Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1417991
38 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2021 Holden: Have they discussed whether 2581 will be at the IPC APEX EXPO in January? Or will it all be CFX? Acheson: Well, IPC-2581 has been at APEX EXPO since our consortium was launched. We've always had a booth. We've had different ways of promoting it. We've had opportunities for people to watch demonstrations of moving data from one system to the next, and how each tool uses 2581 in the process. We were trying to get a board for CFX at the last APEX EXPO, but we didn't get it done in time for the show. So, that's something that's still on the table. It's just a matter of getting people to buy in and be part of that. I know Michael Ford has been in favor of it; Hemant Shah and the consortium have been fully in favor. We got a lot of people backing us in creating the design and the data- base for it. We're ready to go, we have the data, we just need the CFX group to consume and produce it. Shaughnessy: What is the biggest hurdle to getting it adopted? Is it just changing people's minds? Acheson: It's education and understanding. We talked about this a little—the manufactur- ers hesitating because they have to buy new soware and they want to justify it. Custom- ers are waiting to see who's first, the chicken or the egg: "I don't want to do it unless some- body else has done it and proved it." Well, we know it's been proven. We do have a cus- tomer who has produced every single board since January 2017 with 2581. We're see- ing several of our major customers moving forward. Fujitsu USA was the first ones to produce a board. When they went around a second time with it, they output nothing but 2581 for three fabricators. Each fabrica- tor had the same three questions and when all was said and done, they had three sets of boards built by three different fabricators using only 2581. We have a few other announcements coming along the way. I can't say much about it until they make the announcement, but we are see- ing a big drive and big adoption. Shaughnessy: How many members do you have in the IPC-2581 Consortium? Acheson: If you look at the consortium web- site, we're seeing a lot of individuals joining the consortium because they all believe in it. I don't know the total numbers of associate members, but I know that it's in the hundreds. ese are individual users who understand the format and are working, as much as they can within their corporations, to move toward that format. Holden: Ed, I can't remember my history, but was Dieter Bergman around when you first sent out 2581? Acheson: Yes, he was. Here's a story about Dieter and 2581. Back when we were first doing this, we were working on moving toward Revi- sion B of 2581. We were in San Diego in a con- ference room during IPC APEX EXPO with Dieter and Karen McConnell. We were talk- ing about how we wanted to include more data into the format, and how we wanted to address it. You could see Dieter was a bit frustrated. He said, "When are you guys going to actually start producing this stuff ? We've been talking about it for years, but nobody's producing it. I can't see this ever moving forward if people aren't producing it." I said, "Dieter, we are producing it. ere are a couple of us who are working behind the scenes exchanging data and looking at how it works." He said, "Well, I haven't seen any- thing." I said, "Would you like to?" Dieter Bergman