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REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2021 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE I I-CONNECT007 85 • IPC has been prominent in developing CFX and supporting legislation for capital investment legislation Chris was followed by a management forum and an EMS forum. Mark Wolfe moderated an EMS panel titled "Lessons Learned in Times of Crisis." Each presenter shared their thoughts on lessons learned before engaging in a general discussion and specific ques- tions. Dave Patterson of Cirtronics Corp., for exam- ple, shared four items that topped his list of les- sons learned: frequent communication during a crisis is critical, identify one trusted source for guidance, have a contingency plan with depth and specificity, and don't go it alone. Barb Jorgensen of AsperCore gave examples of two companies' response and actions during the pandemic, while Katherine Ducharme of General Dynamics spoke about how DoD has been preparing for supply chain disruptions for the past few years. Jonathan Rowntree of Rogers Corp sum- marized his company's response as a focus on employee health and safety, as well as becom- ing agile enough to ensure business continuity. Finally, Brad Bourne of FTG Group passed on what they saw from customers and suppliers, and how the company adjusted its internal operations. e panel discussion was followed by a pre- sentation from Harald Ahnert, president of electronics at Atotech Group. Harald provided a report on how Atotech prioritized tech support and employee safety during the pandemic. ey had to quickly adjust to the new normal and switch to working from home. is resulted in short video calls instead of visits and proved to be very efficient. ey have prioritized AR/VR as a new tool to help customer solve problems and do expedited installations. What's next? More digitization! Harald was followed by Anaya Vardya, presi- dent/CEO, American Standard Circuit, Inc., whose remarks were titled "Going Forward." Anaya related that their response involved a focus on investments: their people, processes, and products. What technologies and pro- cesses will support their customers and future customers? He provided an example of their investment in A-SAP and the resulting look at photoresists, AOI, and testing. Priority is now on quality and reliability checking to leverage their investment. John Mitchell delivered a keynote and as always, it was right on the mark. For a detailed review of his keynote, click here. e aernoon was filled with discussion about Factory 4.0, supply chain disruptions, and vertical integration strategies: Norman Weiss, CEO, Ger- man Industry 4.0 Campus, and Sebastian Schaal, founder, Luminovo GmbH, "Transi- tioning to Factory 4.0—How Up-Skilling and AI Can Help." Norman and Sebastian discussed how education and up-skilling is important to Industry 4.0. So- ware will play a greater role for smart processes as well as the cloud, automation and big data. Katherine Ducharme, director, and Cheryl Van Dyke, senior manager of supply chain management, General Dynamics Missions Systems, "Managing the Supply Chain During Periods of Uncertainty." Katherine and Cheryl provided an explanation of their activities to analyze risk in their supply chain. is was a very useful and informative detailed look at how they manage their supply chain. Alex Stepinski, managing director, AWP Group and VP, GreenSource Fabrication pre- sented a very interesting session on the topic involving OEM purchasing PCB fabrication Mark Wolfe Harald Ahnert Norman Weiss