Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1339822
FEBRUARY 2021 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 29 world, that means agile supply chain manage- ment, faster NPI cycles, highest quality, prod- uct reliability, first pass yields, maximum pro- ductivity, lower costs, faster response time, ability to debug problems faster, crisis man- agement, and reduction of scrap. I could go on and on; there's a very long list. What I see different is problems still exist today, and they will exist tomorrow, but IPC's Factory of the Future approach will allow us to solve those problems faster, more accurately, timelier, provide better business insights, and make bet- ter decisions. I think the challenge with Facto- ry of the Future overall is that it is not just one thing. If this is going to work, a whole bunch of things must come together all at the same time. We need the industry to collaboratively move forward together. Johnson: Is there an opportunity for IPC mem- bers to get involved in furthering this program, and how can they do that? Kelly: Absolutely. First and foremost, they can contact me directly as IPC's chief technologist. We have an open-door policy. ere are a lot of committees where we're forming new stan- dards and guidelines. If there are new tracks and new areas of technology that we are not looking at, let us know. ere's no shortage of ways to get involved. I'll also bring in our IPC Emerging Engineers program. A lot of youth coming into this industry have new skills from school, new aspects of what's important to them in design, materials, and process, and we are working to ensure next generation talent is a part of this transformation as well. Jorgensen: One of the most fantastic things about IPC is that we're a solutions organiza- tion. When industry comes to IPC with a prob- lem or with a question, we work together with industry to resolve it. I have a couple of good examples of that. About a year and a half ago, Dave Bergman was approached at a conference by someone who said we need a standard on digital twin. ere seems to be a lot of confusion in indus- try about digital twin, what it is, its importance to industry and how to implement it. We took that problem to some of our committee mem- bers, and within a month, we had a task group; a year later, we have a published international standard for digital twin. Another example would be when NEC ap- proached us at IPC APEX EXPO last year with a need for an industry standard for cybersecu- rity for electronics manufacturers. Much like the digital twin standard, we went from con- cept to a formed task group in a few months, and that group is now working on the stan- dard, with a goal to publish later this year. ese ideas don't just lead to standards which sit on a shelf somewhere. IPC works with in- dustry to develop full-scale solutions for im- plementation of these standards. Just look at where IPC-CFX is now. e need for that standard came during IPC APEX EXPO in Las Vegas in 2016 to address concerns with multiple messaging platforms for assembly line equipment. From that meet- ing, industry not only solved the issue with equipment messaging, but we now have a tan- gible solution for EMS and OEM companies of any size to meet their Factory of the Future objectives. In fact, we're seeing so much activity in this area, we have developed support ser- vices for industry, ranging from on-demand education and engineering support to an online equipment self-validation system and an IPC-CFX Qualified Products List (QPL) for EMS and OEM companies to use for mak- ing equipment purchases for their IPC-CFX lines. Johnson: What is the one thing you want to ensure happens with the virtual format of IPC APEX EXPO 2021 to measure your success? Jorgensen: I think the measurement of success is going to be in the content. We have been le