Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1389320
62 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2021 topics for their piece of equipment, they can run the equipment through a third-party vir- tual audit. e virtual audit acts as another IPC-CFX endpoint to verify the equipment can send and receive the applicable messages. If the equipment vendor has done their home- work using the Self-Validation System, their piece of equipment should quickly pass the vir- tual audit and receive an instant listing on the IPC-CFX-2591 QPL. In addition to the mandatory topics required for QPL listing, vendors also can demonstrate additional capabilities by testing optional messages they would like to have included in their QPL profile. As an equipment vendor, think of these as the add-ons when you're sell- ing a car. Sure, my pick-and-place customer needs Core Communications, WIP Track- ing and Basic Recipe Validation, but I know for a fact that their data analytics teams and Factory of the Future planning will also find value in Remote Recipe Management, Mate- rial Blocking and Station Locking. Any pick- and-place equipment provider can add these optional messages to their virtual audit to demonstrate that their particular model will meet your needs. For the EMS and OEM companies, IPC- 2591 is now not just a standard; it is a shopping catalog. You understand your IPC-CFX imple- mentation plans, so by using the standard, you can run through the list of optional topics for each piece of equipment and ask your vendors if they will support those and when you will be able to find their models on the QPL. In just a few short months, there are 12 models on the IPC-CFX-2591 QPL, and there are dozens more in the pipeline. In fact, one major equipment vendor has even committed to every single one of its models on the QPL. If you are an EMS or OEM company look- ing to add IPC-CFX to your shop floor now or in the future be sure you reference a trusted source for IPC-CFX equipment in the IPC- CFX-2591 QPL. To learn more and to access be IPC-CFX-ready did not match what other vendors—or more importantly, the EMS and OEM customers—understood as being IPC- CFX ready. is caused some pain points in industry, as some EMS companies, aer buying equip- ment touted as being IPC-CFX compliant only to find when they plugged it into their line, saw only some base IPC-CFX message sets ("Are You ere?") were supported. Recognizing this as a hurdle to IPC-CFX adoption, the 2-17 Subcommittee addressed this with the most significant update to IPC-2591 to date in the release of version 1.3 of the standard. IPC-2591, Version 1.3 sets minimum manda- tory IPC-CFX message topics—or groupings of IPC-CFX messages—that a particular type of equipment must be able to send and receive to meet the standard. ese requirements draw a clear line in the sand regarding what it means when an equipment vendor states a particular model is IPC-CFX compliant. To fully support the subcommittee's estab- lishment of these IPC-2591 requirements, IPC released the IPC-CFX Self-Validation System and IPC-CFX-2591 Qualified Products List (QPL). As the first of its kind in our indus- try, the Self-Validation System is a standard- ized, virtual testbed for any vendor to test and troubleshoot IPC-CFX endpoints (equipment models). Once a vendor has determined that their models can support the mandatory IPC-CFX These requirements draw a clear line in the sand regarding what it means when an equipment vendor states a particular model is IPC-CFX compliant.