Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1440051
JANUARY 2022 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 15 more back-end applications. We see a lot of in- terest in that from our customers. How do we now apply our 3D measurement-based tech- nology onto the back end, in module and box build areas, and so forth? Our dispensing process inspection tool was an offshoot of our current technology, but it utilizes our core technology very well, so it very much made sense to expand our product offering into that area. We're keeping our eyes open in areas where our customer base may need solutions that do not exist today, or the current solutions are not providing the need- ed capabilities, and then utilize that informa- tion to stay ahead of the need and reduce our time to market, so they can take advantage of our ability to provide sooner rather than later. Johnson: What are the market-sized trends that you're seeing with your customers? Are they pivoting or are they staying their course? Scutchfield: at's a great question because there are so many factors now, especially know- ing the impact of the current supply chain situ- ation and labor markets. Obviously, the nearshoring (or reshoring) effort means customers are becoming much more vertically integrated, likely more than they ever intended. We have one particular customer that was forecasting an additional 17 of our machines to be acquired over a two-year period for one site alone, specifically due to nearshoring initiatives, and bringing compo- nent build back in-house. en there's the labor shortage. How do you overcome that? Obviously, with more automa- tion, more intuitiveness, auto programming, and auto data analysis. When we talk about trends, it's more than just the IoT, the connec- tivity, whether it be CFX or beyond. How do we help our customers get to a greater state of productivity and be able to use everything that all these initiatives provide? We're increasingly applying artificial intel- ligence, and we see that growing because we have the dataset to make that happen. We're fortunate in this industry to have highly auto- mated processes. When we talk about being competitive here in North America, we have an advantage over some of the more labor-in- tensive industries. ere's still more work to be done, and that's where the smart factory initia- tive concept comes into play. From a supplier perspective, we want to provide an environ- ment where we don't need dedicated data an- alysts, an environment where operators and technicians can easily understand and apply all the information being provided. Currently there are third party companies in the mix who are focused strictly on pulling data from all the various pieces of equipment up and down the line; putting them into one giant mixing bowl; understanding what needs to be utilized, when, and by whom; and pro- viding that information in a dashboard setting or some type of very quick analysis tool that allows for those changes to be made very quickly.