Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1398328
18 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2021 actually get these things established. e nice thing about the IPC digi- tal twin is that we've been proac- tive, and we've put this architec- ture out there, with a head-start based on various existing IPC standards such as the IPC-2581 DPMX, CFX, etc. People are start- ing to buy into it already, to use it, and it will continue to evolve. But I dream of the day when, if I were an EMS company, I would receive a request for quotation from a cus- tomer that would give me a secure address for access to a digital twin of a custom- er's product. I would simply click the link, and my digital twin of the factory would suddenly come alive and work with the digital twin of the product. It would collect all the necessary data, work out solutions, and then simply pop up information about this site, this price, this yield, this date, that site, that price, that date, that yield. I would be able to say, "I prefer to do this one." And then imme- diately feed back a quotation to the customer, within a couple of minutes. is is a dream that I will probably never see, but this is the kind of direction I'd like the industry to go in, where using the digital twin means that you don't need to have human interference, and you don't need to share private information or IP. e tool is simply there as a kind of dashboard in front of you to control your EMS business. Matties: When I mentioned discipline, I think this is where the discipline really must be, the commitment to building the files and the infra- structure within your own organization to do that and then to maintain it. You were talking about when a component comes off the assem- bly line and the mold is slightly different, you have to be disciplined to go in and update those files as something that's super critical. You're not necessarily going to see a revenue feed- back from that effort, but you're mak- ing life easier for the entire supply chain or manufacturing process by doing it. We're asking the industry to spend a lot of resource to come in, document all their capabilities in a digital format, and then put it in an accessible file and trust the security that goes along with it. Ford: When you put it like that, it sounds like quite a big ask , but my approach is that to getting these standards put into place, where customers demand solutions that use them, there ultimately has to be a benefit for each individual player through- out the whole chain. Where everybody under- stands how they are benefiting from these new digital "best practices," then they will realize their own ROI on this. I think at IPC APEX EXPO we're going to see in the "Factory of the Future" presentations track that we're trying to push the vision toward this. And that would be an excellent forum in which to discuss and go through this whole thing with a live physi- cal audience again. As data becomes interop- erable, certain aspects of the business process need to follow. Matties: Did you have any final thoughts that you want to share on any of these topics today, Michael? Ford: I think we've covered everything pretty well. anks. It's been a great opportunity to talk about this. It's great to talk especially on all of these solutions and digital twin, that's great conversation. SMT007 Michael Ford is the senior director of emerging industry strategy for Aegis Software, and an I-Connect007 columnist. To read his columns or contact Ford, click here.