, and What's New in Electron- ics (WNIE) Live 2018, IPC showcased the Connected Factory Exchange (CFX) initiative in action. The CFX Showcase provided a tech- nical demonstration operating in real time with standardized machine data delivered from participating exhibitors through the cloud and onto visitors' cellphones. What's more inter- esting is that each showcase was supported by more than 25 vendors who have stepped up to create the world's first conversion of a show- floor into a digital factory shop-floor. In this interview, Dave Bergman, VP for international relations at IPC, discusses the latest developments with IPC's CFX standard, including key highlights, impact in the elec- tronics assembly industry, and what's next. Stephen Las Marias: David, give us a brief overview of CFX. What is it and what are the expected benefits?

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