Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1197000
66 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2020 Feature Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team The I-Connect007 Editorial Team chats with IPC's Chris Jorgensen about the advances CFX has made in the past year and where the stan- dard is in the standardization process. Chris also previews the CFX line that will be on dis- play at the upcoming IPC APEX EXPO and shares IPC's plans on educating and providing support solutions to potential users of CFX to implement it more easily. Dan Feinberg: Chris, I knew absolutely nothing about CFX until about 18 months ago. I became involved in it by listening to some talks at IPC APEX EXPO 2018, and I was fascinated by it. And last year's exhibit was quite good; I went upstairs to the demo room and had a chance to look at it. What CFX progress are we going to see at IPC APEX EXPO 2020 this year? Chris Jorgensen: At last year's IPC APEX EXPO, the IPC-2591 standard was not even pub- lished yet. Since that time, the subcommittee approved the first edition in spring and has put the standard on a twice-yearly version update schedule to support CFX for additional equip- ment or other needs communicated by the industry. The subcommittee chose to have the standard follow a version approach rather than the typical revision letters or amendments of other IPC standards because this is what IT professionals or software solutions providers understand. Once the subcommittee approved IPC-2591, version 1.0, they began work on ver- sion 1.1, which is currently under ballot. We expect to have that published in time for IPC APEX EXPO 2020. Aside from the standard, we have also con- tinued to bring real-world views of CFX to the industry through virtual demonstrations and live factory lines at trade shows in the U.S., Europe, and China. These demonstrations enable the industry to see the power and sim- plicity of CFX in mixed-vendor factory lines, as well as how CFX can enable Industry 4.0. IPC has also started collecting CFX implementation CFX Preview at IPC APEX EXPO 2020 Chris Jorgensen