Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1305670
NOVEMBER 2020 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 17 ther position corrections. Manufacturers need to aggressively empower M2M connectivity to realize a smart factory. Industry Communication Standards These days, companies have a strategic focus on the smart factory concept. Its inherent abil- ity to transform massive amounts of data into actionable information that manufacturers can use to transform their production floor is para- mount to process improvement. With its open standards and broad industry collaboration, the IPC Connected Factory Exchange (CFX) initiative helps suppliers and manufacturers alike effortlessly exchange data between pro- duction equipment and systems, like the 8030 SPI Series and Zenith AOI Series. This connec- tivity benefits manufacturers with a straight- forward approach to collect and feed informa- tion to systems for analysis that will increase process efficiencies. Equipment suppliers must leverage devel- opments and relationships with other leading equipment suppliers to advance plug-and-play, future-proof connectivity options for its cus- tomers. Working together will harness the true power of connectivity and optimize the process by exchanging real-time SPI and AOI measure- ment data with other machines in the produc- tion line. For instance, our systems feed real mea- surement data such as offset, volume, height, area, and warnings to other systems, while ana- lyzing trends to optimize the process and iden- tify trends. There must be a focus on IPC-CFX and IPC-Hermes-9852 initiatives to advance the electronics manufacturing industry. Conclusion Industry 4.0 is altering the manufacturing process by improving metrics like first-pass yield and throughput by applying autonomous process adjustments that enable self-correcting and self- healing production lines. Far beyond an automatic line changeover, this communi- cation is allowing the equipment to automati- cally adjust production parameters to improve board quality and lower costs by eliminating rework and scrap. More importantly, when manufacturers integrate multipoint inspection like SPI, pre- reflow AOI, and post-reflow AOI, they can opti- mize the assembly process to improve qual- ity, reduce defects, and minimize costs. These inspection solutions are laying the foundation for a smart factory while revolutionizing pro- cess optimization. SMT007 Joel Scutchfield is the director of sales for the Americas at Koh Young America. Brent Fischthal is the senior manager of Americas marketing and regional sales at Koh Young America.