Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1083315
72 I-CONNECT007 I REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2019 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE stopped. They could monitor the status using their mobile device. All of those messages being pushed with CFX. The success of the 2018 demo launch cre- ated even more interest. We've implemented more CFX demonstra- tions now, including in two in Europe and one in China. All along the process, we've added companies that have expressed interest. Right now, we have about 80 companies that are listed on our IPC-CFX website that indicate they sup- port the CFX effort. Sev- eral large OEMs have allowed us to include their logo as they believe CFX will help their company implement Indus- try 4.0. So, we're building awareness. Feinberg: Of the 80 supporting companies, do those include the ones I'm seeing at IPC APEX EXPO 2019 with CFX supporter signs? Bergman: Similar to 2018, any company with the signs in their booth is most likely push- ing messages actively to the cloud now, and people can see that there are messages com- ing. We have about 80 machines at the show this year as part of this demo. In 2019, to make it more challenging, the committee said, "We'd like to do actual manufacturing." As we were lining up companies they said, "We don't just want one line; we want two lines." So, now we have two lines. One is a CFX only line, and the other is a combination of two IPC standards— CFX and IPC-Hermes-9852. The equipment requirement doubled for everything. Feinberg: If you have one that's running the two lines, do those standards compete in any way? If so, how is that handled? Bergman: It's interesting because we talked a lot about that. The second standard is IPC- Hermes-9852. The Hermes standard was devel- oped by the equipment industry to replace an old SMEMA standard. SMEMA had written a standard that intended to cable machines together for them communicate. What they wanted to do is to go from proprietary cables to Ethernet cables and software. Their 9852 is now approved as an IPC standard as well. The equipment companies wanted to show both standards at the same time. So, the committee created some messages within CFX to accept that. Meanwhile, Hermes is intended for line con- trol. It offers some inter- esting advantages such as facilitating reduction of required barcode readers and facilitating some enhanced automation from equipment with less processing power such as conveyors. Feinberg: Or less storage. Bergman: Yes. CFX pushes a lot of data, so con- veyors may not be able to accommodate this, but Hermes makes it easier for conveyors. Feinberg: And CFX doesn't? Bergman: Not at this point. In the CFX line, the conveyors are not actively communicating between the two machines, so you need bar- code readers between each machine. Feinberg: Is there an advantage to using both CFX and Hermes? Bergman: Yes. You can eliminate the need for the extra barcodes readers; you don't need one for each machine. You can just have one at the beginning of the line and another at the end of the line, and then Hermes messages take care of the rest. We wanted the industry to under- stand that we didn't see these as competing, but being complementary. Feinberg: That's a key point because there's a huge difference between having the perception