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40 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2020 have specific contracts and differing business interests. EMS companies do different things for many different clients, though they don't want to have 20 different ways to do the same thing; in reality, this is often the case. Applying standards to EMS companies may seem a lot more complex than on an OEM basis, but ultimately, having common methods for interoperability will give the EMS side the greatest benefits. Influence needs to be there now in terms of setting expectations. Everyone needs to understand that the option is there to continue to work separately and pay the costs and consequences of things as they go wrong, or we can work together in a digitally interop- erable environment, and all be more profitable. Holden: We used to call that concurrent engi- neering, but collaborative engineering may be a better word. Are you on the IPC-2581 com- mittee? Ford: Not directly. I work with people on the communications and marketing side of the associated DPMX consortium. The DPMX revi- sion C press release is about to go out. There are others that are related in the pipeline coming from machine vendors, one very imminently, for the use of DPMX within manufacturing. Then, there's the publication of the first release of the IPC Digital Twin. There's a lot going on! Holden: Will you set something up for IPC APEX EXPO 2021? Ford: Absolutely. I know we're plan- ning something for the IPC Digital Twin, within which DPMX should also be highlighted. There will be a whole series of discussions I expect about what's new in revision C, especially within this DFM area. Holden: Where do you think we'll see the first prototype software or some- thing like that? Will it come from EDA vendors, machine vendors, or third- party companies? Ford: As we are talking about an interop- erable environment, it's going to be all three together to some extent. The ideal condition takes place where you have a factory, and all of the machines are talking through CFX. IIoT- enabled MES software is collecting the data and creating contextualization. Fully qualified information is then available to whoever wants to use the data to create value. Until that hap- pens, software in other domains couldn't even start to be developed. As we're collecting the data, algorithms are being further developed to make sense of it and use it for many potential values. In parallel, you will see a similar situation developing between machine vendors, who are both consuming data as well as creating it, and companies that are creating the over- all contextualization. Standards are there to promote this process and push it forward by creating communication technology, but they are not the solutions in themselves. We always ensure separation of the work on standards, which creates a level playing field for many different companies to contribute to as well as to utilize, and the resultant commercial solu- tions themselves. Shaughnessy: Thank you, Michael. It has been great having you discuss this. Ford: My pleasure. I hope to see you all in per- son soon! DESIGN007