Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1189040
84 SMT007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2019 me to explain in a simple way because I'm not a data engineer, but the way the data gets from the ones and zeros all the way to on the cloud matters a lot in terms of what gaps you have. We cover the entire supply chain. We don't just do electronics—we do electronics, plas- tics, and mechanicals, and we're starting to do a lot of semiconductors as well. As a manufac- turer, you're able to then have a full view of your manufacturing, not just the electronics, plastics, or mechanicals. You can look at your entire supply chain as well in a different way using machine data, straight from the machine that is untapped and trustworthy. Johnson: That's particularly powerful if you have a distributed manufacturing chain. Now, you can look at that process all the way through from chip manufacturing to board manufactur- ing, all of the sub-assemblies together, and the final assembly and test. Kantelal: And also the covering, stamping, and all the different parts and pieces that go into making the final product. That's the other aspect of why we're different because we can go through all of them and still combine and view it the same way in a standardized view, which can be powerful. Johnson: What do you see happening in sup- ply chains, Ridhi? Kantelal: I was in another panel about the shift- ing supply chains. There's a lot of change hap- pening right now. That doesn't mean that man- ufacturing also has to shift sometimes, and this is where if your main way of getting data from your machines is straight from the machines, you're less reliant on those things. You might have to change operators. If you're changing your location or your facilities, there's retrain- ing and trust that needs to be built. There are a lot of elements that take time before you start collecting data in the same way. But if you get it straight from the machines, it doesn't matter where your location is so much anymore. There are no gaps in translation. For instance, OEE can mean so many different things to so many different people. It's coming straight from the source, it's unhampered, and there's less of a trust issue. You can start working together in a different way and can bring up operations and bring them more efficiently to market as well. Johnson: It seems to me that with your solution and your company's history of doing things that are more philanthropic, it would easy for you to focus on the 80%+ of the industry that are not major players. Kantelal: We're growing and taking it step by step. The larger organizations have some of the infrastructure in place that makes it easier to work and start there, but our core has always been an open culture. The layer that I was talk- ing about earlier is open-source. We have the development kit as an open-source technology, so you can combine it. Social impact is a core part of our business. Now, we work with for- profit companies, develop the technology with them, and sell it at cost to the social impact buyers. And we have about five right now that we work with, so that's also something dif- ferent that you don't see too much. Working with the larger manufacturers has empowered us to support humanitarian initiatives, like the water wells in Tanzania, among others. It's a good balance of business and philanthropy. We want to see more of that in the manufac- turing world. Johnson: Ridhi, this has been great. Thank you very much for your time. Kantelal: Thank you. I appreciate it. SMT007 Social impact is a core part of our business.