Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1440051
32 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2022 the ultimate provenance throughout the sup- ply chain in an automated and cost-effective way. The Role of MES Exact Traceability Any factory that is involved in the manufac- ture or assembly of anything that will become part of the end product has a crucial role to play in product security. Traceability is not a new subject, being routinely used, we hope, for ac- tive quality management and proof of confor- mance, as well as being the tool that identifies the scope of issues related to underperforming materials for whatever reason. From a material perspective, the main func- tion of exact traceability is to record precise- ly which materials have been used for each product created. It is very simple theoretical- ly, not without challenges, but is very valu- able. Should any quality issue be detected with a material, including the potential of counterfeit ingress, the use of exact traceabil- ity identifies which materials and products are affected, using the association of unique material and product IDs. Rather than hav- ing to quarantine all potential materials and products that were present in the factory over a specific period, the exact identifica- tion of the affected units reduces the scale of consequences in terms of risk, re-work, and scrap, as well as brand image and customer disappointment, by two orders of magnitude or more. e same exact traceability solution is used to combat the effects of cybersecurity intru- sion that may seek to alter soware or firm- ware in devices, alter the bill of materials or material sourcing flags, and other hacks that effectively create counterfeit products with- in genuine manufacturing facilities, much like a virus that infects a cell in the body and rep- licates itself. Some very modern problems are solved with this very established technology, represented by IPC-1782, the only true indus- try standard for traceability in electronics as- sembly. e modern MES solution supporting IPC-1782 provides not just the mechanism for automated, efficient, holistic traceability data capture and storage, but also establishes pro- cedures for the preservation of integrity of data captured from machines that may have limita- tions in their material verification capabilities, or from human operators who exercise a de- gree of free will. Provenance and Privacy Unfortunately, we are not done with this is- sue. It is easy for various groups around the industry to get together and talk about the need for factory-based traceability data to be shared throughout the supply chain, helping to eliminate counterfeits, keeping the supply chain safe and secure, even promoting the elimination of risk from materials on the grey market, but what has been forgotten is that sharing of traceability data is practically im- possible. ere are three very good reasons for this. First, the format and content of traceability data from any combination of factories, espe- cially where the supply chain includes semi- conductor, fabrication, and assembly, are al- most always completely different. Each fac- tory uses its own choice of traceability solu- tions; different standards apply to different areas within the supply chain, many of which are customer-driven requirements rather than Any factory that is involved in the manufacture or assembly of anything that will become part of the end product has a crucial role to play in product security.